Malón

Great idea. Severely under-represented theme. You have no idea how badly I wanted to enjoy this game. Sadly it is severely marred by developer-bias. Ever play a game that is an open sandbox, that let's you play however you wish... but not really. Truth is, instead of enjoying the game, the theme, the many options, you instead have to play detective - what does the developer want me to do? It's frustrating when the dev forgets it is their job to create an experience for the gamer to game. Not where the gamer has to figure out how the developer wants him to game. Sometimes this is acceptable, some games that is the point, linear, puzzle games - but open sandboxes? There needs to be some room for the player to choose. No. I approached the developers, and they informed me, I was wrong, and the game was "perfectly" balanced. It is so "balanced" the player can't deviate from the developer's tightrope. We have too many devs making games for themselves first AND foremost, and then telling us we the players are wrong (yes, I'm talking to you Ubisoft, making a pirate game without swords and blaming the players for not loving it). Shame. My recommendation, hard pass, even on sal…

[h3]One of those rare, unexpected gems you’re glad you found.[/h3] This game feels truly different from most strategy games, and that’s exactly what makes it so good. You must protect your units (but also make them fight just enough to survive each night). Buildings can be rebuilt over and over again for free, and that single design choice completely changes how you play. Your troops are valuable, and losing them actually matters. [b]Forget Traditional Defense Strategies:[/b] If you come in with the usual mindset of sending your army straight to the front to defend your base, you’re going to fail. That classic strategy simply doesn’t work here. Instead, you have to think differently: keep your soldiers back, protect them, and only deploy them when the enemy is already worn down and fully focused on destroying buildings. Since structures rebuild and units don’t, sacrificing soldiers early is a huge mistake. [b]Smart Enemy Control is Key:[/b] A key part of Malón is learning how to herd and lure enemies intelligently, especially keeping them away from the cows during the first few nights. Positioning, timing, and misdirection are essential. Once it clicks, the gameplay becomes …

[h1] A Good Proof of Concept[/h1] (1.0) (Okay, I'm breaking my little review formula for Malón. It's a $5 game at time of writing, so I don't want this to come across as overly critical. I have lots of critiques but ultimately give the game a thumbs up.) This is a frontier-themed outpost builder. I don't think tower defense is strictly the best definition for it, as you're building an entire outpost. You can purchase melee firefighters and set up a guard tower for nightfall. Economy gameplay is pretty basic. Once you've played a few levels, though, you pretty much see all the game seems to be able to offer. [h2]Pros[/h2] -[b]Theming[/b] The frontier theming is stuck to throughout all the menus and upgrade options. It's a theme I don't think I've really seen for TD, so this was intriguing. I appreciated the detail of the soldier in the guard tower muzzle-loading his rifle. I think that speaks well to the developers' attention to the setting. The Western/frontier setting is one that is prime for a tower defense/wave defense game, I believe, and Lara the Pitbull has done well to capitalize on that. -[b]Some Forgiving Consequences[/b] Pretty much every night, I got beat to a nea…

Honestly, it's a game that shows promise; if they didn't tell you that, I'd think it was an indie game from Europe. The game needs realistic ambient music, or better yet, the flora and fauna... well, we're in the humid pampas and there's nothing there... an environmental system like rain, or travelers we have to protect... the aiming and combat could be improved. I feel like earning money gets repetitive, and the indigenous people always live in very close groups; they should spread them out a bit. Anyway, the game is worth it!

Found the economy system way too difficult, I did not receive credits between nights so upgrading anything was impossible. By the 5th night its over. The character did not engage at close range. Either its bugged or poorly designed.

Es muy bueno y bastante demandante aunque si la zona de los andes todavia no encuentro una forma de pasarlo y cuesta bastante pasar de la 7ma noche pero aún así es bastante divertido!