In Gamezebo’s preview of Critter Escape, I expressed my love for worlds that exist in more than just a single game. As such, there’s some weird kind of poetry in writing about SmashMuck Champions, a game that, along with Critter Escape, invites players to glimpse into the world of Planet Muck.
In Gamezebo’s preview of Critter Escape, I expressed my love for worlds that exist in more than just a single game. As such, there’s some weird kind of poetry in writing about SmashMuck Champions, a game that, along with Critter Escape, invites players to glimpse into the world of Planet Muck.
Where Critter Escape is a strategy-based platformer for iOS and Android, though, SmashMuck Champions is a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game for PC and Mac. So, you know, kind of different. But there’s no better way to expand a world than by offering up wildly different experiences within it, so the lack of connection gameplay-wise makes a lot of sense.
The change of platforms is worthy of commendation as well. Thanks to free-to-play titles like League of Legends, the MOBA genre has found quite the home on the PC and Mac platforms. Playing them on iDevices is rarely a pleasant experience, and developer Kiz Studios wants a game that sings to both neophytes and veterans of the genre.
I won’t tiptoe around the fact that that sounds like some mighty PR speak. But SmashMuck Champions actually has a chance of delivering on that premise: The cartoony graphics help the game feel more inviting, and the gameplay looks to have most of what dedicated MOBA players want out of the genre. Not to mention weird jabberwocky-looking mounts.
Matches take anywhere from 5-15 minutes to play, with players netting experience, cash, and items at the end of each one. These virtual treasures can then be used to improve characters. The game allows players to hop in, have a quick match, and immediately hop out, but the inclusion of things like experience provides more dedicated players with a reason to keep at it. That reason, of course, is to surpass all of the casual players in power and mow through them with the greatest of ease.
The game is currently in open development, and the team is allowing players to provide input at the game’s forums. User-inspired game development is something I feel we’ll be seeing more of in the future, and it’s always great to see a studio with their ears focused on the userbase. And now that we’ve reached the end of this preview and I’m not in danger of derailing anything, I just want to point out how fun the word ‘MOBA’ is to say.
MOBA.
