Earlier this year, Travian Games announced the development of Meerkatz Challenge, its side-scrolling puzzle platforming title that sees users guiding meerkats around obstacles to lead them to safety. Now, the game has officially gone live on iOS devices, and offers more than 50 levels of increasingly challenging gameplay.
In each level of Meerkatz Challenge, players are given an overview of their surroundings, and can observe the world for as long as they'd like before starting the level's timer. Each level has a particular set of available tools, like bouncing pads and stoppers (among others), but the overall goal is the same: to build a path for the meerkats to travel to their home in another area of the screen.
These tools must be used by the meerkats themselves, and are assigned to the screen using a series of taps. Players tap on the tool they'd like to place, and must tap on a meerkat to activate the tool when the meerkat is in the proper location. For a bounce pad, for instance, players would need to activate the bounce pad and tap on a meerkat when it's close to the edge of its current platform to actually place it. Stoppers, meanwhile, see meerkats becoming immovable boundaries, which stop others from walking off of cliffs or into other dangerous areas.
Once players are confident they've determined the level's solution, they can set things into motion. Meerkats walk automatically, only stopping when they've hit a wall or other obstacle. If non-lethal, the meerkats bounce off of the obstacles and start walking in the opposite direction. However, if they fall into water, over a cliff, or hit another lethal trap, the meerkat is lost. Players must save a specific number of meerkats in each stage, but can save more (where available) to earn bonus points.
At the end of each stage, players earn up to three stars depending on the number of tools they used to rescue the meerkats, the number of meerkats ultimately saved, and the time it took to complete the level. Gamers can replay stages to increase their high scores and earn more stars, and will eventually unlock different environments of levels, all within the overall African landscape.
"Meerkatz Challenge is designed to have broad appeal for gamers, animal lovers and puzzle fanatics," said Vera Frisch, game director for Meerkatz Challenge. "Not only is Meerkatz Challenge irresistibly adorable, but gamers will enjoy the challenge of strategically saving the mob of meerkats."
Meerkatz Challenge is available to download for $2.99 on iOS devices. The game does not offer in-app purchases. It will be updated with new locations and levels in future updates.
