Review: Mouse About (iPhone/iPod Touch)

With the iTunes App Store being such a mess with so many things that aren't worth your time or money, it's always great to find one from the other end of the spectrum. One of these games is Mouse About, and it's probably the best $3 you'll spend for a while.

You control Marv, a mouse, as he scoots through mazes trying to eat all the food on the screen. Marv can move in straight lines and he doesn't stop until he either hits something, be it food or nuts and bolts, or moves off the screen to Sacha the cat, waiting to kill him and eat him. The goal is to eat all the food on the screen, so you have to plan out your moves to go from one piece of food to another without moving off the screen. You have to be fast, however, because there is a timer at the top of the screen, and when the timer runs out, Sacha will eat him anyway.

Of course, there's never any violence. This is a bright and colorful kid-friendly game. All of the graphics in Mouse About are great looking, with nicely drawn sprites and great backdrops. There are even several different environments Marv runs through, including a kitchen, underwater and space.

The sound effects are also good and everything is very nice to hear. I don't, however, like the music very much, because it sounds almost exactly like music from a really bad game I used to play (Casper: Friends Around the World for PS1), but that's just a personal problem I have, and it's one that I'm sure not many other people will have. If I weren't biased that way, I'm sure I'd like the music.

If you look at Mouse About for what it is, a casual puzzler on a mobile platform, you'll be very pleased with what you get. It's a game that looks great, sounds great, it's a helluva lot of fun, and since it has a practically nonexistent learning curve, it's very easy to pick up and play. Probably the best $3 you'll spend in the App Store. 4 out of 5.

Version 1.1 of Mouse About was reviewed.