It seems odd that despite having other games
under their belt, the one thing that stands
out in my mind from Infinite Dreams is 'Let's
Create!
Pottery'.
It's strange because Pottery is less of a
game and more of a toy with some objectives,
but more importantly because their Jelly series
of mini-games has finally culminated in the
recent release of Jelly Defense on the App
Store.
What's immediately striking about Jelly Defense
is the simple, yet perfectly zany aesthetic
that uses little more than bright splashes
of color here and there to offset the gray
and drab world the immobile Jelly creatures
live on.
Being immobile it was only a matter of time
before their plight against more mobile foes
were depicted in a TD, though aside from some
of the usual tropes this isn't the kind of
game you're used to playing.
Jelly Defense places you in control of various
jelly-types (essentially towers), though they're
colored either red or blue (in the case of
the basic tower, both).
This isn't simply for show as enemies fit
in to either blue or red categories, with
red tending to be a bit beefier, while blue
tend to be faster.
Towers are paired up in a binary system of
color vs color with blue towers ignoring red
enemies, but otherwise unloading on blue units.
This encourages players to be careful about
over-spending on upgrades or placement of
various towers until they're absolutely needed.
This does lead to some difficulty curve issues
early on as the usual 'simple' perfect clears
are anything but easy and you'll have to eat
humble pie a few times before knowing the
order of the waves (and which paths they take)
before picking up those gold medals.
There are other reasons to get the gold ratings
as the gems you preserve are used for an unlockable
side objective.
Additional mini-games break up the game's
later, longer levels, providing a much needed
distraction from watching creatures slide
around a map.
Whether on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (the
game is universal), playing Jelly Defense
will provide TD veterans with a challenge
while still being accommodating to newer players
(albeit with some replays being needed).
A great addition to what is an otherwise hard
genre to stand out in.
