Developer Upper Class Walrus Publisher Surprise Attack

Platform Played On PC

Fort Meow, developed by South Australian based programmer Rhys Davies, combines physics-based puzzling with tower defence elements to create a charming game that will allow you to relax for a few hours. It is a lot of fun stopping cats from disturbing a little girl’s reading, but if you are looking for a longer experience you may be disappointed.

In Fort Meow, the player must stop out of control cats from disrupting a little girl, Nia, who is trying to read her grandfather’s journal. Nia visits her grandparents’ place to keep her grandma company because her grandfather has gone into hospital for surgery. However, when she arrives her grandma cannot be found, and cats have overrun the house. While the game has a kid-friendly art style, some of the narrative content – like a grandfather with a potentially life-threatening condition – was surprising for one of the target demographics. Nevertheless, the narrative is an entertaining, mysterious and sometimes humorous device that kept me engaged for the whole story.

The narrative also gives rise to the gameplay elements. To protect Nia from the cats, the player must build a fort using household objects like chairs, lamps, pillows, mattresses and grandfather clocks. Every piece is physics-based, with a drag and drop mechanic perfect for both touch controls on an iPad, or a mouse on a PC. I had a great time trying to build impenetrable forts, but some of the funnier moments were during construction when trying to meticulously balance a chair on top of two mattresses angled to make an upside down V.

What was even funnier – even though it shouldn’t have been – was when my hard work was undone by a cat who destroyed the chair that was the foundation of my fort, sending the rest of the carefully placed objects toppling down, thus becoming ineffective as a defence mechanism. The only problem I had with the fort building was that whenever you clicked on an object that was in the game, it made it hollow. This meant, if you realised you had made a mistake in the middle of the fort, or just wanted to move a piece in the middle to be more stable, it would cause everything on top of it to fall and wreck the design. It was tedious at times, but I couldn’t help laughing at my abomination of a fort. There’s almost a Plants vs. Zombies vibe to the game; if I failed I just wanted to try again to adapt my fort to the particular cats which were attacking that round.

There are six enemy types to defend against, all with different attacks. Some of these include fatter cats who will destroy multiple objects unless they hit a bean bag which will send them flying off the screen, and cats with watermelons on their head who attack low and fast, often destroying any object they hit, regardless of how many hit points it has.

To break up the pace of the fort building, Nia can explore the other rooms in the house to search for new items to use on future forts. I was finding new items at a good pace so that there was a constant stream, but I was not being bombarded with choice.

While the gameplay is fun and entertaining, it only took me a few hours to finish the game. I did enjoy my time, but there is nothing new to do after the story is finished. The only way to keep playing is to start a new game. While this is supplemented with a cheap price point, I would have been willing to pay a bit more for some extra game modes, even just the inclusion of an endless mode with scoreboards would have been great (with the state of post-launch updates, perhaps it’s still a possibility). Another gripe I had is the few weapons in the game. Some items shoot things like balls of wool, foam darts and bubbles at the cats. However, I found these items terribly ineffective. I found a use for every other item in the game except for the projectiles.

One of my favourite parts of the game was the final fort building process. Without spoiling anything, the final level in the game puts a time limit on building a fort, including fixing it up between rounds. It was frantic and chaotic, with my carefully constructed formula that I had become familiar with giving way to thirty seconds of piling pieces of furniture on top of one another and hoping physics would be on my side. While it was my favourite part of the game, it only lasted for a few minutes. The rest of the game was still fun, but the time constraint was my favourite part despite its short duration.

Fort Meow is a fun game for players of all ages. The controls are simple and well designed for touch screens and a computer mouse. The narrative is well written and very engaging, with a couple of unexpected twists thrown in too. However, the reason to buy Fort Meow is the fun, entertaining physics-based fort building. Succeeding, or failing in unsuspecting ways, I was always enjoying myself when playing Fort Meow. While I don’t agree with criticising a game’s length, I was having so much fun that I was sad when it came to an end after a few hours. Nevertheless, Fort Meow is a game you should play if you are looking for a new puzzle game on your iPad or PC.

The Good

• Fun physics-based fort building
• Gorgeous art-style
• Entertaining narrative

The Bad

• The game ends too soon
• Projectile household objects

The Score: 7.3

Suicide Squad proves to be a fun tie in to Forever Evil. It’s such books as this where the world has been turned upside down that you can really take advantage of what the character are capable of when able to let loose a bit. The Thinker has taken over Belle Reve, and he’s formed the Reverse Suicide Squad. Matt Kindt’s choice for this team is clever knowing that they are for the most part very strong heroes and the Suicide Squad is well, pretty outmatched in terms of strength.

Suicides Squad is one of the many books out there that really gains something from its ties to Forever Evil. Seeing the evils that resurface and what that means for this world when majority of the heroes are MIA. It’s clever that Kindt takes this opportunity to remind us of how unpredictable Harley can be. In fact it is something he emphasizes heavily through Thinker. That is something to look forward to because anything can happen when it’s involving her. Aside from this Patrick Zircher brings back that style which makes this book feel so grim, yet thrilling. The darkness in everyone’s expressions and the action scenes that makes this high-octane.

Score: 8.5/10

It took 29 days, and now they have been broken. All it took was the fear of one day left and Arcade won the game. You do wish that you didn’t know the outcome of what’s to come out of the final issue, but nonetheless it looks like Hopeless wants them to go out with a bang.

Here Hopeless has challenges where you stand with your sympathies. Chase, Niko, Cammi, they don’t enjoy the positions they are forced into, but they can’t help what sense of heroism they lost while replacing it with fear. Nobody is completely innocent by this point and if they were, that won’t be the case by the end of the book. Not everyone there is pure of heart and Arcade has exploited this to the point where they are looking only out for themselves and those closest to them.

Where I have said that Hopeless doesn’t pull punches before, that really meant nothing in terms of what is happening now. Every gut wrenching moment captured well by Kev Walker. Someone had to play the bad guy, someone had to break, someone had to be the one who finds them self on the wrong end of a beating.

Here we have seen the most substance this book can offer. We’ve seen them all at their best, but now we see them at their worst. It has always been about survival, and when it comes down to the final days that doesn’t change. The story progression has felt so natural up to this point and you just love how much of a role Apex plays into this. Though her fate is known, we still know that as that one character who actually played the game, she played it well. There’s so much in store for this final issue and it seems that it won’t be ending on a happy note.

Score: 8.8/10

For the first time you can actually say they are the All New X-Men. Up to this point you kinda questioned the title give that they are still the original from the past, but now they have a new set goal and their connection to the rest of the X-Men is all but shrinking as they find their own path.

The transition between the ending to Battle of The Atom and this was well executed. It is the best outcome for the team considering what they came to the present to accomplish. Bendis needed to get them away from the masses and set them on their own to show their importance to this point in time. Not to mention the focus of this book in general needed to be turned back to them. As for the new costumes? Stuart Immonen made some amazing changes. I like it. Anyone can joke about it, but as professor X once said, different meant individuality, and as far as this looks with the different colors that is how they stand out. The black and yellow felt too classic for this time period. It is a welcome change when considering they are acting more as heroes in a world that is a lot more tolerant of mutants than they were used to in the past. They look like a team and still as individuals at the same time.

The relationship between Kitty and Illyana is why many would say that them going with Cyclops was a great idea. There is a lot more interactions to occur which doesn’t feel either predictable or as if those like Wolverine and Storm are holding their hands.

It was about time that the relationship between Scott, Hank, and Jean was fleshed out. Luckily the style in which Jean reads minds is executed a lot better after the event of Battle of The Atom. It also looks great as well seeing how an event occurs and then they take it back to see what she is thinking or reading at that moment. It’s even better that we see how Jean’s indecisive choosing between the two is driving them both away from her and each other. Something which should have a lot of influence over future events.

Simple and good jumping on point for All New X-Men which sets them on a new journey. They are on their own now with the aid of Kitty and together they have a lot more potential than they did at the Jean Grey school. With the focus back on them we can now address things that were forgotten when the issue of sending them back to their time was still a concern. Good things are coming for this team and we all know what that means for those who kept track of the next event to unfold for this team.

Score: 8.8/10

It’s the 50th Anniversary of the X-Men, and it couldn’t be a better time to go with something classic such as X-Men Gold. Considering how long the X-Men have been in this schism, it’s nice to be able to look back at when they were somewhat at their best. When they were actually a team and were out kicking someone elses ass instead of being at each others throats.

Taking the first story from Kitty’s perspective made this an interesting tale. Around this time with her being the poster child it only made sense. It also made this book reader friendly to those who needed some explanation of what kind of team this was. This story takes us back to traditional heroics and that is something very welcome during this time. We have lost that over time and Chris Claremont understands that and because of it this story is a lot more exciting. The dynamic between them feels very natural and reminds you of what they are capable when they work together. Seeing the tag team of Colossus, Wolverine, and Kitty makes you love how he uses them to their full potential.

Only thing I found unnecessary with the first story was that there was too much talking just in their heads. I would rather them actually talking to each other or saying what’s on their mind rather than thinking of everything that is happening at that moment.

“The Sorrow Beneath The Sport” was a fun story which showcased much of what made the original X-Men the best there was. They may have been young and in training, but it didn’t make them any less entertaining due to them not having that bond they have now. The other stories I found to be quite interesting in their own way. Sunfire and Banshee made a fun story due to their clashing personalities at first, then the other kinda reminded you of things that can go wrong for the X-Men. It was the most random, but you get that sense of sacrifice that always comes into question from their actions.

You do enjoy how well they were able to recapture the classic appearance of the X-Men at their various periods. It felt as if this was something drawn around that time, but it still held the quality of any other great book out there right now. Heavy inking, light on the coloring, and a nice use of fine lines. outlining them all.

As the untold story of the X-Men starring Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde and Rogue, this was a great treat for X-Men fans. Again as the 50th Anniversary of the X-Men, this is a fun way to remember the glory days of the X-Men. X-Men Gold is a book you should want to pick up if you want a sense of nostalgia, or maybe you read it to help keep that hope alive that the X-Men of now will soon come together and forget their conflicts of interest.

Score: 8.2/10

The hunt continues and Malekith proves to be quite the challenge for this group to catch. Since the minute Frigga put this League of Realms together, it has been a train wreck waiting to happen. All hate each other yet come together for a single goal and singular hatred of Malekith. Jason Aaron puts them to the test and this doesn’t look to get any better for them.

I find this issue to be very impressive in regards to emphasizing the type of person Thor has become. Any person who isn’t familiar with this Thor would easily assume him to be the same brute with an inflated ego, but that hasn’t been for a long while. Here you see just what he has learned over the years, from experience and those closest to him. It makes a lot of sense given the type of portrayal you see of Thor in the Avengers books. Showing so much humility that you find his efforts to make this league work understandable.

From the exotic fairy gardens of Alfheim to the frozen mountains of Jotunheim, where giants dwell it all looked visually stunning to say the least. And the narrations as usual adds to that feeling of this being an epic tale.

A solid issue of Thor God of Thunder. Being the third part there has been a lot of progress since the League of Realms formed. You have to appreciate that Jason Aaron has not dragged on this chase for Malekith to the point where this becomes folly. The confrontation between them is inevitable and hopefully the next issue pushes a bit further to see one side actually start to take control of this fight. The League has suffered one loss, tragic, but very well may be the kick they need to really start to work together when not drunk.

Score: 8.2/10

Jasper has definitely gotten a bit more than he bargained for. Looking for answers which he fears the truth of, and seeing the conspiracy behind it all which could dig him into a deeper hole than he already has. As they say, this world is dirty as it feels. There are consequences for everything they do, no one is untouchable when higher powers of authority are at the center of this catastrophe.

The focus on The Vamp was very enlightening. Getting an idea as to how she got her powers, what it is that her powers do to the victims and much more. Every person who got these powers is connected in some way, and she is that one last connection with Joe Casey needed to make in order to bring it all full circle. It is through a character like her that you see the drive in everyone’s motivations. Searching for answers, surviving, taking advantage of what they have in a world that doesn’t know the existence of superpowers. You get this sense of clarity that draws you into the story considering that everything is falling apart in this city.

Here we see that world in which Joe Casey is trying to create. Good vs evil, cops vs robbers, that line has been drawn in the sand between those with good intentions for the powers they have and those who do not. The dialogue was brilliant as the philosophical nature of The Vamp makes her believable as the villain. Seeing through hers and Jasper’s guise as just regular people wearing costumes to make sense of this world which they don’t understand anymore. Everything is coming together now to be able to see the heroes tale unfolding.

Overall this is what we should want to see more of from The Bounce. David Messina does a great job capturing the intense nature of this issue. The despair of it all considering we are supposed to be seeing how this world is being turned upside down and exposed after the emergence of those such as Jasper. Characterization was what this story had been needing, and it came at a great time where you needed to know what went on within their heads to continue with its progression. Nothing is as it seems and the suspense Casey creates makes you feel a lot more invested to question what comes next. You’d already figure things are going to get worse before they get better.

Score: 8.7/10

Last we saw two things have gone wrong for Otto, what’s new? He is now in danger of losing his credibility due to being called out for basically stealing his own designs to get his doctorate. And now the reawakened Angelina Brancale aka. Stunner is in Manhattan looking for revenge against the Superior Spider-Man for the supposed death of Otto Octavius. Just another train wreck for Otto to avoid to keep his secret under wraps.

For Otto it seems to be one stressful situation after another, dealing with the fact that his genius as Otto cannot surface when in public as Peter. He makes enemies this way, Slott knows this and that is what makes this book interesting. No one can truly understand the amount of effort that Peter puts forth to balance his life as himself and Spider-Man, something Otto is learning the hard way. I think this was a very powerful issue in the sense that you saw some serious sincerity from Otto. It may have only been for Anna, but he never went about this situation with his usual blown ego. Sometimes it does actually pay to be the “Superior” one.

I’d have to say that with Spider-Man 2099 out of the way things have gotten back on track and for the better. This story does much better when the focus is on Otto, one Spider-Man is all that we really need in this book.

This was a great issue that once again narrowly manages to keep Otto from losing what he had fought so hard to achieve. Fought for his reputation, his future, his love, and to stay ahead of those who want to discredit him. With this said you might feel a bit bored with the escapades of Carlie, it’s been a constant step forward and two steps back with her and you know that she won’t be getting any closer to revealing Otto as Peter any time soon. Aside from this the fight between Spider-Man and Stunner looked very lively, something we haven’t seen in a while and Camuncoli does well in capturing their expressions.

Score: 8.6/10

Last we saw of Constantine he was on his way to rescuing his teammates with it being connected to Forever Evil. But now we get side tracked to another story between him and his romance with the sadistic Sargon the Sorceress. Really I do feel that Fawkes would have been better off leaving this storyline sidelined until what actually held more importance to the readers passed.

Not entirely sure what to make of this story. You would pick this book up expecting to see some progression towards him rescuing the Justice League Dark. Not to say it wasn’t obvious this was going in a different direction, but when you get through this you realize that there was a lot more to look forward to with Constantine’s connection to Forever Evil. This here fell very flat. Nothing special other than him doing the same act with a little in-depth look at how he thinks with a look into his past. Good sense of characterization in that regard, but that’s as far as it goes. It’s not till the very end that there is some connection to the previous issue and even then it throws you off because of the inconsistency.

Good issue in terms of it being Constantine, but there was much interesting about it. You would probably find yourself saving more time and money just waiting till the next issue where the story actually continues from where we last saw him. Great art work as usual, that much remains consistent throughout this book bringing about that grim atmosphere that comes with exploring the mystic world.

Score: 6.9/10

Cataclysm is approaching Mile’s world and nothing good can come of it. Cataclysm: Ultimates has shown us how the rest of the world will react to the arrival of Galactus, though here we take a step back and see what leads Spider-Man, Cloak and Dagger into this fight as well.

Here we see  what comes out of this team up between Spider Woman, Spider-Man, Cloak, Dagger, and Bombshell. All going back to their normal lives and dealing with what effect this has had on them. Off the bat having Spider Woman as the anchor for this supposed investigation of Roxxon is great if not only for the fact that their association with her makes them legitimate heroes to an extent. This experience has really changed them all for the better and you can see that Bendis is really trying to bring out the best in all of them now that they have the opportunity to do more.

Overall, Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 should be what puts these heroes to the test when standing against what very well may be their end. Between Cloak, Dagger, and Bombshell, they really got all the characterization they could have needed in this issue. It’s all about progression for those like themselves and all for this moment which we hope isn’t their last. The style of Dave Marquez again is very welcomed. His attention to details between the characters and the environment is on point. Then aside from that the coloring is clean with a lot of variation for depth.

Score: 8.3/10