Tiny Heroes Review

By , on September 23, 2011


Tiny Heroes
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Each level feels like a puzzle that has a definite solution to obtain 3 stars.
  • Constant addition of defenses keeps things fresh.
  • Reminiscent of Dungeon Keeper, and Plants vs. Zombies.

CONS

  • Game is a little slow in the beginning.

VERDICT

With the glut of tower defense games on the App Store, it can be hard to stand out, but a decent premise backed up by solid gameplay can do wonders for making your mark.


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Tower defense games are a dime a dozen these days. With that being the case it's often hard to be excited about yet another addition to the genre. Tiny Heroes is not the first TD game to switch the dynamic around, putting you in the shoes of the villains and having you defeat incoming heroes, but it presents itself with enough solid gameplay and charm to have a fighting chance.

Each level begins with a new dungeon resting between the waves of heroes and your treasure room. Before the later stages where you pick which traps and defenses you'd like to play with, you use your resources available to lay down crossbows, spike pits, and even the dreaded Gork (part goblin, part orc). Mana is required to plant defenses, and mana crystals can be placed to increase your mana pool. Each level introduces a new defense to play with, and there are more that are tied to certain achievements.

What makes the experience fun is that unlike a lot of tower defense games where you just plop down as many towers as there is room, Tiny Heroes has a small puzzle element to it. Different things work against different enemies in different situations, so you're often planting defenses to take advantage of the dungeon's layout, and then changing your plans on the fly as different heroes rush your fortress.

The game has a fun cartoon aesthetic and a nice little sense of humor hidden away in places like the Tinypedia. The music is solid and there's more than enough levels and challenges to keep dedicated players glued to their iPhones for quite a while.

Perhaps the favorable review of Tiny Heroes is due to it invoking memories of not only Plants vs Zombies but of the Dungeon Keeper games. Still, for those not sick to death of the tower defense genre, this one's definitely worth a look.

Screenshots

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