Egg Cave - a free hatching game

To start, all ou need is a email address to set up an account. You select an egg from the homepage, name it and then it is yours. Then you need to develop the creature by placing its code (available from the "Your cave" page) on websites or forums that you visit. As people view or click on it, the creature will develop.

You have a maximum limit of 100 creatures at any time, which limits things for collectors, and can steal ten eggs per day. However eggs will die off if not fed (more on that below). To add more variation to the game, the Ark City section under "Explore" offers a range of new options to work with.

Creatures in Egg cave develop by receiving three kinds of attention Views, Click and Feeds. All of these will help increase a creature's level. However, only one of each type of attention will help it hatch and develop into the next stage.e.g. a Macaw egg I picked up reached level 200 from views without hatching, as only Feeds help this creature type hatch.

Here is a summary:

Some creatures can grow just by Views. This means every time someone loads a page with the image on it, the creature develops. Using it as an Avatar or a non-clickable image on a webpage can therefore get it a lot of views quickly. However Twitter or apps that only allow links not images, won't really help it.

The Rosse on the right is a creature that grows by views. You don;t need to click it - you've helped it grow just by loading the page!

A click is where someone sees the link or image for the creature and clicks on it, going to the creature's page. Each Click allows the creature to progress a stage. The Caiman on the right requires 200 clicks to grow up.

Since you need a clickable link, displaying the image only won't help. However, places where you can only put a link - like Twitter or messaging Apps - can be very useful.

Feeds are the hardest type of creatures to grow. To feed a creature, you need to click on it, and then feed it one of the three offered foods on the page. However, you can only feed it once a day.

The Macaw on the right grows by feeds. To prgress though stages you need to feed him.

There is a good way to get at least one feed easily. There is a "Food shop" in Arc City where you can arrange for someone to feed your creatures daily. However this does cost in the game currency.

At the time of writing, I have recently started playing Egg Cave. It all began on a forum where, attracted by one of these huge yet colourful eggs in another poster's signature, I clicked on it. Shortly afterwards I was getting my own...

It has a nice evolution mechanism, but here are a few issues. In most games, once adult, creatures do not die. In Egg Cave creatures which are not feed daily have a chance of dying once their happiness drops low enough, (a nice euphamism to avoid saying "starve to death") and if there is an exception for adults it isn't stated.

The artwork and general feel of the game means that it is aimed at younger players than most hatching games. The challenge rating for achievements like views is not hard to reach for older players who work online or are experienced players. On the other hand, the daily feeding requirement eans that once you have got them up to standard keeping the creatures alive can be tricky, and also makes it unsuitable for players who may not be on their PC daily.

The Ark City shops are a nice touch, as are creature backgrounds and food shops, although to be honest they did remind me somewhat of Neopets. The game is free to play and requires no fee, although it does have a merchandise store which helps support it.

Overall, it's a nice game, not greatly challenging, but with reasonable artwork a nice feel and some good ideas. Worth a look for anyone getting tired of their current game, or who simply wants something different. If I didn't think it was a good game, I'd never have done the lens.

However, there is a version 2 now in Beta, so all my comments may change when that comes out. I will look forward to it.