Towers N' Trolls Review

By Andrew Nesvadba, on February 23, 2012

Publisher: Ember Entertainment, Inc.
Genre: Strategy
Released: 23 Feb, 2012
Size: 55.3 MB
Price: FREE!

PROS

Delightfully colorful presentation; lighthearted fantasy theme that's easy on the eyes.
Relatively simple to control; occasional mis-taps don't detract from the game.

CONS

Weak interface design; odd use of Tekton Pro font and no indicators for upgrade benefits.
Randomized positioning of mines can make or break a perfect score.
Lacks inspiration for the genre; doesn't aspire beyond it visual presentation.

VERDICT

Towers N' Trolls is the kind of naturally occurring result that occasionally crops up in such a rich and densely populated genre - it's the sum of its forebears and instead of adding its own voice to the mix it sticks with applying a fresh coat of paint.

Full Review
App Store Info

While playing Towers N' Trolls by Ember Entertainment, I caught myself thinking, 'Nice! A tower defense game that goes back to the basics!'. Unfortunately, not long after that, I was still thinking the same thing, but this time it had a slightly more sarcastic edge to it. This may sound mean-spirited, but let me explain...

What you get in Towers N' Trolls is a tower defense title that acts as almost a text-book definition of how to execute a game in the genre. You have your basic tower types, each with their respective upgrades - these upgrades are sadly not outlined clearly, so it's up to trial and error to work out whether or not you get a damage, range, speed or increased effect from the money you invest.

Then you have your monsters, ranging from fast and squishy to slow and tanky, with a few in-between, though in a surprising twist, some will suicide themselves in to your towers to damage them, providing you with a cash-sink to distract you from upgrades or new tower placements.

Throw in a smattering of features already popularized in the genre including chests that can be opened by being destroyed (Ala, The Creeps), a few active traps that can be placed down to even the odds, zones that provide boosts to your towers and the occasional 'mine' and you've got Towers N' Trolls in a nutshell.

As a result, the game can be terribly addictive - this is not in question as the genre has claimed many a soul - however it's hard to remain excited about something that lacks inspiration. Towers N' Trolls' true contribution is its wonderful artwork, with colorful environments and smoothly animated foes, but this is only skin deep. This is a game for hardcore fans dying for content.

Screenshots