Flash Game Mini Review: Villainous

As a general rule, I despise Tower Defense games.  It was a cute casual game spinoff of traditional Warcraft-type RTSs, but has overstayed its welcome, and far, far too many have been made.

So it comes as a welcome relief when a new take is put on this tired subgenre, making it fresh again.

Villainous is an anti-Tower Defense game: instead of placing towers, you control the waves of enemies that are coming in to raze the town.

Each level, you decide which of your forces you want to walk the line, and you have a few spells to help you through, which allow you to heal your army and disable towers.

As you progress, the money you gain for sacking the villages goes toward upgrading various aspects of your army and abilities.  The genius of the upgrade system is its visuals.  Rather than giving you some abstract list, the upgrades are placed on a castle, so as you upgrade your army, your castle gets larger.

Similarly, unlocked achievements have a visual component, where each completed achievement adds a detail to your throne room.

The skill of the game comes in two varieties: deciding ahead of time what the makeup of your waves are going to be, and using your spells in the moment.  You only make money by razing towns with the standard, simplest unit, Goblins, and all other units act as support to keep your Goblins alive.

The game is paced so that you enjoy the challenge of each level without getting overwhelmed and frustrated, nor bored.

Harder than it looks.

Two of the most endearing aspects of this game is its graphics and its humor.

The graphics are exceedingly well-done: you can spot the differences between your units, as well as the tower units, from a mile away.  Each unit is made to look completely unique, from shape to color scheme.

The humor is great for any fans of fantasy games or movies, with references to Lord of the Rings and other famous works.  But even if you don't get those, there is also other irreverent humor thrown in to make you giggle.

Its length is just long enough so the novelty doesn't get old, and you don't get bored before completing the game.  It's not so short as to be a demo or make you crave more, nor is it too long to overstay its welcome.

Villainous can be found here.