Jump in Mice

Jumpin Mice is a lively rescue arcade game in which you help a stream of little mice reach safety. The mice set off from a high spot, walk along and jump into the air, and your job is to catch them and bounce them across to the safe nests waiting at the left and right sides of the screen. You control the nets that catch them, moving them into position so each mouse lands, bounces and flies in the right direction with a satisfying net-hit sound. If you miss, a hungry cat is waiting below: you hear a meow and a swallow, and the mouse is lost. A lives counter shows how many mice you can afford to lose, and when they are used up a game over sound plays and the final screen appears. The pace builds as you play, because the rate at which mice appear rises and several can be on screen at the same time, so you must watch the whole scene and choose which one to save first. A score counter rises with every mouse delivered to a nest, and the game keeps a top-five table of names and scores on the computer. The cartoon style is cheerful and the cat is amusing rather than scary, so it suits all ages. Background music and clear sound effects give instant feedback on every catch and miss. Jumpin Mice runs at 20 frames per second in a 657 by 500 window and is a fine addition to the Arcade category for players who like fast reflexes and rescue-style challenges.