Overview
Tiki Towers challenges you to help guide your
barrel box of monkeys from one point to another and grab bananas along the way. In order to do this, you have to build structures for these crazy monkeys to recklessly swing on. Because, you know… monkeys can’t jump from platform to platform. Oh no! They need weak bamboo structures to swing from!
Features
Some levels will have you building a bridge across a cliff while others will require you to build a tower up alongside a mountain. No matter what the objective, you’ll always feel like you’re a few bamboo reeds short of having a secure structure for your five monkey to travel on.
You’re making structures out of bamboo reeds and coconuts. Obviously, it’s not going to be the most structurally sound thing around. When a monkey swings on a reed, the structure will bend and shift and swing- just as it would in real life I suppose. If you don’t make a good connection, it will break and your monkeys will fall... and die. And that’s just sad- not because the monkeys died, but because you'll have to restart the level.
Breakdown
The Good:
I’m a sucker for puzzle games like this, so this was right up my alley. And I can’t lie to you, Tiki Towers immediately reminded me of World Of Goo. If you haven’t played that, you should. It’s not on your phone though. Not yet, anyway. But give Goo a chance. (It’s much better than Tiki Towers, but that’s a whole other story.)
The levels can be tricky, but that’s part of the fun. Getting the gold mask is usually pretty easy, but when you miss that one banana, replaying the level is still a lot of fun. I wish I could control the monkeys, because I’m pretty sure they’d be able to make it across my structures if they would be a little more careful, damn it.
I was impressed by the graphics. Yeah, they’re cartoony, but that’s not even what I’m talking about. On any level, when you move your view around the level, you can see the trees in the background move against an even further back background. I don’t know, maybe this is an easy thing to program- but it was a nice touch.
The Bad:
Even though I enjoyed this game, there were a few things that drove me nuts. First, the physics aspect; When you’re building a tower it will stand straight and proud. But after hitting the action button, “physics” take over and your tower will start to sway and possibly topple over- before the damn monkeys even get a chance to ruin it. And that’s another thing! Those monkeys will destroy everything. I’ve tried to figure out how to create stronger structures- shorter bamboo, more connections, but nothing really seems to make a difference.
(You see, in World of Goo, the game is always in action, so you’re not suddenly surprised to see your structure fall apart. You can build and adjust as you go, instead of having to start over or figure out where your weakest point is. Frustrating!!!)
Another problem I had was freely moving around the level to look around. Often times when I’d touch the screen, the bamboo projection would pop up, showing me where I could place my next pieces. But I didn’t want to build! I wanted to look! I wanted to be free! I don’t want to be a Doozer! I want to be a Fraggle!
Verdict
This game is a must have for 99 cents. You can either buy a ½ pound bean and cheese burrito from Del Taco, or get this game. And only one of them will still seem like a good idea an hour later. (Hint… it’s the game.) If you’ve played World Of Goo, you’ll probably like this one, since it’s so similar. And cheap. If you haven’t played Goo, you still might like this game. So get it. It’s a buck. Seriously, don't be stingy.
