Draft:BlobCat

• Comment: Please do not cite social media or other user-generated sources, they are not considered reliable. DoubleGrazing (talk) 16:01, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

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BlobCat
Developer(s)	Christian Wasser (BySamb)
Publisher(s)	BySamb
Composer(s)	Ben Zimmermann
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	iOS Android Windows Nintendo Switch
Release	July 8, 2016 Android July 8, 2016 iOS July 21, 2016 Windows August 31, 2017 Nintendo Switch August 8, 2018
Genre(s)	Strategy, Puzzle
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

BlobCat is a 2016 strategy and puzzle game developed and published by German indie developer Christian Wasser alias BySamb. Chased by the titular BlobCats, the player is tasked to safely direct the cube-like DiceMice into their mouse hole by placing directional arrows on a square grid. The game is heavily inspired by SEGA's ChuChu Rocket! series.

Initially released in July 2016 as a free mobile game, the game later received an expanded paid version released for Windows in 2017 and Nintendo Switch in 2018, including additional content such as local and online multiplayer modes. The mobile version of the game was pulled from storefronts in July 2018.

Gameplay

Both the BlobCat and DiceMice characters move across the top-down grid-based playing field automatically. While the BlobCats are being led through the stage by changing directions when hitting a wall, the slightly faster DiceMice are following a path directed by the arrow icons placed by the player to avoid their enemies, trying to safely reach the end of the stage. The gameplay is split across two phases: During the first phase, the player can select any available tile on the grid-based playing field with their cursor to place a limited available number of arrows without any characters moving, while the second phase shows the outcome of the resulting paths. Later stages include an increasing number of enemies and DiceMice. The expanded versions - including all free DLC content - of the game feature a total of 6 worlds, each representing a different setting, amounting into a total of 110 individual stages. A rating system based on the number of available arrows left after beating a stage also rewards the player with one of many collectible stickers per stage if the maximum rating of three stars is achieved.

Additionally, the multiplayer mode of the extended Windows and Nintendo Switch releases lets the player earn in-game currency that can be used to unlock optional skins for the DiceMice.

Development

BlobCat was developed and designed by German indie game developer Christian Wasser, known under the online alias Samb. Official development of the project started in January 2016, with Wasser aiming to create a spiritual successor to SEGA's ChuChu Rocket! franchise which at the time had been inactive since it's initial 1999 release on the SEGA Dreamcast. Wasser also settled on the idea to make the project a "fair mobile game", disregarding concepts such as advantage-grating purchasable in-game currencies. He regularly shared the current progress of the project via streams and uploads on the YouTube channel GamingClerks, using donations from his viewership to further finance the game's development.

The mobile version of the game first released for Android on July 8, 2016, with an iOS release following on July 21, 2016. BlobCat's soundtrack was created by German composer Ben Zimmermann.

Post-release, BlobCat received numerous free updates, such as an additional world, Shercat forest, while Wasser also began development on an enhanced Steam version of the game - votings on the service's then-active publishing portal Steam Greenlight began in March 10, 2017, surpassing a total of 1000 votes on the same day. Additionally, a multiplayer version of the game called BlobCat VS multiplayer was being developed, with an open alpha version freely accessible as a browser game, later being directly implemented into the expanded rerelease. The final multiplayer mode was playable prior to its release as a demo during the 2017 Magnology convention in Hamburg, Germany.

The Steam version of BlobCat was released on August 31, 2017, including all previous update content, full 3D models of all characters and a new multiplayer mode accessible both locally and online. Further free updates continued to release afterwards, including an additional Halloween-themed set of stages in October 2017, as well as the multiplayer mode's visual customization system in March 2018.

Starting in February 2018, the game's official Twitter account began teasing a possible port of BlobCat to Nintendo Switch, confirming it shortly after, including information that the online multiplayer mode would return, and that game would run at 1080p while maintaining 60fps on the console. The port's multiplayer mode was also confirmed to feature cross-platform play in April 2018, while an achievement system was added to the Windows release in May. Later in July, the initial mobile release of BlobCat was taken down from both the Google Play Store and App Store, as its later rereleases had become continuously more complex, making providing updates for all releases at once become unsustainable. In early August, just a few days before the game's full release on Nintendo Switch, the new port was playable at 2Dcon in Minneapolis.

The Nintendo Switch port of BlobCat eventually released to the Nintendo eShop on August 8, 2018, including all previously added features of the game's Steam release. Nintendo of Europe also officially promoted the game on their Twitter account shortly after.

Reception

BlobCat

Review scores

Publication	Score
Nintendo Life	6/10
Nintendo World Report	7/10

Upon the game's releases for Windows and Nintendo Switch, BlobCat received generally positive reviews. Especially German outlets praised the game, such as Roman Dichter from the German Nintendo-centric online magazine ntower, who gave the game a 7/10 review score and praised it for its entertaining gameplay, varied stages and large amount of content, though he also remarked that the multiplayer mode can at times get a little too confusing.

English-speaking outlets such as Nintendo Life and Nintendo World Report generally gave similar feedback: Jon Wahlgren from Nintendo Life, giving BlobCat a 6/10 score, especially praised the gameplay's similarities to ChuChu Rocket! and positively mentioned the game's overall stage design, while also criticizing it for its sometimes glitchy aspects, stating that "BlobCat’s orientation is maddeningly inconsistent, which casts a rough shadow over the rest of the package". Adam Abou-Nasr of Nintendo World Report gave BlobCat a 7/10 score, also praising the game's similarities to ChuChu Rocket!, while noting that it can't quite reach the same level of quality, especially in regards to the multiplayer mode. He also praised Ben Zimmermann's soundtrack, but criticized that the sometimes drastically varying length of stages hinders it from showing its full potential.