Parents' Guide to Badland Brawl

Some games are built from the ground up on original ideas. Others, like Badland Brawl, borrow elements from others, but use them in original ways. Outside of the fact that it's player versus player, it's difficult to describe exactly what Badland Brawl is. There's a tower defense feel as you try to keep enemy forces from marching into your base and exploding. There's also an unmistakable Angry Birds vibe, since your primary method of attack is using a slingshot/catapult to launch your own troops at your opponents. There's even a touch of deck building tossed in for good measure, with players choosing their teams of up to eight Clone units, which are randomly drawn and cycled through in each battle. It's a game that's a sort of Jack of All Trades, but it's a master of none.

Badland Brawl uses a slow-paced fire and forget mechanic when it comes to attack and defense. Players choose, aim, and launch an available Clone, and after that, the rest is out of their hands. Clones never get launched very far and, upon landing, either march/fly like wind-up toys toward the target, or just sit somewhere between the two towers until acted upon by other Clones. There's technically some strategy involved, as there are some interesting combos that can occur when certain Clones act upon each other. Unfortunately, you're usually too busy trying to fire the next one off to even notice. Powered up or rarer Clones tend to do more damage or have more spectacular effects, but it's a grind to get them into your collection. At some point, you can't help but feel overpowered and outmatched by players with Clones that can wipe the floor with yours. Of course, you could always pay money for enhanced resources that guarantee bigger and better Clones. But it's then that the game starts to fall more into a "pay to win" category, costing more time or money than most matches feel like they're worth.