Imagine for a minute that you are walking into a tunnel. The entire tunnel is comprised of rainbows, you can barely see. You feel as though you must walk down it, its imperative that you do, no matter what it takes. You know it might hurt you as you hear the sounds coming from ahead, you know it might even drive you mad, yet you feel you must do it. You’re scared, but you know the meaning of you existence is at the end of the tunnel. Do you turn back, or do you run in head on? This question may seem pointless, however it lets you know if you’re ready to play Psychocat: The Answer.
The central premise for Psychocat relies on a cat not dissimilar from Alice in Wonderland’s Cheshire Cat named Zag who is on a quest to learn the meaning of his existence. It advertises itself as, “the most evil game you will ever play” and when the developers said that they weren’t lying. Psychocat tortures the player continuously with its gameplay, primarily based on standard endless run mechanics: Zag runs down a rainbow tunnel rotating along the walls, jumping, and crouching to dodge the randomly generated obstacles that are constantly flying at you.
Though even that isn’t where Psychocat derives its main source of entertainment. Along the way through the tunnel you come across colored walls that you can’t dodge. When Zag hits one, dependent on the wall’s color, the controls are modified in some way. Red walls will invert left and right, blues invert up and down, pink which inverts both sets, and white which resets them to the original. This leads to a constant battle with the control mechanics to try and remember which set you are using.
Although Zag does change colors to remind the player of their current set, they will find it hard to focus on him while simultaneously trying to dodge oncoming obstacles. There are only 180 seconds before reaching “the answer”, however, it ends up taking hours longer due to the difficulty of the mechanics. Had the controls stayed the same for the entire experience it would have ended fairly fast, however the longer it runs on for the harder it will try to kill the player.
Reinforcing the cruelty by adding in more frequent obstacles, increasing the speed, and making the obstacles blend into the tunnel should all be frequently expected throughout the game. As if all of this weren’t enough, it even prevents the player from using the menu to quit before they have found the titular answer; which, does add even more to the tone of the experience. Forcing the player to go through extra steps to quit or making them go back to the game, making you feel as though some really is just trying to torture you.
Psychocat shines in its music; speeding along to a bizarre carnival indie soundtrack, it takes you for a journey through the world of Zag the cat. It features songs from Psychogoth and Brett Cahil lending an eerie tone as you first enter the main menu, and a feeling that you are about to be very confused. As the music syncs up to the tunnel, you begin to realize that this can only get more intense. At the 5 second mark you turn the corner the music speeds up, and the obstacles start to appear, they blend against this seemingly endless rainbow tunnel,and you begin to realize what you’re in for.
It’s addictive, in a way, you feel as though the answer must be found no matter what it takes, no matter how much time it wastes. This is the reason wouldn’t let my girlfriend play. Unfortunately, some things are better left alone and I too had to make the decision to stop and head to bed. Bottom line: Psychocat is addictive in a way! haven’t seen before, it’s not like Temple Run or Flappy Bird, partially because it’s based on the PC, but also because you know there’s an end; you have a tangible reward: The Answer. “What is The Answer? ” you ask? That’s for you to find out.
Psychocat is cheap and was developed very obviously in someone’s basement, considering the quality that not a bad thing, it doesn’t detract from it. It’s a great time and makes one feel as though the world has no meaning outside of figuring out what’s at the end of that tunnel. This is, for some, a very bad idea to pursue, on the other hand, for others it is an excellent journey through a bizarre frame of mind that makes you feel like your brain is melting into a pool of colorful mush while you pursue the glorious end to this race against time. “Is the effort to win worth it?
I hear you cry, absolutely, unlike Temple Run, Flappy Bird, or other endless races, it has a goal; something worth achieving other than wasting your time, and no micropayments. So double bonus. Psychocat is tedious, but fun. It has a nice soundtrack combined with confusing, but worthwhile gameplay constantly keeping you on your toes. These things keep it entertaining allowing it value regardless of its simple plot and tedious gameplay. It’s a great value for the 99 cents it costs, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap, fun game to play for a few minutes or a few hours at a time. Thanks for reading, Dylan