Do you like games with ninjas? What about martial arts fighting monks? Maybe you prefer something a little more futuristic and menacing robot armies is your thing. Well hold on to your hat (or if not wearing a hat, then any item of easily discardable clothing) because there’s something that has all of that, plus pandas… Nano Ninjas from Bad Chunk.
Nano Ninjas is a tower defense game following a similar approach than that made famous by Plants vs. Zombies. A game in which you must set up your offensive and defensive troops to stop a giant swath of enemies that are attacking you. Well the basic premise is the same for Nano Ninjas though Bad Chunk have added many other things that separate it from its undead and herbaceous counterpart.
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Namely, there is a lot more thought around resource generation, giving you the choice of attacking/defending or generating resources. You must strike the balance between the two; know when to go balls to the wind and attack and when to stock up resources.
There are also little mini-games at various points through the game. Similar to the events in the old Coin-Op Street Fighter II.
I only have one question. Nano Ninjas includes ninjas and samurai which are by essence Japanese, so why is there pandas there too? They’re Chinese aren’t they? I think monks are a sort of Tibetan / Chinese thing as well.
Ok, well that’s probably neither here nor there. It’s fun to play. I don’t foresee you losing whole afternoons on it, but it is engaging and interesting enough to keep you coming back for a little bit more.
The full press release is below if you wanna scour it for more information, or you can head over to the iTunes App Store here and pick this bad boy up for $0.99.
Zen and the Art of Tower Defense Comes to the iOS in Nano Ninjas
The launch of Nano Ninjas by Bad Chunk Games offers iOS gamers a jolly nice bunch of ninjas versus a dastardly robot samurai army. What more could a tower defense game need? Well, how about a new twist on how resources are generated and used?
Towers; check. Creeps; check. Unit upgrades; check. Creative way to generate resources for making robo sushi? Definitely. Nano Ninjas moves beyond using resources (Zen) as a simple mechanic to ration the availability of towers and upgrades and makes management both a strategic and tactical consideration.
Bad Chunk Games’ designers set out to put a new spin on tower defense while also delivering a humorous, dangerously addictive play experience.
Some units in Nano Ninjas can passively generate Zen as they fight as well as actively generate power boosts by consuming Zen gems while meditating. Units can’t attack or defend while mediating so players will need to carefully balance resource generation with uptime defense. Players also have the option of not meditating, allowing them to accumulate five Zen gems to summon a dragon to incinerate an entire lane of enemies. While dragons are the ultimate destructive force in the game, summoning one dramatically slows down the placement of new units.
“Our number one goal was to create a game that would utterly ruin your weekend,” Paul Rice, CEO, Bad Chunk Games explains. “At the outset, even the casual player can enjoy the gameplay and get a kick out of the comic humor, but it gets tougher fast. The tower defense fan will find the upper levels challenging and the Zen resource system delivers a fresh new approach to this crowded space.”
Set in a mythical world where ninja clans pit their ancient skills against the technical might of samurai robots, players battle through numerous levels in 5 separate and beautifully drawn zones using 22 different units. As players progress, they will also unlock classic arcade style mini games, all of which are important to the overall score. The best players will also discover secret missions that help enhance their Career Scores which are pitted against their friends on the Game Center Leaderboards.
Nano Ninjas will play natively on the iPhone, iPod and iPad. The game has been optimized to run on the iPhone 5 and iPod 5th Gen. Game progress is updated across all a player’s devices using iCloud Sync.
Nano Ninjas is available on the App Store for $0.99 USD
