Lonely Cat Games -  A backgrounder on the popular company- Lonely Cat Games

Lonely Cat Games (LCG) was conceived in 2000. The company’s goal was to develop and produce avant-garde PC games. But unfortunately, the plan failed in 2004, switching the company’s direction in creating mobile software development, where LCG presently distributes various top-quality products for an extensive range of mobile applications based on Microsoft Windows operating systems. The company now specializes in multimedia applications both in audio and video, e-mail, networking, web programming, and development for Windows and Symbian Mobile platform in C++.

The company concentrates on its own application design and development by supplying products to users on its web page or through related sites. One of their products, Mau-Mau, is one popular card game found on your mobile phone screen that facilitates two to four players. Four major players can participate in the game since a user can play against three AI opponents. The player may select in the menu a different quantity of players ranging from two to four and decide which players should be present.

In Mau-Mau, each player is given a set of seven cards from the deck but you can change this from the game's options menu if you prefer. The player's cards are found at the bottom of the screen. Like most card games, the game is turn-based and each time players take it in turns to lay down a card or take a card from the stack. The goal of the game is to dispose of all the cards from the hand. The first person to chuck out all their cards is the sure winner. For more fun, the players may opt to use a number of special cards available in the game.

The winner scores points after winning the round and the game moves on with the next turn. The game is over if one of the players achieves over 100 points during the tournament. Fascinatingly, the opponents have animated parts of their faces in order to showcase their sad emotions when they lose. And each player has their own way of conveying enjoyment when they get to lay down one card.

Mau-Mau generates a charming graphic interface for the game itself. LCG obviously designed Mau-Mau suitably before its release and it doles out as an example of how even less expensive smartphone games should be carefully planned before they're ready for a commercial release. The interface itself is great and the cards are laid out visibly with the easy to distinguish vibrantly color-coded suits. With just one or two shifts of the direction pad and the game continues along promptly. The card highlighter routinely leaps to the correct card if it's the only one that can be played, a pleasant touch that inserts into the streamlining. The options menu features a built-in manual for the game’s guidelines and diverse settings including the music and effects volume. You can also choose the quantity of cards dealt at the beginning, the number of other computer players, and the amount of points you play up.

The graphics aren't overpowering but they're fine to look at and innovative. There are animated sequences when the cards are dealt, but if you hit the direction pad's button it hops directly to the start of the game. The major setback with the graphics is that they're 176 x 208 pixels even if you have a higher resolution screen.

The music in the background is low profile and goes with the dark feel of the game’s atmosphere. Mau-Mau is fun to play and it's so easy to get started that it's preferably suited to filling in time. It might be just a simple card game, but it’s capable of getting players hooked every minute.