Recently I was sent a copy of iPhone App game “Battle of Puppets” to take for a spin. Even though I rocked my Atari 2600 back in the day, today I’m not much of a gamer but I do love my iPhone and will add a free game from time to time so I figured why not. I don’t have a long attention span these days so if a show or movie or game doesn’t grab me after a few minutes I tend to drop it and walk away. “Battle of Puppets” definitely kept my attention.
The overall theme of the five puppet armies are based off of well known opera’s such as Aida and Madame Butterfly. In each level you are given a puppet army to choose from to battle against the opposing team of puppets trying to demolish their castle before they take out your team and demolish your castle. Along the way you gain popularity and additional resources. As you fight the other puppet army you are able to go back and add reinforcements but make sure you do it quickly because the opposing team can take out your players quickly. Gaining popularity is important and will increase when you conquer more land. Professions are also important to acquire. Once a profession is available you will see a symbol at the top of the screen indicating that a certain profession is now active for you to use. A player can cast a profession which can help disable the opposing team of puppets and continue your puppet army’s advance. Make sure you check the tutorial for an example of exactly how to use the profession. The weather also plays an important role in aiding your army’s speed and effectiveness in combat.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t mastered this game. In fact I’m still in the easy game play mode. But it is totally addictive! The design is visually stunning, puppets are adorable, and for an opera geek like myself the fact that “Battle of Puppets” is themed to the styles of various opera’s was a pleasant and fun surprise. My only complaint is there isn’t a playable tutorial. I had to figure out a lot on my own which at times confused me. Like I said, I’m not a regular gamer so for someone like me a playable tutorial that shows me more of a step by step guide of how the game works would be helpful. But overall “Battle of Puppets” is definitely worth the $.99 price tag.
Final Grade: B+