App Of The Day: Spy Mouse

Firemint releases its first iPhone game as an EA subsidiary, and hopes for more line-drawing success.

Australian developer Firemint has been one of the independent success stories of the apps era, thanks to stellar sales of its Flight Control and Real Racing games. Not that it's independent any more: the studio was bought by EA in May 2011.

Spy Mouse had already been announced by then, but is now the first Firemint game to be released post-acquisition, published by EA. It is closer to Flight Control in its controls, although rather than planes, the focus here is on cats'n'mouse.

A spy mouse, to be specific, who has to avoid cats across more than 70 levels, while using gadgets and power-ups along the way, and collecting cheese. It's Tom and Jerry for the Apps generation.

The game uses the line-drawing mechanic that worked so well in Flight Control, and which was subsequently copied and adapted by a host of other games. Players trace their finger across the screen to guide Agent Squeak, avoiding the paths of the cats as he goes.

Firemint has also taken a leaf out of Rovio's Angry Birds book with the game's pricing. It costs 69p on the App Store, but there is an option to spend a further 69p via in-app payment on the 'Kiska' power-up, which performs a similar role to the Mighty Eagle in Angry Birds - helping players through a level they're having trouble with.