Review - Backyard Monsters

 Backyard Monsters is a new take on an old classic style game, an RTS with a persistent twist. In game players are able to building and develope a small village where they can mine for material as well as build up a
large army of monsters. Players are able to attack other villages in hopes of stealing some of the materials that player has gathered.

Using the now standard Facebook Games strategy players are able to post wall updates about their accomplishments ranging from the players level to what types of units have been researched or what level a building has been upgraded to. You are also able to send daily gifts to any registered friend who also has the application installed.

With both a unique look and a unique take on the classic RTS game Backyard Monsters is both a stand out and a step above many other games available on Facebook today. With promises from the developer to add more features in the future, this game promises to quickly become one of the premiere games on Facebook. One highly talked about feature is the ability to help friends gather material or repair after an attack.

Overall I was highly pleased with Backyard Monsters and would highly recommend everyone giving it a try, you might find that you are not overly excited about the game, but I promise it is worth a look.


Now, to the nity grity.

Graphics and Sound : 5 out of 10

As stated above, the art style and feel of Backyard monsters is very very unique. Everything from the buildings to the individual monsters in your army has been created specifically for this game with a very stylized direction. With a rare "Full screen" option available BYM is really a step ahead of other games on Facebook. For Graphics I awarded a 4 out of 5. 

Sounds however are another story. Most are bland and extremely repetitive, I ended up turning them off after hearing "Flight of the Valkyries" for the third time (it plays whenever you are attacked by wild monsters). The stock sounds for this game need some desperate attention, more variety and possibly some type of ambient music for background. 

For Sound I awarded 1 out of 5.

Social Interaction : 8 out of 10

 Backyard Monsters is one very sociable game, allowing players to view each others yards and even attack your friends! It also does not force players into posting on walls, or constantly inviting friends to come and play. With the promise of more friend features coming soon I believe that Backyard Monsters is going to be a standard for social interaction here. Not to say that everything is perfect, there are quests tied to inviting friends to the game, but again it is nothing that is being forced on you. 

One thing I like to see in a game on Facebook is the ability to send daily gifts to friends who play the same game as you. It is always a nice touch, and a good reminder, when you find a gift waiting for you in the morning. Plus you get the warm fuzzies going when you send a gift back or post on your friends wall a nice thank you image. Did I mention you can post rather comical images to friends who attack you while your offline? Getting and sending those can be more fun than actually attacking someone!

Learning Curve : 5 out of 10

I admit it, I am a hardcore gamer at heart. I love complex and precise games that require me to think and plan a strategy. Unfortunately Backyard Monsters falls a little flat on this one. Granted the game gives you a tutorial as well as quests to help keep you on track but once your past the tutorial and have a good grip on the quest system ( keep building, keep updating is basically it) the complexity of the game just disappears. 

The most complex decision to make is what you want to protect while you are offline. Would you rather try to save your resources? Or do you want to protect that really great army you have built? Hopefully as time progresses and updates are made there will be more things for the hardcore gamer to look forward to. For now though, this is totally a casual affair.

Uniqueness : 7 out of 10

One thing Casual Collective has done right with Backyard monsters is the art style. The look and feel are spot on for both a casual as well as competitive game. The small blood splats that appear when monsters are killed, Ride of the Valkyries playing during attacks (Even if I did find it annoying after a while, the first time it was very gratifying) and the way the resource gathering buildings seem to move and come alive. Every aspect of the game as been very stylized and in my humble opinion it is perfect. 

(Reviewers Note - Some points were taken off for not adding anything new to the genre. Persistent RTS games are nothing special themselves, I would have liked to see some innovation to the genre)

Value : 7 out of 10

Value is one of those things that is really hard to quantify with a number. What I find valuable another might very well think of as trash. To that end I divided the value score into two parts. Time and Money, since Backyard Monsters allows you to purchase in game currency referred to as "Shiny" I felt this was the best way to go about it. 

Time wise, Backyard Monsters is a must play. The actual time *required* to play the game is very minimal, most days I login, collect resources and start building or upgrading. After that I am free to log off or start attacking other players to earn experience and resources.

For Time I awarded 4 out of 5. 

Money wise the developers allow both micro payments in the form of real world cash in exchange for more "shiny" or players can engage in incentive programs to earn more shiny. The Shiny though is not really needed in order to enjoy the game. Best example is your workers. At the start of the game you are given one worker, which means you can build or upgrade one building at a time. Using Shiny you can increase your worker count up to 5. While letting you build and upgrade faster, it is not required to play the game. 

For Money I awarded 3 out of 5.

Overall Score - 32 out of 50 



Links :
 
Backyard Monsters
Casual Collective Makers of Backyard Monsters

Review - Frontierville

Zynga is at it again, this time around though they have us clearing grass, chopping trees and clobbering snakes as aposed to harvesting crops and putting in decorations. Frontierville is Zynga's newest game released onto the Facebook social platform and while it may not be replacing Farmville any time soon it may be a welcomed update to those who find themselves getting burned out with Farmville or Mafia Wars ( Zynga's other big time Facebook game).


Where Farmville had players harvesting crops and managing a farm, Frontierville invites players to conquer the untamed wilderness from the earlier days of the Westward Migration in America. As the game opens you are prompted to create your very own personalized prospector. Choices are more fleshed out than in previous Zynga titles, having spent a healthy amount of time on a Nintendo Wii with my daughter I liken the character creation process to more like making a Mii than just picking out a name and hair color.

As the game proceeds you are given a hand full of starter quests, clear your land by chopping down trees, clearing grassy areas and even removing some unsightly skulls. Some of the improvements are noticeable right away, every item on your land is prone to changing. From baby chickens that grow into full fledged adult chickens to grass that grows while you are away every thing "feels alive" in the game. Yes you read that right, everything "grows" in this game. Grass that was cleared the night before will magically be back in the morning. Trees that get chopped down but the stump was left will start to regrow. Fully grown trees will drop seeds and sprout others. There is an essence of persistence that seeps into every part of Frontierville.

Energy is a new mechanic that might be a little off putting to anyone who has played previous Zynga titles, but once you get into the nitty gritty parts of the game you may change your mind. In essence the flow of the game works like this;

* Spend Energy and Coins Planting Crops
* Spend Energy Harvesting the crops, gain Gold / Experience and food
* Turn Food into Energy to help replant and do other various tasks.

* Spend Energy Chopping down Trees, Get Wood, Exp and Coins
* Spend Wood to create buildings, buy decorations.

This is a very generalized view of course, but I believe it helps to show how the developers have tried to expand on the pre-existing formula to give the more casual gamer a "core gaming" experience.


One of the most shocking things is the inclusion of "enemies" into the game. Snakes and Bears for instance will randomly appear while you are working on your land. While you may be tempted to leave them alone at first, whenever present, an enemy will raise the cost of activities by 1 energy. So instead of spending 1 energy to clear some grass, it will instead cost 2. Of course, clearing the enemies off the screen cost energy as well but I have found the rewards gained from defeating them to outweigh the cost of fighting them.

A surprising addition to Frontierville is the reputation system they built into the game. Basically, helping your friends and neighbors gives you reputation. While I have not found anything to spend that on per say, it is prominently displayed for all to see. This is going to go a long way towards making sure that all the friends you have added are actually coming and helping other people. After all no one wants a mooch for a friend :)

A nice twist to the helping mechanic is how you are informed that someone came to help. Instead of a bland message box coming up with vague dialog that so many people have come to help, you see the other persons character on your land. Hovering over the character will highlight what that person came to do and you are free to accept the help or dismiss the help. This is in my opinion one of the best improvements. Instead of wasting energy feeding my chickens, I can first hover over my friends character to see if they did. After all helping friends is energy free! If you ever find yourself out of energy to work on your land, spend a few minutes helping friends out! You still earn experience and coins just like you would if you were clearing your own land and you get some reputation points while helping a friend. Clearly a win-win for everyone.

One last little addition I wanted to mention is the ability to more or less create a family. While you decide on your first characters appearance and name. Later on down the road you will also be creating a spouse and even children! So while you are busy working a small section of land you will also be busy expanding your family. 

While casual gaming sims like Frontierville and Farmville might not be for everyone, I think anyone with a Facebook account owes it to themselves to check out Frontierville. The depth and complexity might just surprise you.

Graphics and Sound - 10 out of 10

Breaking this category down into two parts, graphics and sound, each worth a total of 5 points. Graphics for Frontierville are VERY good, not only the cell shaded art style but the way the characters, creatures and plants are animated. From the tiny movements your character makes when they harvest or clear a spot of land to the zaney sounds and actions they take when dealing with an invading enemy everything is very refined and orchestrated to create a wonderful, if sometimes comedic, experience. Planting a tree for example, you start out by planting a tiny seedling requiring water. After each watering you will watch the tree transform until it finally becomes an adult tree at which point you can start harvesting it for food, energy and of course experience.

As for sounds the developers really went that extra mile. The ambient background music is varied and not annoyingly repetitive. While the action sounds and background effects combine to make a very polished final product. All in all Frontierville is a shining example of what is possible with a flash based game.

Social Interaction - 7 out of 10

I believe one of the downfalls of any game running through Facebook is going to be the way some of them almost force you to spam posts to your wall. While Facebook itself has taken steps to curb the incessant spamming some developers just have not taken the cue. Unfortunately Frontierville is one such game. EVERYTHING you do that earns a prize is also shareable, and while the game does allow you to close the window without sharing, what self respecting Facebook gamer is going to do that?

However, there is one saving grace in the way you help your friends and neighbors. When I login and see two or three of my friends characters standing in my land ready to lend a hand I cannot help but get all warm and fuzzy inside. Likewise, helping my friends and neighbors, and thus earning reputation points, is almost as nice as sending someone a warmly written email.

Learning Curve - 8 Out of 10

The introduction to the game is a very hand held experience for all of about 5 minutes. After that you are left to play as you want. While writing this report I decided to term this a "structured sandbox" because it really is a conglomeration of open ended worlds and a very linear side scrolling game. While quests do exist, they are really only there to give you a direction in case you get lost.

At the other end of the spectrum the game includes a basic crafting system which should keep players of all types busy with things to do. This game is a great example of what I am looking for in a Facebook game. Something simple that anyone I know can pick up, but with some type of end game content that can keep a more hardcore gamer like myself playing.

Uniqueness - 5 Out of 10

This category was tough for me to judge really. On one hand Frontierville plays just like its older sibling Farmville. Plant things, tend things and decorate. However the way the developers expanded on the original concepts and tried to tie different game mechanics together really does shake things up a bit. At best I would call Frontierville "Farmville 2.0", it has improved upon the original but is not stand out-ish enough to redefine the genre.

Value - 6 out of 10

Breaking this category down into two parts as usual. Time and Money. One the time side of things Frontierville defiantly deserves a spot on your installed applications page. Even if you only get the chance to play once or twice a week popping into your spot of land and tending it can be a very rewarding experience. Money wise though, I do not believe the improvements FrontierVille offers warrant dropping any cash. Possibly down the road a bit as more features and functions are added to the game, but as it stands now there is really nothing other than luxury items to spend real world cash on.

Overall Score - 36 out of 50 

Above Average

Links:

Zynga's Homepage 

Frontierville on Facebook

Review - Bushwhacker

Bushwhacker, the newest game from DJarts Games is a spin on the old NES classic Zelda.Combining questing with an over head 2d world the game takes place in a whimsical world of bushes, swords, lighting and monsters. While there is no main quest line to drive the player forward earning gold, collecting puzzle pieces and furnishing your house all give you something to work towards.While Bush whacker plays a lot like the old NES classic Zelda, it has a look and feel all its own.

The basic premise of the game is that your character needs to spend energy "whacking" bushes with his (or her!) sword to uncover jewels, gold, potions or monsters. All while managing your energy so that you do not run out. Energy can be replinished many ways, from buying energy from the in game store using gold coins you find, spending real world money on "Bush Bucks" or sending your friends energy packs that can be used to restore a portion of your energy bar. Every level your character gains their total amount of energy increases allowing you to chop down bigger bushes, when you level up you are also granted a free full bar of energy.

Part of the appeal of Bush whacker comes from the art style. Mixing a blend of old school Super Nintendo style graphics with cell shaded flash animations the game comes alive in a fun and entertaining way.



However, do not let the art style mislead you, Bush whacker comes with a veritable ton of things to work on, and brag about. Whenever you finish one of these achievements you are given the option to publish a bragging post to your wall to let your friends see what you have been up to.

The game tracks EVERYTHING you do and lets you see it in your achievements page, there are also pages showing you compared to your friends and a built in way to see your friends houses lets you see just how well they are fairing. 

Along with a myriad of things to brag about the world of Bushwhacker is quite large. Sporting 34 unique areas at the time of this review. Each area has a puzzle that the player needs to finish, by collecting pieces. A unique monster to capture and a set number of customization items to find. Completing each level to 100% (by finishing the puzzle, capturing the monster and then finding the very rare customization peices) can take quite awhile. Thankfully though you are free to move to the next area after either finishing the puzzle or meeting the level requirement. A few sections require quest items that you can purchase from the market. There are also bonus areas that are locked until you get your friends to help you unlock them via Facebook wall posts. Speaking of posting to Facebook, this game barely requires you to post to your wall at all. The only thing that has to be posted are the requests for help with locked gates, and these can be gotten around by purchasing Bush bucks and unlocking them with "Lock Picks".

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Graphics and Sound - 7 out of 10

Bushwhacker is both visually appealing and at the same time mind numbingly  annoying to your ears. As always I rated this category into two parts, each with a possible 5 points. 

Graphics got a perfect score, 5 of 5. The game has clean animations, three detail levels in settings, and a uniformed look across the board. A shining example of what is possible with just some flash programing.

Sound however... There are roughly 3 sound files. And some way to soft to hear ambient sounds. There is a tell tale "thwack" when you whack a bush, your lightning spell makes a bacon frying on the pan sizzle and well.. That's it. Sound got a paltry 2 of 5.

Social Interaction - 4 out of 10

Facebook games are all about the social aspect right? Well if so this game has a lot to learn from the big boys. The only *required* post to your wall is for unlocking special gates blocking off bonus areas of the map. Other than that the only reason you will want to post something is to flaunt your luck to your friends.

Learning Curve - 5 out of 10

For such a simple premise, whack bush get stuff, Bush whacker has a decent learning curve. There are power potions, mana potions, monsters and bushes. The way you interact with these will definitely affect the way you level up and progress through the game.

Uniqueness - 8 out of 10

Bushwhacker is one unique game. While there are other energy based game like Mafia Wars or other whack till you drop games where you find buried treasure (such as Treasure Island) Bush whackers unique art style and game play set it apart from the crowd.

Value - 7 out of 10

There are far worse things you could do with your time than play Bush whacker. While you are never forced to spend real world money on the game you are forced to wait and in my opinion that can be a good thing. When compared to other time sinks such as Farmville which require near hourly dedication to properly enjoy Bushwhacker is best enjoyed in spurts. Play for 20 to 30 minutes here and there then stop and let your energy build back up.

Total - 31 out of 50
Above Average


Links:
DJarts Games CA.
Bushwhacker