MouseCraft (Nintendo Switch) Review

MouseCraft is a perfect example of what you see is what you get. With an ominous-looking cat in the background, players must guide a set of mice from the beginning to the end, all while positioning Tetris blocks to act as bridges, pits, or stairs. Ideally, the goal is to not kill the mice along the way. A typical level involves you having to study the best way to try to figure out how to use the limited number of blocks you have to arrange what ultimately amounts to stairs to help the mice autonomously run from the beginning to the end of the level.

Often this involves pits, huge gaps, deadly obstacles, or large walls to climb. For example, mice can only move up a single block at a time, so the player has to arrange blocks so they can climb over obstacles. With a wall of three blocks-high, maybe the best move might be using the 'L' block, rotating it on its side so it now functions as a long staircase. Perhaps a different method might be making a bridge so they never even fall into that pit.

One thing nice about this is how it is forgiving about trying things. One can let the mice run out at any time or try any block, and any mistake is a single button push away from being reset or rewound. It makes things easy and friendly to try different things for figuring out the puzzles. Ultimately, there is little depth to it all. Sure, there is a variety of traps or blocks that slowly come out as progress is made, but fundamentally, there is little difference between level 1 and the final levels beyond more complex puzzles. There is no story, no unlocks, nothing. Someone popping in on the final levels misses nothing from someone coming all the way from the beginning.

For what it is, this is competent. The issue is what it is - just a very simple title. It is kind of like a new Tetris instalment coming out. Yes, the fundamentals are sound, but there is just nothing there of any depth, and that is why people don't still play base Tetris in huge numbers. This feels like a throwback to the '90s video game scene where the novelty of the genre carried more of the day than any actual gameplay. It is fun for a little bit, but before long you will put it down and never think about it again.