Kick the Buddy: No Mercy Review

I’ll admit that there’s been the occasion or two where I’ve opened a Kick the Buddy game to take out my frustrations. Torturing, beating, exploding and stabbing the defenseless fellow has helped to relieve stress, and the joy that I get out of it may warrant a trip to the psychiatrist. Since these games always climb the App Store charts, I know that I’m not alone. The game is all in good humor and isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but the gruesome graphics may not be for everyone.

For those who have never played a Kick the Buddy game, they all have similar elements. Gamers are presented with a sandbox area with a cute but annoying rag-doll who is full of insults and witty commentary. Players simply inflict as much pain and damage to the little fellow as possible, in which they are rewarded cash to purchase even more objects and weapons. Torture devices range from guns and grenades to wasps and boiling water.

Along with earning cash, players can also work hard to complete objectives and earn achievements. One bonus feature that many players enjoy is the ability to add anyone’s face to buddy to relieve additional stress.

Kick the Buddy: No Mercy differs from the other games in the series with new missions, graphics and elements. Unfortunately, avid fans really won’t see a lot that is different between this one and Kick the Buddy: Second Kick. There are small tweaks and improvements here and there like realistic blood and new elements, but it felt like virtually the same game and it offers no long-awaited improvements like the ability to transfer elements and money from the other games. Furthermore, Kick the Buddy: No Mercy is still packed with in-app purchases and users will have to purchase gold, even though it is a paid game.

Overall, I found Kick the Buddy: No Mercy to be rather unimpressive considering it’s a paid game. The developers do promise free updates every month so maybe it will get better with time, but for now fans may find themselves disappointed with the lack of improvements to make it feel like a new game instead of something they’ve already played. Hopefuly Crustalli listens to its customers and adds new improvements that make it worth buying or they at least make the game free.