Chickon Review

You might remember the fantastic space-themed, online-enabled strategy game Galcon from as far back as 2006 when it was originally released for PC. That little killer app has since been released on just about every portable device on the market to unanimous praise. Well Phil Hassey, the game's creator, has been hard at work on a spin-off of sorts, and today the fruits of his labor have been revealed...in a game called Chickon.

Chickon may scare away an unsuspecting iPhone gamer at first sight, but there's a lot here to enjoy. The lead character is a chicken who must defeat an army of robot chickens in order to save the roosters from their cages, and eventually topple the factories strewn throughout this poultry-filled world. The art is very simplistic and extremely goofy, the music is fun and jazzy, and the sound effects are absolutely ridiculous, all of which suit the silliness of the game's concept.

As for the gameplay, it is pretty much identical to Galcon. The player starts each attack with either one or several nests, and must capture more nests to lay eggs. The enemy will be doing the same, so the goal is to capture the most nests the fastest and overtake the enemy's nests, ending the level. Power-ups can be collected along the way, such as nukes, Chicken Rockets, a Chicken Sedator, and a frier. Most levels won't require quite that much firepower, but the factories and rooster rescues are a little trickier.

Last but certainly not least, the design of the roosters deserves some kind of award. They each have a unique look to them, as well as a description, such as: "Charles is a Conference Planner who likes Skateboarding." Genius. Other than that, there is not a whole lot to this free game. Chickon is clearly a pet project that got out of hand, but in the best possible way. There aren't many better way to spend a bus ride or a bathroom break than saving the world from robot chickens.