Neopets

The New Neopets App Is Just As Addicting As Destruct-O-Match

Guys, this is wayyy better than free omelettes, trust me. Neopets -- don't even act like your inner child doesn't joyously jump up and down at the mere mention of the name -- is back with their first-ever mobile game, an app that will make your commute far more tolerable.

"Ghoul Catchers" is a simple but addicting matching game that lives on iOS, Facebook and, starting next week, Android. Players team up with three ghoul-catching Neopets to banish phantoms from haunted houses.

"The beloved fans of Neopets deserve new opportunities and new ways to interact with a brand they've grown to love," David Lord, JumpStart CEO, wrote to MTV News in an email. You remember those super-fun but totally educational JumpStart computer games, right? The same company acquired Neopets last year.

Being quite the Neopets fan myself, I downloaded "Ghoul Catchers" this morning and spent entirely too much time battling my way through ghost-filled mansions with the help of a loyal petpet by my side.

Neopets

The logistics of the game are pretty similar to the glory that is Destruct-O-Match. You enter each haunted house and rid the premise of its demons by matching up ghouls of the same color. Every time you make a match, you earn points.

Neopets

In order to move on to the next house (aka the next level), you need to earn a certain number of points within a certain number of moves. For example, for level one I had to earn 1,000 points in four moves. Right now the game has 40 levels to hone your ghostbusting skills.

Neopets

As I moved up levels, I gained different tools -- stuff with fancy names like Ghoul-Be-Gone and Tailchaser -- to aid in my mission. The obstacles also got harder, with the ghouls unexpectedly shifting places every couple of moves.

Neopets

I successfully chased away the ghosts in 13 mansions before hitting a hiccup. Womp.

Neopets

I stopped playing at this point because (1) I didn't wanna pay, (2) my phone was dying and (3) anyone who walked past my cubicle probably thought I was wasting my work day away on my phone.

Neopets

The "Ghoul Catchers" fun extends to your IRL Neopets account, too. The game lets you earn Neopoints and exclusive items for the next time you log in at Neopets.com. (BTW, when was the last time you fed your Neopets? You should probs get on that.)

And as for what's to come for Neopets in the future?

"JumpStart will continue building on the success that Neopets has already achieved," Lord said. "We will work to build more stories, activities and events that the users are accustomed to seeing. In addition, JumpStart will continue to drive Neopets to new platforms (i.e. mobile, Facebook, etc.) so that the loyal Neopet fans can interact even more with the brand they love so much."