Spy Mouse

Spy Mouse (stylized and marketed as SPY mouse) is a video game developed by Firemint for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The game was originally released in August 2011 by Electronic Arts. Shortly after being launched, it quickly became the most popular app on the iOS App Store.[1] Since May 4, 2015, the game is no longer available from the App Store and the Google Play Store. After the release of iOS 11, all 32-bit apps including Spy Mouse no longer function.

Spy Mouse
Developer(s)Firemint
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Platform(s)iOS, Android, Windows Phone
ReleaseAugust 25, 2011
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Gameplay

Mr. Squeak, also known as Agent Squeak, is a spy mouse trying to get as much cheese as possible while avoiding various cats, who will chase or harm him if he is spotted. The player uses line-drawing (similar to the game Flight Control) to direct Agent Squeak through the levels. Players travel along a path by each building as they play each subsequent level. Cheese will slow the player down, causing them to be more vulnerable. If any one of the cats happens to catch Mr. Squeak, he will be defeated, and the player will have to start over the level or the part of the level they were on.

Players can use power-ups to help them, such as chilies, which increase speed, or balloons, which also increase speed by decreasing the weight of the cheese Mr. Squeak is carrying. The player can also use power-ups purchased from "Digger's Shop", which help the character get through the level more easily. To get power-ups purchased from the shop, they must use cheese they earned from previous levels they completed to pay for them. If the player does not have enough cheese, they can purchase it as an in-app purchase. One item in Digger's Shop is Kiska the Cat, an option that allows the player to skip a level and move on to the next one. However, this option does not award the player with any cheese they usually earn at the end of a level.

There are seven sets of approximately ten levels, each taking place in a different "world". The first world is titled "Prologue". This world introduces the player to many elements of the game including cheese, cats, etc. The rest of the worlds each take place in a unique location: the suburbs, an area with many factories, a village filled with ninja cats, an inner city, a town home to ghost cats, and a tropical area spiraling a volcano. Levels are each set in different building or area. Sometimes levels have more than one part to them. Some levels have hidden areas, which can provide the player with score-increasing cheese crumbs, power-ups, or dossiers that reveal information about elements in the game. A few levels have hidden exits, that can cause a player to skip a level while still being awarded with cheese. However, when a player uses a hidden exit, they must play a hidden level to move on to the next level. If a player draws a path on the map that does not go towards the main path where levels are located, they will unlock a secret level. At the end of each world, there is a boss where a player must follow a cat named Fluffy without getting spotted. In the second part, Mr. Squeak will have to defeat a cat or a cat-controlled machine to win the level and unlock the next world.

On Touch Arcade, the game was rated 5 stars.[2]

As of November 2012, the game has been rated 4.5 stars on the iOS App Store, and 4 stars on the Windows Phone Store by users, but the game has only been rated 2.9 stars on Google Play.

Cats
  • Home cat: This cat is the first cat introduced in the game. It has light brown fur and is easy to evade since it does not run fast and can be very clumsy. They appear in all of the worlds. A home cat is the boss in the Prologue, Suburbs, and Ghost Town boss levels.
  • Alley cat: This cat is the second cat introduced in the Suburbs world. They are very fast, not very clumsy, have black fur, and are hard to evade. They appear in many levels and appear in every world except the Prologue world. An alley cat is the boss in the Factories boss level.
  • Blind cat: This cat is the third cat introduced in the Suburbs world. It does not chase Mr. Squeak because it has poor vision and only walks in its drawn path by being very clumsy. However, it can eat him if he walks right to it. Although it does not appear in many levels, it appears in every world except the Prologue and factories worlds.
  • Ninja cat: This cat is introduced in the Ninja Village world. It has blue fur and wears a red headband. When it spots Mr. Squeak, it throws three shurikens at him. It does not chase Mr. Squeak unless he has a ball of string, fish, or cheese. If Mr. Squeak has cheese, the stars it throws might land on the cheese without any damage to it instead. It appears in the Ninja Village and Inner City worlds and is the boss in the Ninja Village boss level.
  • Thief cat: This cat is introduced in the Inner City world. It behaves like the house cat, but steals cheese from Mr. Squeak and places it in a spot marked with a paw-print. It appears in the Inner City world and every world after it.
  • Ghost cat: This cat only appears in the Ghost Town world. Although it is the slowest cat in the game, it can walk and see through walls, meaning Mr. Squeak can only avoid it by hiding in a shadowy area. There are two types of ghost cats: blue ghost cats and green ghost cats. The difference between them is that green ghost cats are slower than blue ghost cats.
  • Jungle cat: This cat only appears in the Volcano world. It has light blue fur and wears a light brown mask. It does not chase Mr. Squeak but throws darts at him that might poison him if they land on him. If a dart lands on Mr. Squeak, he turns green and walks slower than he usually does, and the cat that threw the dart will chase him like a house cat does.
  • Lava cat: This cat only appears in the third part of the level "Red Hot" in the Volcano world. Its entire exterior appears to be made out of lava. It acts like a house cat, but can walk through lava pools. It is the boss in the Volcano world.
  • Fluffy: The primary antagonist of the game, Fluffy has white fur, wears a purple collar, and only appears in the boss levels. In each world, the boss level is marked with a white cat that resembles Fluffy. This location has a building with a statue of Fluffy on top of it. If you win the boss level, the statue of Fluffy changes to a statue of Mr. Squeak. In the first part of a boss level, Mr. Squeak must follow Fluffy all the way to the second part of the boss level without getting caught by her. If he does get caught, he is "busted" and must start over from a specific part of the level. When she spots Mr. Squeak in the second part of the boss level, she tells him that she was expecting him and leaves. After this, Mr. Squeak must defeat a cat or a machine controlled by a cat to win the boss level.

Bosses
  • Great Expectations: This boss level features a boss with a fast moving machine. Once you are on your path, even though a normal cat might not be able to see you, he knows where you are. At the end of the level, he is defeated by slipping on oil and crashing into the wall.
  • Knives & Forks: This level will feature a similar boss to Great Expectations, except this boss will be throwing knives and forks. You will have two mouse holes to make it easier. There are also two blue targets that will shield you. To win the game, you have to get the boss to hit both blue targets with a knife or fork. A blue laser beam will appear in the middle of the screen and the boss will get fried.
  • The Cleaner: This level features a new boss in a suit with a vacuum. In order to win, you have to push a series of buttons leading up to a dynamite button which will lure a stick of dynamite down a conveyor belt. The cat will suck it up in his vacuum and fall into a swimming pool.
  • Throwing Stars: This boss is a ninja cat that has a machine that throws ninja stars. It will shoot at three different locations and try to hit you. There is a series of targets that might help the boss hit you. Unfortunately for the boss, he left the buttons that rotate the targets out there too. The game is won by angling the targets so that they hit a glass case covering the yellow button. By switching the red and yellow buttons, you will make it so that when the stars are shot at the top position, they will hit the cat.
  • Nobody's Lunch: In this level, you battle a Kant cat inside its digestive system. When you reach the cheese, there will be a wave of stomach acid summoning up a burp. Stay one step ahead of the stomach acid and you should wind back through the maze. The cat will burp you and the cheese out.
  • Hide in Sheet: On this level you will face a house cat with a sheet over his head pretending to be a ghost cat. The lights will go out when Fluffy leaves. During the level you will only be able to see the area around Mr. Squeak and the whole screen in occasional lightning flashes. To win this level, you must press a series of buttons leading up to a red button with an exclamation mark on it. When you press that button, a fan will start and blow off the boss' sheet.
  • Volcanic Villain: In this level, you will encounter a boss who shoots fire at you. To win the level, you must press two buttons to create a bridge to a picture of a sun. Once you get to the picture of the sun, flames will rise in the back of the room and the boss will fall off his floating leaf.

Reception

The game has been rated 4.5 stars on Gamezebo[3] and was listed as #4 on their Best iPhone Games of 2011.[4]

See also

References
  1. Parker, Jason. "Spy Mouse already a hit in the iTunes App Store". CNet. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  2. Nicholson, Brad. "Spy Mouse Review at Touch Arcade". Touch Arcade. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  3. "Spy Mouse Review on Gamezebo". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  4. "Best iPhone Games of 2011 at Gamezebo". Gamezebo. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
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