Cranky Cat

Cranky Cat is a color-matching puzzle game that borrows elements from Bust-a-Move with a steampunk motif. Cranky Cat has numerous modes of gameplay.

Different-colored bubbles fly toward the center of the display. The player can rotate the steam-powered cogwheel with the touch screen to align the like-colored bubbles. When three bubbles of the same color are touching, they'll pop, flinging any attached bubbles away from the core and back. If the bubbles don't stay within the bounds, the player must start the level again.

The player can also make use of special bubbles: The Grenade, which explodes all colored bubbles within a given radius; The Daisy Chain, which strategically bursts all bubbles of one color on the board; and The Prism, which changes to the color of whatever bubble it touches. There are also the unbreakable Brick pieces which serve as obstacles.

There are three modes of gameplay: Story, Puzzle and Infinite (which itself has three subtypes).

Story Mode consists of 144 hand-designed levels within five packs, which ramp up in difficulty. Players must strategically line up the bubbles to burst everything on screen. They’ll also want to defeat the levels as quickly as possible — each level has a star rating based on completion time. Higher ratings can earn players OpenFeint achievements. Story Mode also includes a narrated mini-comic explaining the game’s back story, about a grizzled, former pageant-winning kitten who creates a steam-powered contraption to devise a youth elixir.

Puzzle Mode also consists of 144 custom levels, but it requires more strategic thinking. Players are given a preselected bubble from the beginning, which they must accurately line up to cause a chain reaction of popping. Often there is only one solution to puzzles, which become more confounding as you progress.

Infinite Mode includes the choice of Random, which includes randomly generated levels; Hot Potato, which sends numerous rotating bubbles towards the center at once; and Lightning, which regenerates at random and speeds up over time, so players must survive as long as possible. Infinite Mode also includes a micro-comic starring Fluffington.

Finally, the game has a steampunk spin, featuring carnivalesque music, old-timey lingo and artwork inspired by Victorian-era patent illustrations and snake oil posters.