CATTCH

CATTCH is a colorful 2D side-scrolling platformer set in a fantasy world. Players control Cattch, an anthropomorphic cat who loves relaxing and watching TV, but is forced into action when his friends are attacked by villains. The game emphasizes dexterity, agility, and puzzle-solving as players embark on an epic and dangerous journey through vibrant levels.

CATTCH: A Forgotten Feline Platformer and the Curious Case of Indie Obscurity

In the vast and ever-expanding ecosystem of indie platformers, countless titles launch with a hopeful meow, only to fade into the background noise of digital storefronts. CATTCH, the 2016 mascot platformer from MildMania and Infected Pixels Studio, is one such curious case—a game that, despite a multi-platform release spanning half a decade, left barely a ripple in the gaming consciousness. This review seeks to excavate and examine this particular artifact, not as a lost classic, but as a fascinating study in indie development, market saturation, and the quiet fate of countless adequate but unremarkable games.

Development History & Context

The Studio and The Vision
CATTCH was a product of its time, emerging from the fertile but crowded ground of mid-2010s mobile gaming. Developed by MildMania, LLC in collaboration with Infected Pixels Studio, and published by both MildMania and ChiliDog Interactive LLC, the game was built using the ubiquitous Unity engine. Its initial release on April 6, 2016, for iPhone (quickly followed by iPad and Android versions) places it squarely in an era where the mobile market was seen as a potential gold rush for indie developers.

The vision, as gleaned from the official marketing blurb, was straightforward: to create a “colourful and enthralling platform game with a bold anthropomorphic animal as its protagonist.” The choice of a cat—a “cat with a classy jersey,” no less—was a clear play for charm and relatability, tapping into the internet’s perennial love for felines. The technological constraints were likely those of the mobile-first design: simple, touch-friendly controls, bright visuals readable on a small screen, and levels designed for short play sessions.

The Gaming Landscape
CATTCH entered a world dominated on mobile by endless runners and freemium giants. In the console and PC space, it was the era of the indie platformer renaissance, with titles like Shovel Knight and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero setting a very high bar for quality and innovation. For a small mobile-focused title like CATTCH to later port to these platforms (with releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC between 2020 and 2021) was an ambitious gambit. It was transitioning from a market of casual, impulse-buy gamers to a core audience with extensive experience and high expectations for the genre.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

The narrative of CATTCH is, by design, paper-thin and serves purely as a functional setup for the gameplay. The protagonist, Cattch, is established as a relatable, lazy cat who “loves to spend his time watching TV.” This peaceful existence is shattered when “things go south and his friends are attacked by villains.”

This premise—the kidnapping of friends—is one of the oldest in the genre, a direct descendant of the Super Mario Bros. plot. There is no deeper lore, character development, or intricate dialogue to be found. The story exists only to motivate the player from one level to the next, to collect the captured feline friends and stars. Thematically, it touches lightly on ideas of camaraderie and the heroism of an unlikely, lazy protagonist rising to the occasion, but it does not explore these ideas with any depth. The narrative is a skeleton upon which the platforming is built, and nothing more.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Core Loop and Controls
CATTCH is a traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer. The core loop involves navigating levels from a start point to a goal, avoiding enemies and environmental hazards, and collecting two primary items: stars and captured friends. The controls, as reviewed by Higher Plain Games, are described as “solid and predictable,” which is paramount for any precision platformer. The movement allows for running and jumping, with the noted addition of wall-sliding, adding a small layer of verticality to the exploration.

The Innovative Hook: World Rotation
The game’s one notable mechanical innovation is the ability to rotate the entire world on its axis. This is not a constant ability but is triggered by hitting specific switches within a level. This mechanic alters the player’s perspective and the layout of the platforms, potentially revealing new paths or making collectibles accessible. As noted by critics, this idea is “good fun, but a little underused.” It provides a welcome change of pace but doesn’t redefine the platforming experience or form the consistent core of the puzzle design.

Progression and Challenge
Progression is level-based across three distinct worlds, with each world containing approximately 16-17 levels. Access to later levels is gated by collecting a required number of stars, encouraging replayability and full completion of earlier stages. The difficulty is described as a “mild challenge.” Death is frequent—often from “falling off squares that vanish or slide out of view”—but is mitigated by unlimited lives and a generous checkpoint system scattered throughout the levels. This creates a low-friction experience suitable for its original mobile audience but may feel too forgiving for seasoned platforming veterans on consoles and PC. The complaint of “some deaths feel a little cheap” highlights a occasional lack of precision in the visual feedback, a common pitfall in busy 2D environments.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Visual Direction and Atmosphere
The art style is best described as simple, bright, and blocky. The world is constructed almost entirely of colored squares, with the evil blocks adorned with comical, angry faces to signify their danger. This aesthetic is functional and cheerful, aligning with its family-friendly goals. It is not a visually complex or detailed game, but it is consistent and clear in its communication. The character design of Cattch himself—a rainbow-colored cat in a jersey—is memorable and fits the game’s lighthearted tone.

Sound Design
The soundtrack is described as “playful,” serving to create a upbeat and approachable atmosphere. Like the visuals, the sound design is competent but not groundbreaking. It supports the action without becoming a standout feature itself. The overall presentation package is one of cheerful adequacy; it successfully constructs a colorful, harmless fantasy world for its simple adventure.

Reception & Legacy

Critical and Commercial Reception
CATTCH‘s reception was minimal and muted. The few contemporary reviews it received were mildly positive. Pocket Gamer UK scored it a 70/100 in 2016, stating it “has a lot going for it. It’s not the freshest game in the world, but it’s fun all the same.” Apple’N’Apps similarly gave it a 70, calling it a “well-made platformer with a nice mix of action and puzzle.”

Its later release on consoles and PC in 2020-2021 garnered even less attention. It has no Metascore due to an insufficient number of critic reviews, and no user reviews are logged on major aggregate sites. The MobyGames entry shows it is collected by only two players, a stark indicator of its obscurity. A 2021 review from TheXboxHub perfectly captured its essence, comparing it to a pack of Haribo: “colourful and characterful, and you can’t put it down at the start. But chew down on too much at once and you’ll get sick of it.”

Lasting Influence and Legacy
CATTCH has no discernible legacy or influence on the gaming industry. It did not innovate in a way that was adopted by others, nor did it achieve a cult status that would keep it in conversation. Its legacy is that of a footnote—a representative of the thousands of competently made but ultimately forgettable indie games that flood the market each year. It serves as a case study in the challenges of porting a mobile-first experience to core gaming platforms and the immense difficulty of achieving visibility in a saturated genre.

Conclusion

CATTCH is not a bad game. By all accounts, it is a functionally sound, brightly colored, and mildly enjoyable platformer that successfully executes on a very simple premise. Its controls are reliable, its presentation is cheerful, and its difficulty curve is accessible. However, it is also a game utterly devoid of ambition or a unique identity strong enough to distinguish it from the pack. Its one interesting mechanic—world rotation—is underutilized, and its overall design feels rooted in a mobile philosophy that felt dated upon its console release half a decade later.

The final verdict is that CATTCH is a fascinating artifact of a specific time and place in indie development, but as a game, it is the definition of average. It is the video game equivalent of a B-movie: competently made for its budget, enjoyable for a brief, undemanding distraction, but ultimately destined for deep obscurity. Its place in video game history is as a statistic, a reminder that for every breakout indie hit, there are hundreds of CATTCHes—perfectly adequate, but forever lost to the chase.