Demons vs Fairyland Review

Demons vs Fairyland is a tower defense game about demons that kidnap children. It's not clear what the denizens of the underworld want with the kids, exactly, but we can probably be assured their motives are gentle, benign, and involve candy.

Sounds suspicious? Doesn't matter. Demons vs Fairyland casts the player as the head of the demon armies and charges them with making sure the kidnapped children remain in possession of monsterkind. Glue on some horns: It's time to play as the "bad guys."

After the demons invade Fairyland and spirit away the kiddos, the heroes of Fairyland follow in hot pursuit. Each level takes the demons further away from Fairyland, but not even monsters can march forever. They're forced to set up camp from time-to-time, which inevitably winds up with them making a stand.

Demons vs Fairyland is a classic tower defense title. In fact, it's an upgraded version of a web-based game. In other words, players shouldn't have a hard time understanding the mechanics behind Demons vs Fairyland. The children huddle in a little group at the end of a path. The rescuers from Fairyland come marching down that path, and when they retrieve a kid, they try and exit the level with the child in tow. If, however, the hero is slain before they can leave, the child stops dead in their tracks. They're as docile as sheep (and presumably as tasty as sheep, too).

The player needs to build towers in order to defend what they stole fair and square. Skeleton warriors are spawned from graveyards and make good, cheap foot soldiers that double as effective road blocks. Archers shoot invaders from high towers. And imp-like puddle beasts attack with powerful magic that travels in a circular pattern.

Like most tower defense games, Demons vs Fairyland slowly builds up the player's stash of gold as they fight and slay enemies. This gold goes back into buying new towers, upgrading existing ones, and buying support structures. Players are also granted a number of powerful spells they can unleash at any time, provided they have the accumulated mana to do so.

Demons vs Fairyland is pretty challenging, even on an easy setting. The enemy waves are long and intense. The player is provided with everything they need to triumph, however. The art of tower positioning is worth a lot in this game. Study past failures, and success will eventually follow.

Demons vs Fairyland's difficulty is tempered a bit by its dark sense of humor, too. When players fail a mission, they're likely to try over again right away because who really wants to admit they were iced by a bunch of lollipop-wielding imps?

Anyone craving a good, basic tower defense game will find a lot to like about Demons vs Fairyland. Go, collect the children - and hey, try and learn why they all look identical to Lucas, the protagonist of 2006's Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance.