I gave in to the Clash of Critters ads, and oh my goodness - it's actually really fun?
Cute critters and unexpected undead
I know mobile ads often take a lot of heat for being annoyingly deceptive, but if they pop up often enough, they somehow still get to me no matter how hard I try to resist - so kudos to Clash of Critters, as they've successfully done just that.
It could just be that I'm easily distracted by shiny new things, or the fact that the aforementioned advertised critters are, in fact, incredibly cute. And while I went into this thinking I'd get some sort of Pokemon-esque monster-catching adventure, what I got instead still compelled me enough to want to keep playing even after my first few minutes into the whole thing.
Let me just say that since then, the sun has risen and the sun has set, the weekend's come and gone, and I've completely forgotten what the ad that attracted me in the first place even was. I'm still engaged in the titular clash of my cute critters three days later, and I can tell you that even as I'm writing this feature, my mind's already drifting back to my Tatari camp and wondering if anyone's been bold enough to raid my cosy camp since I've stepped away from it.
What even is Clash of Critters, you might ask? Don't let the title fool you - it's nowhere near a monster-catching extravaganza, where you expect to capture creatures in a ball and then set them out to do battle with other monster-catchers in the wild. There are balls, sure, but they're pinballs and gachapon capsules; and there are battles, sure, but they're automated and done against zombies.
Yes, you tap on a pinball machine, collect candies, and use said candies to unlock gachapon capsules. These, then, are used to catch your critters - or Tatari - in a gachapon machine; then you deploy these Tatari onto the battlefield to fend off an incoming zombie invasion.
It's just so lovably random, and I am all for it.
While you're off gallivanting with the undead, your camp can be raided by other players, much like they would in Coin Master, so you'd best keep those pinball machines spinning to get as many candies and Raid shields as you possibly can. Rewards also include level-ups for your Tatari - and such is the never-ending and absolutely compelling loop of Clash of Critters.
Of course, there are also tons of flashy combos, satisfying multipliers, and bonus bonanzas that you're bombarded with each time you tap on your pinball machine, which is the kind of dopamine hit that'll keep you coming back. I know it's all to manipulate me to spend more time on this game, but I've found that despite my trying to resist, my critters have made me a willing subject, and I have now effectively volunteered as tribute.
Honestly, I say all this like it's a bad thing, but when you get right down to it, I am absolutely enjoying myself in Clash of Critters. It's got the perfect combination of auto-battling idleness and cuteness overload that I love on mobile, and given how the critters are designed, you might even want to forego their tactical advantages in combat in favour of just how darn adorable they look.
Like, I know I'm supposed to deploy this higher-tier bunny that deals AoE damage and heals nearby allies at the same time, but oh my goodness, there's a lower-tier blue capybara that absolutely demands my attention. It's got an E rating, it doesn't do much, and it only fires a single ranged shot at enemies via the citrus fruit on its head. But said citrus fruit is cross-eyed, and that's all I really need to know.
So yes, say what you want about the misleading ads, but Clash of Critters is pure, unadulterated fun in my opinion, so I'm going to stop gushing now just so I can get back to my Tatari Camp before someone raids my capybara.
