Platform: Android
Release Date: January 20, 2015
Developer: moitititi
Publisher: moitititi
Genre: Simulation
Nerd Rating: 6 out of 10
Feeding a newborn Bug
Not too long ago I did a review on an Android title called Minutequest and at the end, said that I wanted to check out more of the developer’s titles. DevilWorks is one of the two games by moitititi that I decided to download and try after that review went live. So if you’re interested in a retro-style Android game that’s addicting but also a lot of fun, I would suggest looking into one of moitititi’s titles because so far, I’ve enjoyed them a ton. Here on Nerd Bacon you can read up on Minutequest and an action title called SlingKnight. But, enough about the other games, let’s talk about DevilWorks, shall we?
A must-have
DevilWorks is a retro-styled pet simulation game, but in a really funny twist on the pet sims genre, you’re actually growing pet monsters which you can use to battle and rampage villages for income. When you start the game your tower will only include two floors, one for your character and one for only a single monster. However, you can purchase upgrades for your tower along with other things by tapping on the throne on the top floor. Through the upgrade menu, you can purchase tower upgrades, room items, special eggs, and an upgrade to your timeskip button that appears at the bottom of the screen. Tower upgrades include addition floors for more monsters, treasure chests that increase the chance of Hero spawns (more on that later), and talismans that boost the tower’s magical power.
Why they carry monster eggs, I have no clue.
The process of growing and raising pets is pretty simple, all you have to do is set an egg in an empty floor of the tower and wait for the time limit on the bottom of the screen to end for it to hatch. In the game’s tutorial you’ll receive a GelEgg, but in order to find more monster eggs you will have to find other means of acquiring them. The first, is through the upgrades menu, which offers three eggs; bronze, silver, and gold. These eggs work a little different then the other eggs you’ll receive in the game in that they hatch into one of eleven different monsters and remain in that form until they die, which is when their timer on the bottom goes out. The second way is by going to the entrance of your tower and bopping off the heros outside. As you grow your tower, different types of heros will appear with different eggs. These eggs, once hatched, will continue to evolve into different forms of monsters before they die.
Evolutions of BugEgg
To explain, the monsters that hatch from regular eggs or the gravestones will go through three different forms. There are about seventeen different forms a single egg can possibly take on, which adds up to more than 200 possible monsters in the game. You can find more about the monsters and their specific eggs through the Monster Library and the DevilWorks Wiki. Completeing your Monster Library will give your tower a bonus in magical energy, but otherwise isn’t a huge requirement. I think of it as sort of like filling the Pokedex in Pokemon Red, except you have to wait until your monsters die to make room for more. Luckily, the monsters are pretty useful, by raising their level through training and evolution for example, you can increase the per minute rate of the income you receive when your monsters are rampaging the village.
Young Bug and BabySlyme on rampages
You don’t have to worry about your monsters dying in battle of course, because they will return to the tower once their health is low enough by themselves. You also don’t have to worry about your monsters dying from starvation, they’ll only die by the time limit ending underneath of them when they’ve reached their final form. Of course, the game will continue tracking time even when you aren’t playing, so if you’re worried about losing a favorite monster, you can add the hourglass to their room to stop the time limit (although it makes them freeze too). Otherwise, the game is pretty much a waiting game.
All hail the Bear Bus!
Although you can use the time skip button at the bottom of the screen to skip time a bit, the games activities are all related to waiting for time to lapse. In order to interact with your monsters through feeding and training them, you have to wait until the have the hearts or hunger for it which, without skipping time, takes a while. While the game offers tons of customization through the different evolutions and such, it takes time for your monsters to hatch and grow, which could probably draw off a lot of players. I really enjoyed it because of how laid back the gameplay was but also how silly some of the evolutions were; like Bear Bus. Really, a Bear Bus. But in versus battles and rampages, Bear Bus is really a tank but sadly his time limit is starting to go out…
My BubbleSlyme is a little killer.
So in general, DevilWorks is a good game, it gives you tons to do and features creatures from Minutequest that you can actually raise. Some of the only drawbacks I see are that the game revolves around waiting and this really annoying full-screen ad that pops up every time I go from the front of the tower back to the monsters. But if you bear in mind that the game’s purpose is for time wasting like Minutequest, it’s definetly worth a play. I know I intend to continue playing it until I finish the Monster Library!
So farewell readers, and all hail the Bear Bus.
