About a month or two ago, my good friend Leroy reviewed Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake for PC, and it looked like a game that was right up my alley.  So Cartoon Network Games was gracious enough to give me a review code for the iPad version.  So in honor of MY real birthday, which is today, September 15, here is my own take on this cute little puzzle game.

In the game you play as boy Niko.  He and his dog Bazooka are excited because it’s Niko’s birthday and they get to eat cake for breakfast!  But mean monsters have taken his birthday cake and it’s up to Niko to track them and his cake down, not to mention rescue his dog!  This game is a block-pushing puzzle title, similar to classics like Adventures of Lolo, or the puzzle sections in dungeons of several Zelda games.

As you progress in your cake adventure, Niko will meet other friendly monsters that will join up and help him out.  You’ll switch between each given monster in a level, and use teamwork to solve the puzzles.  Each character has his or her own special skill.  Niko can push and pull blocks.  One monster can charge and break certain objects, while another can burrow under the ground.  You’ll finish the stage when you find all the cake in that level.

You can earn stars in the levels if you finish certain objectives, like collect all the coins or complete the level in a given time.  Get enough stars to unlock hidden stages.  You may also want to replay levels to find secret items.  These items can be given back to folks in Niko’s town or to other friendly monsters.  And in return, you might get special costumes and other goodies.

If there is any problem with this game, it’s that the puzzles can be a bit tedious sometimes.  And I don’t think the touch screen tablet controls are quite as responsive as a real controller on a console would be.  Speaking of which, I think this game would be great on a console, and I’m surprised this and other Cartoon Network games haven’t made the jump to consoles yet because most of them are very high quality.  All in all, this game is great for puzzle fans of all ages.

Kid Factor:

Violence is very minimal and cartoony.  If one of your characters gets hit, they just fall over on their backs.  Defeated enemy monsters just turn into bones and fall down.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may need help with some of the tougher puzzles.  But the game does reinforce logic and thinking skills.

Tags: Game Reviews