Game Sales to Benefit Shelter Animals

Gamemaker GiantCrayon is donating $1 to the ASPCA for every copy of Shivering Kittens that is sold in March and April. Photo courtesy GiantCrayon.

The team that created a new kitten-themed iPhone game is made up of cat and dog lovers, so the idea to partner with an animal-welfare group in a fundraising campaign came easily, according to Tim Goggin of GiantCrayon Games.

The San Diego-based company unveiled a new promotion to help raise money for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals through sales of GiantCrayon’s new Shivering Kittens iPhone game. For every copy of the puzzle game sold during March and April, the company will donate $1 to the ASPCA.

Shivering Kittens challenges players to arrange falling blocks — similar to the classic Tetris video game — to free animated kittens stuck in a Minnesota winter. The more ice blocks players connect, the more kittens they save and the more points they earn.

The game features sound effects designed to please cat lovers, said Goggin, vice president of marketing and sales for GiantCrayon. “There’s a very addicting ‘meow’ when the kittens are freed,” he said.

For those players who want to intensify the playing experience, the game includes 10 increasingly difficult levels. At level zero, no ice blocks appear on the screen. At level 10, a high stack of blocks appears.

There’s also a soundtrack made especially for the game and features an eclectic mix of '80s music, Goggin said. Shivering Kittens is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch on the iTunes App Store for $2.99.

“We really want this to do well,” Goggin said. “We want to give as much as we can to the ASPCA.”

Ed Sayres, president and CEO of the ASPCA, said that even though Shivering Kittens is just for fun, in reality, the game can help save the lives of countless animals. “Now, just by playing this virtual game,” he said, “animal lovers everywhere can help the ASPCA continue that work.”

A preview of the game can be found on YouTube.