I recently downloaded an iPad game for cats by Hiccup for Luna to try out. For a cat that spends a lot of time surrounded by technology, including the iPad, she is quite reluctant to touch it, so I wasn’t quite sure how she would react.

The game features a little mouse that resembles a cat toy scurrying around the screen. When the cat (or human) hits the mouse, it emits a little squeak and the player receives points; and the process repeats. That’s it – very simple. I started it up for Luna, and she immediately went to tracking the mouse intently, her little head shifting back and forth in deliberate motions. Tentatively, after a while, she started to paw at it, and eventually managed to pounce on the mouse. She seemed to be quite enjoying it, though she was still a little nervous and often backed away from the device after a pounce.

Here a brief excerpt of her first day of playing:

This is really just a little diversion for both of us to enjoy together, Luna playing with a virtual toy that draws her attention, and my taking delight in watching her do so. But this is clearly a demonstration of user engagement in the app space, for both cats and humans. Sometimes simplicity wins out.

I set up the game again in the office/studio while writing this article, and managed to get a brief iPhone video of Luna’s play. As one can see, she has gotten a bit more confident, even aggressive with it.

This does not seem to be a good game to play a small cluttered space.

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Weekend Cat Blogging #321 is hosted by Pam with Coco, Patchouli and Smudge at Pam’s Sidewalk Shoes.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by CAT SMRT.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging will be hosted here at CatSynth next weekend, so do check then and submit your cat-related blog posts. New participants are always welcome.