Poöf vs the Cursed Kitty Review

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Fun-loving, simple arcade games are hard to come by these days. Thankfully, Arkedo Studio and Nedo Entertainment saw fit to release Poöf vs the Cursed Kitty, a tower defense platformer with an adventurous puppy protagonist and a cutesy, anime-eyed kitty to defend.

You’ll be playing as Poöf, a daring little pup who is trying to protect a tied up Kitten that lays Golden Eggs. That’s right, she lays eggs for you. A Twisted Wizard (and hardcore gamer) has tied the Kitten up in a dungeon, where an endless onslaught of enemies approach, attempting to get at the Kitten. It’s up to Poöf to thwart these advancing monsters. The only hope both Kitten and Poöf have is for both of them to stay alive long enough for Poöf to obtain The Holy Gröwl, which will break the spell that binds the Kitten, and they can escape with their lives.

Each new Quest in a Chapter is actually just new objectives on the same level, such as killing 25 enemies, or getting a X15 Combo bouncing from enemy to enemy. The dungeon you’re in never changes, so if you were hoping for different levels each turn with a whole new theme, be warned: it’s just the same level over again, but with unlockable background, music, or costume changes. It also means that once an objective is complete, there’s nothing else for you, and aside from Leaderboards, there isn’t a real reason to return to the game once it’s been beaten. While Poöf vs the Cursed Kitty is a bit repetitive, the game itself plays like a basic platformer mixed with a tower defense game, providing challenges that become pretty hard to achieve, and a fast-paced injection of enemies, making for a much more difficult gameplay than its cutesy cartoon graphics would have you believe.

At the end of every Quest, you’ll get a Token to spend on a new ability. This can be anything from a droplet of golden feces that slows your enemies down, flaming swords that slices foes into the afterlife, or an electrocution tower that zaps your adversaries into oblivion. Once you’ve unlocked an ability, little bubbles with the said ability will pop up randomly on the field, and if you jump to the item you can then use it once against an enemy. Don’t worry, you won’t have to use it right away, as Poöf can carry multiple items that trail behind him and won’t go away until you decide to use it.

Another way to kill your enemies is by bopping them on the head by jumping on them. Keep in mind, some enemies are stronger, and will take more than one bop to eliminate. Poöf also has a health meter that starts at three hearts, and these hearts can also be collected in the battlefield. As an added help, the Kitten lays eggs that go down a pipe and land in the middle of the level. These eggs can take out all the enemies currently alive and on the level if you reach it. That’s not to say more enemies won’t come, but this is a great advantage if you are being overwhelmed with mobs, as one monster reaching the Kitten means certain death.

Sound effects in the game perfectly fit, from the eighties-themed battle music, to the little yelps Poöf makes when he gets hit, or the tambourine and flute music that lets you know you died, everything feels fresh and fun to the ears. The sound effects pop and while you won’t hear any actual voice acting, the game simply doesn’t need it.

Other than the basic story, and the generalized tutorial information, Poöf vs the Cursed Kitty is a pick-up-and-go, or try the same objective over and over in a frenzy to stay alive, and not a lot of focus is needed as far as deep planning or emotional attachment. There’s a lighthearted feel to the overall game, from the monsters with their big beady eyes or giant fuzzy bodies, to the adorable protagonist pup with his big white nose and different hats (such as a Link hat from The Legend of Zelda), protecting the hot-pink Kitten with her big blue eyes (who also changes costumes at random). The light-heartedness of the visuals combats the repetitiveness of the game; adding colourful enemies and items make the dank stone walls and platforms in the level feel less dreary, and the changing backgrounds (from regular dungeon, to forest and trees, and more) make for a fun playthrough.

For an investment that is half the price of a movie ticket (approximately $6.99 give or take a Steam sale or two), this game will give you at least an hour or two of skill tuning and adventure. The game doesn’t expand its walls too far, which adds to monotony and lessens replay value, but the fun, happy-go-lucky feel to this fast-paced tower defense platform game is sure to give gamers a great little run for their money. Poöf vs the Cursed Kitty is entertaining on a few different levels, and is sure to polish up your reaction time, and keep you smiling.