Tiny Defense review (iPod/iPhone)

♫ “I’m a robot man, that’s my mind
That’s my life, that’s my soul”

10 word description: 2D side view, grid based defence. 150 levels, 40 robots(towers).

It's always this calm, right before all hell breaks loose and crazed robots start rampaging all over the place

10 word review: I like it! Cute, Mario-esque graphics, PvZ gameplay, ample content.

That's your bunch, over on the right. That enemy helicopter is marginally outnumbered

You will like this if you enjoy: Plants vs Zombies style grid-based tower defence. Quick, single-screen defence challenges. TD games with a large number of different tower types and comprehensive upgrade options.

The number of slots for robots (bottom of the screen) can be increased on the laboratory (upgrade) screen. Upgrade currency is metal parts looted from fallen foes or earned as a level completion reward

The good news: The gameplay, while not particularly original, is a tightly focussed kill-em-all defence strategy backed up by clear, colourful graphics (fairly obvious MarioLand influences) and a surprising variety of enemies and defensive robot types. Between groups of standard TD levels are occasional mini-game levels that incorporate different game mechanics, such as tapping enemies in a Castle Defence style.

World 2 is a desert backdrop. By the time you get here, you will already have some fairly impressive robots at your disposal, and so will the enemy

The bad news: As the levels become more challenging, with a lot of enemies and defensive robots on screen at once, the single-screen grid can start to feel a bit claustrophobic and cramped. This doesn’t so much spoil the game as make you think that it could be improved at times with a bit of horizontal scrolling or zooming. There are no health bars, so it’s not possible to spot when a friendly unit could be tactically removed (with a small amount of health remaining) or how much damage a strong enemy is taking from different types of defender.

In this mini-game mission, you only have 3 robots but you can move them around to defeat several waves of attackers

Arcadelife verdict: What I expected, based on the game’s title, was going to be yet another generic tower defence game turned out to be far more entertaining and fun. The PvZ influences include the grid and pre-battle unit selection, but Tiny Defense has enough of its own content and style (albeit partially lifted from Super MarioLand!) to differentiate it and give it a consistent and established feel.

There is a long list of achievements. Earning them all will take quite a while

Ultimately, I’m having a lot more fun playing it than I thought I would and it’s not hard to recommend to TD addicts and gamers in general.

Each unit (yours and theirs) has its own info screen with fairly detailed information and statistics

Arcadelife rating: 87/100

Version reviewed by Arcadelife is 1.0.1

Picsoft / Tiny Defense website link

Arcadelife played and reviewed this game on:
4th gen iPod Touch (OS 4.3.5)