Pix the Cat is quite a simplistic game at its core. But combine all four of its modes with their various takes on classics Pacman and Snake, and you get a really addictive and constantly engaging formula. If you couple that with its score attack presentation, there’s the potential for hours of fun. Pix the Cat is essentially an arcade game – a big emphasis on scoring points, as well as some retro sensibilities. The first of the modes is called Arcade which takes the form of a fast-paced Pacman/Snake hybrid. You travel around the grid-based map collecting eggs (which will hatch into ducklings) and dropping them off at designated spots (thus gaining points and combos); this while making sure you don’t get trapped by the growing tail of ducklings, avoiding getting stuck on walls and staying out of the way of skulls and other obstacles. If you happen to make a mistake, you’ll lose any combos you’ve gathered, as well as (if you get trapped by your tail) losing all the ducklings you’ve rescued so far. On top of that, you have to deal with an ever increasing speed and a time limit, making for some seriously sweaty palm gameplay.
The controls for the Arcade mode are precise and smooth, which may sound a bit of a tepid compliment; but this kind of gameplay can be made or broken by that one aspect, and no frustration endured from failures was due to a fault with the game. The music is pumping and catchy, enhancing the gameplay in a way not too dissimilar to Hotline Miami (it would be a stretch to say that you could time your moves to the music, but it certainly goes well with the animations and style).
There’s no overarching plot goal or set of challenges for the Arcade mode; you simply need to get through the levels as best as you can. Obviously, the fewer mistakes you make, the higher the scores you’ll get; but you can maximise your scoring in a couple of other ways. Most crucially, you can do this by achieving a ‘perfect’ – this is when you pick up all ducklings before dropping them off (not breaking the flow) – but there is also ‘fever time’. When fever time activates you’ll speed up, but also start to consistently gain points and be able to take out skulls. It’s definitely not easy, but if you can manage to keep your cool and play well, you can rack up a huge number of points. Overall, the Arcade mode is tense and challenging, as well as fun and addictive.
The second mode is called Laboratory. In this you use the same kind of mechanics (moving around the grid-based map, collecting a line of ducklings to drop off); but instead of constantly moving, score attack gameplay, you solve movement based puzzles. For example, there will be a selection of duckling eggs and the same number of drop-off points; you must find a way to gather all the eggs and then (and only then) can you drop them off – trying your best to achieve this within the set number of moves. It’s actually a really good little puzzle mode, and adds a very different spin on the same core concept. There are 100 levels too, so you get a decent amount of content.
The final single player mode is Nostalgia. This was the stand-out mode for me. There are 70 levels of challenges, all aesthetically retro (resembling early animation). Challenges include things like having to control three cats at the same time, or simply running through a level avoiding obstacles. The look, music and the constant variation between levels makes this quite an interesting mode to play. It however doesn’t have quite the same drive as the Arcade mode does, but it is a well-paced challenge nonetheless.
Finally, the last mode is a multiplayer offering called Arena. It’s a local co-op mode for up to four players (two can play on the keyboard, while the others can use a controller), where you battle each other using missiles (for which you use eggs as ammunition), mines, etc. It’s another simple, yet charming mode – I didn’t get much of a chance to dig into the multiplayer, but what little I did play was fun.
There’s really not much I can say about Pix the Cat that’s negative. Maybe if you don’t like games with a silly/cutesy presentation, or a pick up and play kind of gameplay style, then this probably isn’t for you; but in terms of gameplay and content, Pix the Cat is a pretty solid package. I do have one bug-bear, however. The game goes too far with the whole ‘score big to unlock stuff’ idea. Pix the Cat avoids being overly simplistic and quickly becoming tedious, by having a variety of modes available. However, included in the ‘amazing prizes’ that you can get by scoring loads of points are two of the game’s modes, which unfortunately means that if you aren’t good enough, you can’t play a large portion of the advertised content. It’s not like these are sequential modes, where you need to play them in order to understand them properly – there’s no need to lock them. Sure, Laboratory requires 750,000 points in Arcade mode to unlock it , which is manageable if you have a reasonable degree of skill; but Nostalgia requires a whopping 1,000,000 points. I understand that the game’s primary audience is probably those into score attack games, but it seems a bit much and needlessly restrictive.
If you can manage to defeat those arbitrary barriers though, Pix the Cat is still really enjoyable. There’s not much in the way of story to talk about (a cat decides to play a video game of itself saving ducks, what more do you want?), but the gameplay is solid all round. The aesthetic is cheery and exciting, the music pumping and catchy, and there is enough content to keep you going, and enough variation to keep it interesting.