StickWars

StickWars is an iOS castle defense game developed by John E. Hartzog and released on April 1, 2009. It was followed by StickWars 2'' andStickWars 3''.

Critical reception

StickWars

PocketGamer gave StickWars 7/10, concluding "While the inklings of deeper gameplay can be seen, StickWars is simple, silly fun that trades long-lasting appeal for quick appeal." 148Apps rated it 3.5/5 stars, writing "StickWars is an interesting variation on the castle defense genre. The game is pretty fun, with a good amount of things to do in the early levels, but some of the later levels suffer from the inability to further reinforce your castle. It's hard not to recommend a decent game that is $0.99, but just don't expect that "loving feeling"". AppSpy gave the game 3 out 5, writing "A good first effort from John E. Hartzog. The game doesn't contain much lasting power, but it is well made. We'll be keeping a lookout for his next game." AppSafari gave the game 3.5/5 stars, commenting "StickWars can be a bit mind-numbing and repetitive, at least until you get enough money to utilize other features. If you find stick figure violence a stress reliever, though, then you should give this game app a download."

StickWars 2

CommonSenseMedia gave StickWars 2 a rating of 2/5 stars, writing "STICKWARS 2 doesn't do much to improve upon the original. The first StickWars game was a novel idea with an irreverently clever use of stick figures. This sequel has basically the same gameplay, but adds a lot of color and ramps up the difficulty factor (the game was way too hard when first released, but was updated to make it much more manageable). Frankly, the colors don't help much -- the original black stick figures had a more classic quality to them and were more appealing to look at. It's possible that people who finished the first game and want to try a more challenging followup might like the increased difficulty, but newcomers will most likely just get frustrated. The original StickWars is often available as a free download -- and it's a better game." AppAdvice said "StickWars 2 is very similar to the original which has some good, but mostly bad. The game is just inferior to most recent castle defense games in almost every regard. The gameplay is just so repetitive and monotonous with no incentive to keep going in the endless fashion with lackluster polish on simple art design." IDownloadBlog wrote "Aside from the new colors and graphics, I don’t really think that the sequel did much better from the first version. Usually developers learn from their mistakes in the first version and make the second bigger and badder, but this was not the case! There is really no end to the game, and after dying a few times in the higher levels I just gave up."

StickWars 3

148Apps gave StickWars 3 a rating of 3.5/5 stars, concluding "Ultimately, StickWars 3 is an easy to play time waster. The minutes flow quickly while playing it but once put down again, it’ll be forgotten nearly as fast. For the asking price, that’s all that anyone could want. Pocket Gamer UK gave the game 7/10, writing "Far from grand strategy or intricate planning, StickWars 3 is about flicking little men into the air and watching them flop down in glorious puddles of gore"