Steemgaming is a series where I review videogames I purchased with steem. Today I will review:

--THE BATTLECATS POP!--

Price: $10

The Battlecats Pop is a small game for the Nintendo 3DS that is based on a popular mobile game called The Battle Cats. Normally you shouldn’t expect much from a phone game ported to a console, but this one will surprise you. It’s actually really well done.

--GAMEPLAY--

Your goal is simple: help cats conquer the universe. It’s an addicting side scrolling tower defense strategy game in which you summon various types of cats to defeat the enemy’s army and destroy their base. But we’re not talking about regular cats. No!! On the contrary:

One of the biggest charms of this game is that the cats are beyond bizarre and there are many of them. You’ll never know what sort of cat you’ll unlock next. And better yet, you can evolve them to make them stronger and weirder! It’s a bit like Pokemon with cats. Gotta catch 'em all, meow!

You can select which cat to send out by selecting it on the touch screen. Once it’s out on the battlefield, it will attack anything in its path and attempt to destroy the enemy’s tower once it reaches it. Different enemies have different weaknesses and different cats have different powers, so carefully choosing which cats to use is important if you want to conquer the universe.

Cat food is the main currency. You earn it by completing missions. You can use it to upgrade your cats, unlock rare cats, get more energy or to summon the cat god to give you bonuses on the battlefield.

Now, let’s talk about the energy meter, the game's main downfall.

This is a feature which is standard in many phone games but has no place here. I honestly have no idea why they left it in. Every mission costs a bit of energy and once you run out, you have to wait for it to refill. Here’s how to get around it: always carry at least three cans of cat food with you. For three cans, you can fully refill the energy meter instantly and cat food is easy peasy to get. If you run out, just farm the first stage for a while and you’ll have a stack of cans in no time. By doing this, you should be able to keep playing indefinitely.

--SO IS IT WORTH PLAYING?--

My rating: 9/10. It is unique and very addicting despite its lack of depth, like tetris. It’s cute, it’s quirky, but most importantly it’s FUN. I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT! The 3DS version is a real gem, but the mobile version is micro-transaction hell. It begs for your money so often that it makes the game nearly unplayable. I'd stick to the 3DS if I were you. Thank you steemit for helping me buy this game!