Kawaii Killer Plushy Edition Review

According to the developers at Tabemasu Games, Kawaii Killer Plushy Edition is actually the “softer” version of the original Kawaii Killer. Apparently Apple had an issue with the original’s violence, resulting in the need for a new censored version. But don’t worry. Even if the game is little more than a slightly more varied Whac-A-Mole, it has still has enough gore to liven things up.

With its delightfully twisted combination of cute animal critters and hardcore ultra-violence, it’s hard not to be reminded of Happy Tree Friends [Editor's Note: Sorry, no link. You'll have to look this one up yourselves.] when playing Kawaii Killer Plushy Edition. The game even has the same vibrant art style, excellent animation, and copious blood spray of that beloved cult flash cartoon.

But however pretty it may be, ultimately this is just a game about touching animals until they're dead. Fortunately, it’s not as mindless as it could’ve been. Each level tasks players with wiping out animals as they pop up; if they miss one, they lose a heart. However, each animal must be taken out in a specific way. While a simple tap may squish foxes to death, rabbits require more elegant throat slitting using a quick swiping motion. As players progress, the game gradually introduces more animals and gestures to keep track of, including creatures that must be spared and variations on existing moves like double taps and slices, forcing players to actually think quickly before acting. There are even boss fights, like one encounter against a critter that must be tickled into oblivion.

With its fair amount of levels, multiple modes, balanced difficulty curve, and steady supply of constant crazy kills, Kawaii Killer Plushy Edition is respectably varied. However, its surprising level of quality is only relatively high when comparing it to the shallowness of its inspirations. Doing nothing but poking the screen may be more pleasant here than in other games with nothing but even more empty and vapid screen poking, but this is still a game about screen poking.