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In the not too distant past If anyone had asked me if I thought that “stick figure” games would be popular and all over the iTunes AppStore I would have thought they were pulling my leg. Not any more…we’ve played several.This time around we play, Cartoon Defense: Space Wars, that’s placed in a tower-defense game.

Before I even swing into breaking down the gameplay (blah, blah, blah), off the bat I’m going to mention the graphics. Yeah, it’s a “stick figure” game but don’t let this style fool you. Cartoon Defense: Space Wars is well drawn and it’s definitely the most stylized stick figure game to date. Everything about it from the cutscenes to the actual gameplay is interesting to look at…something that I don’t normally find myself saying about a game that contains stick figures as its main theme.

Alright now that I’ve gotten that out of my system let’s talk about the gameplay. Well, unlike the graphics that bring something new, Cartoon Defense: Space Wars is a tower-defense game and for the most part follows everything that we know–to a tee. There are enemies attacking and you’ll need to place turrets (in this case spaceships) to protect yourself, the White Army, as well as your planet (this is your tower that you’re defending) from the onslaught of the Gray Army. Everything here is all pretty standard stuff…but unlike many tower-defense games, Cartoon Defense: Space Wars contains oodles of defense upgrades. Definitely the highlight of this gameplay experience.

The good news is that there’s so much upgrading with its 80 levels (as well as 3 game modes) and you’re going to need it because it gets really tough. Especially the boss battles that’ll push your tower-defense skills to the limit. As they say, with the good comes the bad and so is the case with this. Cartoon Defense: Space Wars is a freemium title and you’re going to have to throw down money again and again if you would like to progress. You can earn money through mining but it’s so slow that it’s nearly impossible to progress this way. It’s unfortunate that instead of having a standard price tag that could allow you to progress at an even pace it’s crippled by IAP.

The Bottom Line: 5/10 (Mediocre)

Cartoon Defense: Space Wars has a great presentation flair but is otherwise hard to recommend with it’s ho-hum gameplay and use of IAP.  There are so many other great tower defense games out there.