Catch Flex Review (PC & Mobile)

Catch Flex was never going to dominate the dance floor or give the likes of Beat Saber a run for its money. Tap its way into the hearts of an active crowd, perhaps, but never score a perfect ten at a global dance recital. Having spent a bit of time with it, though, I realized that it didn’t have to reinvent the wheel to be classed as a passable earworm. It was a game that was perfectly happy to bop to the beat of its own drum. Even without the roar of a crowd—the lively audience or the flamboyancy of a high-class stage—it was more than capable of jiggling to its own rhythm. That was enough.

It didn’t take much for me to eat up the concept of “dancing” to the backdrop of my own front room. With the curtains drawn, the lights down low (or at least low enough to obscure the god-awful “moves” that I was busting out under the cover of darkness), it was something that I could simply unwind to for twenty or thirty minutes at a time. All I needed was an app to trace my steps, a choreographer to illuminate the moves, and a much-needed sense of rhythm to help me obtain enough points to conquer, or at least put my foot on the leaderboard.

I say dancing, when really I mean stomping and frantically hacking at red and blue cubes with two hands. Because let’s face it, Catch Flex is more of a make-believe form of hallucinogenic combat than a traditional dance marathon. While a lot of the actions require you to move with a beat, most of the steps are carried out to the rhythm of an imaginary battle. Think Beat Saber, only without the light sabers and with a full-body weapon, and you should have a rough idea of what we’re talking about here. I suppose that’s all it is: dicing cubes, gliding ethereal waves, and occasionally jumping to evade an ultraviolet light of some sort. Simply, it involves cutting cubes, catching rings, kicking balls, and stomping to a techno beat.

Catch Flex deserves credit for its simplicity. Unlike most hardware-heavy dance games that require several pieces of equipment to operate, Catch Flex opts to lighten the load ever so slightly, with a browser-based level editor, an in-house app that tracks your movements, and a global leaderboard that allows you to accrue points and swagger your skills against the backdrop of a broader stage. Frankly, it doesn’t need to bring much more than that to convey its content. Moreover, as the app is free, and is simple enough to navigate, the game thankfully serves its purpose as a drop-in, drop-out experience that allows you to bust a move whenever the mood strikes.

While Catch Flex might not boast a star-studded catalog of tracks, it does cater to a good variety of genres, from house to electronic to techno, with an amplified BPM to ensure that every stomp, slide and sidestep is made to feel slick, stylish and satisfying. Granted, its base track list is a little barebones, but thanks to its in-game level editor, Catch Flex does give you a good chunk of material to explore and, if you’re willing, compose with your own two hands. And it’s a lot of fun to fool around with, too, with a simple-to-use browser-based editor that allows you to publish your own routines. Not that I was ever destined to be brilliant at orchestrating a coherent routine, mind you.

With thanks to its Versus mode, Catch Flex is an ideal game to jump into with a friend and punch out on the fly. Doubled up with a leaderboard and a convenient split-screen mode, it’s a great choice for those who simply want to chase a score or wage temporary wars with their friends. While it might not harbor a huge community of adoring fans, let alone an enormous platform to shed its weight on, it clearly has the potential to bring more to the table in the future. And I hope it does, given that it already has the framework, the in-house application and the capacity to host an infinite supply of tracks. It’s attracting the right crowd that’s the tough part.

If not an excuse to wave your arms about and stomp to a frantic melody, Catch Flex is a perfect choice for those who want to shed a few calories and enjoy the thrill of a cardio workout from the comfort of a front room. Hell, it’s a lot cheaper than a spin class, and it’s also cheaper than a monthly membership to your local gym, too. As you don’t need any technical hardware or secondary gear—a VR headset or a wrist guard, for example—it’s also an excellent choice for those who would soon rather jump into a quick session than spend their time configuring the fine details.

Again, Catch Flex is a much, much smaller game than the average big-budget dance franchise à la Just Dance or Dance Central, and so it’s best to take it all with a pinch of salt. You might not recognize the tracks, and you might struggle to adjust to the lighter gameplay elements and a hardware-less setup. Still, there’s a good entry-level rhythm game here that deserves to be heard. It’s convenient, chaotic, and surprisingly good for a quick workout.

Verdict

Catch Flex provides an entry-level rhythm chapter that takes the fundamentals of a Beat Saber clone and squashes its hardware-heavy elements into a simpler, far more convenient home-based experience that you could quite easily jump into and roll with on the fly. While lacking in star-studded track lists and grand settings, it serves its purpose as an affordable option for those looking to break a sweat in the heat of the moment. Here’s hoping that, with any luck, with the backing of an active community and a strong level selection, it’ll hold a candle to the likes of Beat Saber in the near future. Fingers crossed.