Sometimes, people just need a break. After a long, tiring day at work or school, having a good couple minutes of downtime is just what one needs to take a breather. Of course, in today's age, where practically everyone uses a mobile device, much of this downtime is spent on binge watching media or playing games.

This is exactly the area where an upcoming game, aptly named "Jumping Kitty," comes in. As a game, "Jumping Kitty" manages to get the formula just right - it's simple enough to be addictive and challenging enough to keep players interested.

The game has its roots in China, from the humble workstations of three millennials. The group, known as Lemon Jam Studio, made a name for itself by developing a series of games that became massive hits in China's App Store. One of them, an action game set in a dream world called "Pursuit of Light," was dubbed App of the Week in China. During its peak, it was downloaded more than 280,000 times in a single day.

With a number of hit indie titles under their belt, Lemon Jam Studio is prepared to offer its newest title to date, and judging by the playability of the game, it seems like "Jumping Kitty" could very well be the team's newest hit.

We here at HNGN were fortunate enough to get a pre-release copy of the game, and during the time we were tinkering around with it, we ended up getting quite engaged with this little indie title. Here's our review of "Jumping Kitty!"

Platform

For its upcoming release, "Jumping Kitty" is set to be released on the iOS App Store. Since the game is specifically developed for mobile devices, however, a release for the Google Play Store would be coming soon.

The games, as well as their features, are completely identical for both platforms.

Sound

"Jumping Kitty" was really quite surprising when it came to the game's sound effects and background music. Of course, since the main purpose of the game is to save a cat that is jumping from one side of the water to the other, the sound effects are very cute.

The background music sets the mood pretty well too, being very light and soothing. It still sounds pretty much like an arcade game, but it manages to do so without being distracting, or worse, annoying. Overall, we found the music to be just right.

Graphics

The game was created using Unity 3D, so the graphics are pretty smooth. Due to the simple aesthetic of the game, even devices which spartan specs should be able to play the game without any problems. Indeed, this is one of the most lightweight games we have tried out, and it all works out to "Jumping Kitty's" advantage.

The movements of the titular cat, as well as the other visual aspects of the game, are very smooth, as proven by our tests, which involved installing the game on a rather underpowered Android device. Despite the device's limited capabilities, however, the game did not lag one bit.

Gameplay

Yes, the graphics are quite cute, and yes, the sounds and music are indeed very soothing. However, the main draw of the game still remains to be its gameplay. The goal of the game is simple. All the player needs to do is to guide the cat from one platform to the next. This is done by tapping the screen. Simple? Definitely. Easy? Not so much.

As the player racks up points, numerous obstacles appear onscreen, making it far more challenging to help the titular cat jump from one platform to the next. It is during these times, of course, that the game's addictive factor really kicks in. This could be seen in the users that the game was tested on, who ended up playing the game for extended periods of time.

Verdict

Indeed, "Jumping Kitty" is a simple game with very simple rules. Amid all its simplicity, however, lies a game which can give players lots of minutes, perhaps even hours, of genuine, wholesome fun. For those of us here who have tested the game, that does indeed seem to be the case.

"Jumping Kitty" is released by ZPLAY, a Chinese publisher dedicated to mobile games in the region. It is set for worldwide release in Apple's App Store on April 21. A release for the Google Play Store is scheduled soon.