Games Check: Catch Me! (Early Access)-News

The hard-working Berlin indie team Byterockers’ Games is helping catch me for the sixth time in just 18 months GamersGlobal-Database one. So far all of his games have flown under my radar. So it’s high time for me to put a spotlight on the company and to sound out the youngest scion. If we catch him! catch me has just started Early Access and I’ve signed up with GG-User Henrik competent reinforcement brought onto the field.

On the UK map, the ferris wheel offers us many paths to the destination.

hash me I am spring!
The basic principle is quickly explained: On the playing field, which is only one screen each, three players chase the fourth figure, which in turn collects trophies. If the prey is caught, the catcher is the new target. So the rules sound a little like the schoolyard games and are just as intuitive. The movement repertoire is small and crisp: jumps, wall runs and elegant gliding. But that’s enough to spread hectic. Hovering in particular is a powerful tool for catching or avoiding enemies. There are also electric shocks, trapdoors and the peculiarities of the different maps. On the Steam page, the team proudly mentions cats being thrown at the opponents. However, nothing of this can be seen at the start of Early Access, the velvet paws are to be submitted later.

As already mentioned, each map has its own elements: The London Ferris Wheel allows for radical shortcuts across the map. In Greece, only the rooms of the house in which your own character runs and does gymnastics can be seen, while only the outer walls can be admired from the other buildings. There are push buttons and elevators on the US map to open or close shortcuts. And of course Germany has the most punctual railway to offer, racing across the map and constantly creating new routes. The individual characters that can be played all control themselves in exactly the same way and run across the maps without delay. The only advantage is for the player who uses the environment and doesn’t forget, like me, that a certain shortcut isn’t active at the moment. A round is usually over after a few minutes. All participants are credited with points for completing daily and weekly tasks in order to unlock characters and animations. Then it’s on to the next round.

There are many characters that we can unlock. Nothing changes except for the look.

Lazy bots
Training Mode teaches you all the basics in a minute by letting you hunt a single bot. We can explore the maps in practice rounds against three AI comrades before we throw ourselves into the supreme discipline of multiplayer battles. If there are not enough opponents available, bots willingly fill up the field. However, their level varies between standing in place and finding holes on the map where there aren’t any. Unfortunately, there are no setting options for their abilities. Hopefully Byterockers’ Games will improve this. But if there are enough players, the fun factor goes up immediately. I was able to do a few laps with Hendrik on the available maps and was allowed to watch my pulse beating as it boiled up. Even with additional bots involved, it’s a lot more fun when real people are behind the other characters. Speaking of switched-on bots: There is currently still a bug with which they leave the games after a few rounds and only the human players appear on the map. They are only there again after a complete restart of the game.

An exchange between the players does not take place via chat or microphone. Of course, in this constellation, in which everyone fights for themselves, it is not necessary. Still, I miss the atmosphere of Anno Dunnemal a bit, when the players were still yelling at each other behind the keyboards and joysticks. The roadmap announces this feature for November 2022. Until then, each player screams for himself.

The developers have done a few more things with the roadmap. Very important: new cards.

Conclusion
The merry hash-me-hunt Catch Me! currently still suffers from the small selection of cards. The fact that the players unlock different characters as a reward is probably only relevant on a screen size of at least 45 inches because of the underlying equal opportunities. Because then you can see more than just color spots. Byterockers’ Games will have to show how long the concept lasts with future updates. The roadmap for the next six months offers a colorful smorgasbord of new characters, new skills, animations and maps. Steam achievements are scheduled to unlock in September alongside the cat mentioned above. From January 2023, features such as a map editor and a console launch including crossplay are on the program. If the support of the community goes so far. And that would be good for the game, because a round in between is a lot of fun with the right players.

• 2D multiplayer hunt
• Single player, multiplayer
• For beginners to professionals
• Price: 4.99 euros on Steam
• In one sentence: Fun multiplayer chase for in between, which threatens to become monotonous in the long run