Android Game Review: Pumpkins vs. Monsters

28.12.11 The Reporter 0 Comments

It just occurred to me that we've never really talked about great games for the Android on this space. Surely, y'all are bored to the hilt by the perfunctory Angry Birds, the paid Cut The Rope, and the other, originally iOS games. So today, I'll bring you one of the games that not only captured my gaming heart, it also effectively obliterated hours, possibly even days off my life.

Do you love Match 3, Match 4, Match-howmany-ever games like Bejeweled? Well, this is an upgrade of that. Pumpkins vs. Monsters is a Match 3 -- Fling-to-Monsters -- Kill-Em-With-Chained/Matched-Pumpkins -- Smile-A-Manical-Gamer's-Smile kind of game.

This is also a form of a Tower Defense Game, wherein you need to defend your "home" from these marauding monsters. The goal is to kill them all, while preventing them from entering your fence, by matching 3 or more similar pumpkins then flinging it at them.

This is for casual gamers, by the way, so if you're looking for something more, like a Warcraft kind of game, this isn't THAT kind of game. This is strictly for the Plants vs. Zombies or Cafe World kind of gamer.

Gameplay:




Video Source: FrostClick
 
As we mentioned, you have to match at least 3 individual pumpkins by color. This will serve as your ammo against those pesky zombies, mummies and other monsters.

When you've matched 3 pumpkins of the same kind, you will need to fling/push that towards your target, the oncoming zombies, in order to kill them.

That's basically it.

Ammo and Enemies:

• Green Pumpkins
• Orange Pumpkins

The player starts out with green and orange pumpkins. They're "normal" in strength, and will generally be able to kill most of the standard little zombies with just one shot. The tougher zombies, like the pot-bellied ones and the mummies may need 2 shots of the green or orange pumpkins. The horned ones that appear in the Mayan War may take 2 shots as well. The gold-and-pink ones may need as many as three shots of the green and orange pumpkins.

• Red Pumpkins
• Blue Pumpkins

These two pumpkins are color-coded for what will work best with which kind of mummy. There are two types of Mummies: the Red ones are Hot mummies, while the Blue ones are Frozen mummies. The Red pumpkins mean that they're "hot," so they will work best for Blue mummies. On the other hand, the Blue pumpkins indicates that they're frozen, so they will work best with the Red mummies. With these types of ammo, just one shot is needed for the appropriate mummy. In fact, you will only need 1 Red pumpkin for 1 Blue mummy or 1 Blue pumpkin for 1 Red mummy, so if three Red mummies are lined up horizontally, you can definitely kill them with three Blue pumpkins, in just one shot.

Shooting the mummy with the same color of pumpkins as it is will only make you need to work up another shot with it, even up to three shots, so as much as possible, choose the opposite color of pumpkin for the color of the mummy.

On the other hand, the GREEN pumpkin will work great with the RED mummy. The Orange pumpkin, on the other hand, doesn't work as well with either mummy.

• Pink/Lavender Pumpkins

These pumpkins were designed for the blue horned monsters that will appear in the Mayan War, as well as the gold-and-pink particularly strong monsters that will appear in the later stages. You'll find that everything else except for the gray pumpkins will be difficult to use with these two types of monsters, so make sure to stock up on the pink/lavender pumpkins. These pumpkins are rather ineffective for the red mummies, however. But the blue mummies will die pretty well with these pink/lavender pumpkins. It may take an extra shot, but these pumpkins are way better than either the green, orange or blue ones, for the blue mummies.

• Gray Pumpkins

These are the so-called "ultimate" pumpkins. They obliterate anything just fine. Though, I notice that the blue mummies will still need an extra shot using these. The pink-and-gold and the horned monsters may also need one more shot, but these are the most versatile/awesome of the lot.

• Rainbow Pumpkins

Rainbow Pumpkins can mimic the color of any of the other pumpkins, so you can complete a set of 3 whenever you lack one, using a Rainbow Pumpkin.

These pumpkins, except the Rainbow Pumpkin, can all be upgraded: they cost 1000 coins to get the Level 2 Star, then 1500 coins for the max of 3 stars. Upgrading them makes them more powerful and able to kill monsters with less shots.

Props, Upgrages and Purchaseable Items:

There are items which you will be able to purchase from the game's "store." These items are purchaseable with coins that you can collect when dead zombies drop coins.

These three are the standard:

• Shield/Fence Replacement
• Landmine
• Dynamite

When your fence breaks down due to a zombie munching on it or a mummy hitting it with its head, you can and must replace it with a Shield/Fence Replacement. Unless you kill the monster attacking your fence, you will need to keep replacing it as it breaks down.

The landmine is static when you plant it. It will only explode when a monster makes contact with it. This is most effective for the pink-and-gold monsters, for some reason. This is also effective for the monsters on shooting vehicles, as these add to the blows needed to kill them.

The dynamite kills on contact, and will be best reserved for killing the Bosses or for when you'll get overwhelmed with the onslaught.

Levels and Stages:

1. Protection of the Territory
2. The Mummy Returns
3. Mayan War
4. Castle Tomorrow
5. Snow Empire
6. Bonus: Halloween

The newest version of Pumpkins vs. Monsters now contains the Halloween stage. You will need to have passed The Mayan War before you can unlock this, however.

Each level has 15 stages, and there are 5 standard levels, so that'll be a total of 75 stages to blast monsters through. With the Halloween Level, that's a total of 90.

The toughest stage in every level is Stage 15, as expected. It's called the "Boss Wave," where you'll be facing a particularly tough and frustrating monster.

You'll need to get through the "Boss" monster to get to the next level, until you finish the whole Pumpkins vs. Monsters game.

Tips and Tricks: 




If you can't get through these Stage 15's, I do have one trick to share: gather coins from Level 2, Stage 15, or The Mummy Returns, Stage 15. There, the first wave of zombies is in a perfect straight line from end to end. Flinging a full straight line of pumpkins and getting to kill everyone with one flick will give you quite a number of coins.

With these coins you gather, work up to gathering a total of 3,600 coins. This is the amount you need in order to buy ALL the props: the land mines, the dynamites and the fence replacements. Try as best as you can to save the props for last, as you will need it because the "boss monsters" in the Boss Waves tend to be relentless and extra-tough.

Sometimes, it took me as much as 6 times to repeat the process of gathering coins from The Mummy Returns and then returning to the Boss Wave of the level I'm at, in order to overcome it.


New Additions:

As of today's download, Pumpkins vs. Monsters now has a few more props, and some game additions:

• A lavender jewel
• A blue jewel
• A pumpkin mask

The pink jewel that used to drop with particularly awesome hits and add around 100 coins to your coin count is now a separate in-game "currency." You can use it to buy slot spins in the newly-added Slots sub-game. You will be able to get more coins, more props and other bonuses when you get a winning spin. You will spend one pink jewel per spin.

Review:

On the whole, to say that this game is addictive is an understatement. Be warned of playing this game just for sanity's sake, because you may experience the flip side and get stuck playing this game instead.

The music is apt: haunting yet quirky, and matches the mood of the game. The fact that you're dealing with monsters does get you in the mood to get a little frightened, but some of the characters, like the pot-bellied zombie that whacks at the fence, do elicit laughs more than chills of fright.

On the whole, I find that the game is the perfect de-stressor for a busy casual gamer. You don't need to give too much thought to your strategy, but it does give enough of a mental challenge to keep you on your gaming toes. Next to Plants vs. Zombies, this is probably my second ultimate casual gaming fave.