StickWars by John E. Hartzog

I had always hoped that a "defend your castle" type game would be released for iPhone, and StickWars is the port I've been waiting for. For those of you that have no clue what defend your castle (or StickWars in this case) is, I'll give you a brief explanation.

In StickWars your goal is to defend your castle from stick men running full tilt at it and bashing it apart with their bare hands. To do this (in the early levels at least) you place your finger on an enemy and flick your finger upwards to fling him into the air. Gravity works and if thrown high enough he will splatter on the ground below (if you don't flick him high enough he will fall down but then get up and continue on his way to the castle gates).

StickWars features unlimited rounds, as well as auto saves. Capturing enemies in your prison (which is available for a set amount of cash) will allow you to train archers, mages, or bombers. To set off bombers there is an option to either shake your device or press the bomb icon in the lower right hand side of the screen.

Wizards use multi-touch controls to cast their spells. The game also offers online rankings, and adjustable difficulty levels. All the artwork in the game was done by Joseph Kuo.

The good: Fast paced action game that requires Flash like reflexes, as well as some decisive strategy in later levels. The sound effects are quite amusing and the splattering of the stick men is quite pleasing. Unlimited rounds offers a lot of replay value in this $0.99 action title.

The bad: The game crashes after you are defeated, and if you want to try again you are required to restart the app.

The breakdown: I've been waiting for this one a for a long time and in my opinion John Hartzog did a great job porting this over for iPhone/iPod. Great sounds and great controls make this game a total success. 4.5/5

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