Game Review: Swappy Cat (Mobile – Free to Play)

A free to play game, stupid name aside, Swappy Cat is a surprisingly good release. One that breaks a lot of conventional norms for the free to play model by being mostly ad-free. As well as not shoving its in-app purchases down your throat or making the game harder so to encourage real money spend.

Not only that, it’s fun, challenging and addictive. Every level can be approached in a number of ways and there is a real sense of achievement when you best a particularly tough one.

The aim of the game is to collect a set number of items per level in a set number of moves. Swappy Cat can move in any direction provided there isn’t an obstacle in his way. Swipe in the desired direction and the Cat will zoom off turning tiles, collecting items and taking out enemies along the way. It’s really simple to pick up and play but challenging to master. Levels will require strategy to ensure you don’t run out of moves before you collect everything.

Complete a level and you’ll get rewarded with chests that give items to build up the Cat Hubs. A nice addition but not something many will find that compelling.

Swappy Cat is really good and a proper ‘just one more go’ kind of game.

Of course, it is free to play so each attempt will cost you a life. Run out of lives and you’ll have to wait until they recharge or restore using gems.

Gems are Swappy Cats premium currency and as well as being used to restore lives are also used to buy boosters and get 5 more moves should you run out just before you complete a level. Of course it is the latter that will tempt most people but the game happily dishes out free gems as you slowly build the Cat Hubs.

Should you not have any gems and only need one or two moves to finish the level, there is also the option to watch an ad to get 3 extra moves. Now this is smart thinking and the kind of ‘free to play’ element that we can’t complain about. It’s the only ads you’ll see in the game. That is excellent.

Of course we’d be remiss if we didn’t break down the cost of the gems in real money though. Unfortunately for all its avoidance of the traditional ways free to play games try to get you to spend, Swappy Cat sticks with the norm when it comes to pricing.

It’s not pretty with the cheapest amount being 150 gems for £1.99 and the most expensive being the Legendary Bundle for £99.99. What’s in the legendary bundle? A laughable 8000 gems, 18 of each booster and 24 hours of infinite lives. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad especially when it comes with a flashing ‘best value’ sign next to it. It might work out to be the best value but with finite items there is no value to be found here.

In fact, that applies to all the gem costs as the lowest priced one won’t even get you a boost as these cost 190 gems!

It’s a rubbish pricing system and one that is severely flawed but Swappy Cat doesn’t push them. In fact, only a handful of times did a pop-up occur where it offered a bundle and that can be closed down immediately.

Rarely do we find free to play games of this quality and Swappy Cat deserves credit for being a good game. It’s so addictive that we’ve been playing it on and off for two weeks. Finally deleting the app after reaching level 151.