[b]Note:[/b] An awesome friend gifted me a copy of this game. ^^
[h1]Like being at an art museum (sort of). XD[/h1]
[h2]Introduction[/h2]
[i]Cats of Mona Lisa - A hidden object game[/i] is a cat-themed, hidden object game developed and published by Petite Games. It has a brief story intro, which is basically that some mischievous cats have found themselves in classic beautiful paintings created by legendary artists and it's up to you find them all. XD
As for the gameplay, there are 6 paintings each from 8 legendary artists, such as Van Gogh and Monet. In each painting, 10 cats are hidden, and there are the usual functions, like the zoom and hint ones. However, only full screen mode is available, and no Steam achievements or trading cards are present at the time of this review. Still, there's a classical soundtrack as well as cute meowing sound effects when you find and click on a cat. In addition, the game won't count towards a user's global total until it's out of "Steam is learning about this game".
[h2]Review[/h2]
Having played quite a lot of these cat-themed HOGs, I found [i]Cats of Mona Lisa[/i] to be an interesting twist. (Funnily enough, though, the painting of Mona Lisa never makes an appearance in the game.) I like that there's a bit of a story behind the cats being in these paintings, but for the curious cat in me (no pun intended lol), I would have liked to read a bit of backstory on how the cats end up trapped in these paintings or what happens to them after you find them all. However, the game provides some interesting history about the various artists, ranging from the 18th to 20th centuries, which I found to be fascinating.
Still, it's the gameplay that's of main interest. First, I wish that there had been the option to choose between full screen or windowed mode since I tend to prefer the latter. Regardless, finding the cats was quite doable. Even though they can be a bit difficult to find at times (since some of them blend really well with the paintings), I was able to find them all quickly. It helps to have both the zoom and hint functions available although only 3 hints are provided per painting. Of course, I wish that Steam achievements were available, especially since they tend to be par for the course for these types of HOGs. This doesn't bother me too much since I like to enjoy games and I think that achievements are a nice bonus (but unnecessary). I can understand if some might be disappointed by their absence.
As for the art, it goes without saying that it's beautiful. The paintings are classics, and looking at them reminds me of fond memories of when I'd visit various art museums with my dad. Even though I'm a terrible artist (I think that writing is my better strength ^^), I appreciate wonderful works of art that have been carefully crafted by people of exceptional talent. Well, I wish I could have taken screenshots of these paintings, but apparently, that function is disabled, so you'll have to rely on screenshots from the game's Steam store page.
With the music, the tracks are truly lovely and relaxing to listen to. They're all from the classical or Romanticism periods, so you can listen to timeless works by Vivaldi and Mozart. These tracks are perfect for playing the levels and finding all those cute kitties, and they really give off that air of being in a classy art museum.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Overall, would I recommend [i]Cats of Mona Lisa - A hidden object game[/i]? If you enjoy hidden object games, especially cat-themed ones, have an appreciation for classical works, and/or don't mind the lack of Steam achievements, then I think this is worth taking a look. Granted, it is on the short side, as it took me around 30 minutes to complete all of the levels. For the asking price, it might be a bit pricey if you're adept at finding hidden object items quickly, so I'd recommend waiting for a good sale. Still, I had fun, and it was worth spending a bit of time to try it out. ^^
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