Clowns.
Ever wonder exactly why everyone eventually goes from gazing in wonderment as children to becoming utterly terrified and eventually homicidal towards these jolly painted entertainers?
Well in this game it is because they are actually aliens.
No, not foreigners covertly hopping the border from Clownopia but invaders from another planet hoping to take our young and use their drool as tasty ingredients for their culinary designs. You know as a parent, they really wouldn’t have to invade. They could just stop in and take all the drool they want, kids tend to be drool factories. This didn’t need to become violent.
Through 36 levels you will defend your precious infant saliva – tower defense style – with an assortment of circus performers. From smoking monkeys to Lions, Magicians, and Mimes and more, your units kill a seemingly infinite assault of alien-clowns.
This is where the rather unique premise somewhat falters and becomes a pretty much by-the-books tower defense title. Predetermined spots for your turret placement and pretty generic tower types don’t help the “Yet Another Tower Defense” vibe Kill the Clowns has going for itself. While playing through this, I enjoyed the game in short bursts, which is thankfully made more tolerable with the inclusion of a Fast Forward button which is surprisingly not available in all Tower Defense games out there. (Developers take note. Include a Fast Forward Functionality in your Tower Defense titles. Your players will thank you!) I kept wanting to play, but only a few levels in a session before some other game would steal my interest.
This isn’t Kill the Clowns’ fault, nor is it due to the developer, OneEyeAnt. I think that for a Tower Defense game to truly keep my attention, it needs some really unique features, gameplay wise, that I can sink my teeth into, and Kill the Clowns just doesn’t do it for me.
Kill the Clowns really has a fantastic aesthetic that isn’t often seen in Tower Defense games, and great care was taken in keeping the style consistent through the game, and it is always nice to see a game in the genre that doesn’t have a sci-fi or military motif. Regarding aesthetic, the UI is a bit cramped on the smaller screens, but is quite comfortable on the iPad’s larger screen, so if you are using the iPad, definitely opt for the large screen experience. (The game is universal so there is no need to choose which to purchase, but on which device to play.)
In Conclusion
In the end, Kill the Clowns is a competent tower defense game with a charming theme, and I really want to see OneEyeAnt make further titles within the same universe, but not be afraid to experiment more with the mechanics and overall experience.
So if you are itching for more in the genre, this really is a decent addition to your device’s surely overflowing Tower Defense folder. Just don’t go in expecting anything super exciting that you haven’t seen before, and you really won’t be disappointed.
