Now Playing: Forces of Nature for iPad and iPhone

Forces of Nature (on sale at $0.99) by Mean Bean Games is a game that will catch your eye immediately because of the art. There’s something fairy-tale like and compelling about the hand drawn art that reminds me of an animated film I saw when I was a kid, The Iron Giant. Another thing common between Forces of Nature and The Iron Giant is the fact that they’re both sending a strong environmentalist message.
Mother Nature’s champion is Sprout, a feisty little seedling who plants various defenders to fend off heartless robots that have taken over his world. Sprout’s mission is to protect the giant tree from land and air units. Water is his main currency for planting seedlings which can be fixed (tower defense type) or moving. Sprout does damage on his own, and strategically dashing behind enemies can even score combo points.
At the heart of Forces of Nature is a side-scrolling castle defense dressed up rather beautifully and quirkily.

Now Playing: Bardbarian for iPad and iPhone

appsized bardbarian review

conga line … charge!

In any fantasy adventure, the bard usually plays a supporting role, providing inspiration and support to the rest of the party with his songs about war and heroism.

In my current game of choice, and one I highly recommendBardbarian for iPhone and iPad (by Bulky Pix and Tree Fortress), it’s Brad the Bard who takes centerstage in fighting off nasty baddies invading his village. However, Brad can’t directly attack them, but his battle axe turned magical musical instrument generates notes which lets him summon allies who do the fighting for him. What Brad can do is to activate special powers to boost his units, such as increased damage, speed or protection.

appsized bardbarian

channel your inner slash

It’s not easy to classify Bardbarian as one type of game but not another – the best way to put it is that it’s a crazy mishmash of different genres such as castle defense and a bit of RPG – crazy in a good way, of course.

If you still know the likes of Slash (Guns N Roses) and Kirk Hammet (Metallica), you’ll know that this Bard plays a mean guitar solo. So on top of a crazy, frantic game you get a pretty awesome soundtrack.

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iOS App Review: Magic Defenders

Magic Defenders on appSIZED
 

Magic Defenders is not your usual castle defense game – thanks to its cleverly executed and fast-paced gameplay, a bit of RPG-type character customization and a charming and quirky art style offers a much needed break from the monotony and familiarity of the genre. 
 

Magic Defenders is one example that castle defense need not be monotonous, or boring. You can choose from two characters with different spell casting strengths and cast three different kinds of powerful spells to take out advancing enemies, creating some kind of magical vortex where the spells are applied. For example, the fire spell summons a huge ball of fire to eliminate groups of enemies.