King launches live multiplayer card mobile game Shuffle Cats

Candy Crush Saga publisher King has launched its first live multiplayer card game Shuffle Cats.

The game is a new mobile version of the traditional card game Rummy, and it represents an attempt by King to expand beyond its Candy Crush match-3 games to a new genre and new style of gameplay.

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Shuffle Cats is set in the 1920s across the rooftops of London, with a cast of feline characters who are competitive street cats. They vie to win their way to the best card clubs in town and progress along Lucky Lane. I’ve played a couple of games, and it has cute, cheerful music and flashy reward graphics.

The free-to-play game is is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Facebook. Based on Rummy, the game starts as each player is dealt seven cards each. Players seek to create as many Melds as possible on the game board, with the first player to score 10 points winning the game. Winners will earn Gems, the key currency of Shuffle Cats, which can be used to gain entry into one of the eight Card Clubs on Lucky Lane.

Shuffle Cats introduces characters such as Montie, the friendly and helpful mentor to new players, and Walter, the mini-game master and Lucky Charm maker. The game also boasts a range of new features, multiple game modes, and social chat mechanics, enabling players to communicate as they face each other over the game board.

Carolin Krenzer, head of studio at King London, said in a statement, “Launching Shuffle Cats is an exciting move for us, especially as it’s our first live multiplayer card game. We’re always looking to broaden and diversify our portfolio and create new, engaging games — Shuffle Cats serves as a perfect example of this. It’s also great news for those of us with a competitive streak as you can now test your card skills against players from all over the world in real time and communicate with opponents through the new chat features.”

King has more than 200 games, and it had 409 million monthly active users in the second quarter of this year. By far, its most successful game is Candy Crush Saga.