In this new iOS game (reviewed on iPad here), help a hungry little critter get his snack on! In the game, you don’t control the hungry little guy directly, but you must place objects to keep him out of danger as he walks about the levels eating all the vittles he comes across. In a way, it kind of reminds me of Lemmings.

In each single-screen level, your character stands still until you press the ‘go’ button. But before you do, you can use your finger to drag and drop items in your inventory to help keep your little dude safe. Things like planks you can walk on, for instance. You can also rotate these planks around if you need to make a wall as well. Then when you’re sure your layout is safe, press the ‘go’ button and watch your character walk and try to eat all the food. Other items you can place include whales and trampolines that’ll send your character flying!

There are also food items that you can place that affect your muncher’s mood, which in turn, changes his mobility. In his regular mood, he’ll jump over small ledges. But if he eats a red pepper, he’ll be angry and walk faster and jump higher. But if he eats an onion, he’ll get sad and walk slower and won’t jump at the end of the ledge, but will walk in the other direction instead. Cupcakes put him in a regular mood again. In a way, it reminds me of an old game that nobody’s probably ever heard of called Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures.

To finish a level, you’ll need to grab the cake on a string to move onto the next challenge. But scattered about the level are three snacks you can snarf up, too. It’s harder to get all three snacks, but if you do you’ll boost your score. And when you collect enough snacks from the levels, you’ll unlock items you can use in the level designer mode. Yes, the game lets you design your own stages, too! If you enjoy Lemmings-style puzzlers, you may want to check out Eets Munchies.

Kid Factor:

Even though your character gets tossed and flung about, the game is fairly non-violent. If you fall off a ledge, the game just asks if you want to try again while showing a picture of the hungry critter with dizzy eyes and seeing stars. Really the only problem I had with the game, content-wise, was that on the loading screens, they show various characters from the game. One of the characters is a flying pig who constantly throws up. That’s just gross and unnecessary!

I did enjoy the cartoony, hand-drawn graphics and catchy tunes, and I think kids will like that, too. Reading skill is helpful for the text instructions, and the game does get pretty difficult later on. Luckily there is a handy hint option. Older kids who like to make things will probably appreciate the level designer mode. And the game could be considered somewhat educational as it encourages using logic and thinking skills.

Tags: Game Reviews