Day Ten: Kill the Crows
Santa got mixed up and put crow in your stocking instead of coal
CAW CAW
Yeehaw, partners! Load up your six shooter and lace up your boots, we’re going back to the old west to kill some crows. Hundreds of them. Don’t worry, they’re not the little black birds you know. These are evil constructs made of darkness and fueled by malice, that are also weak to bullets somehow. Doesn’t make sense, but at least the game is fun.
Read on to find out why Kill the Crows is a short game and such. You know the drill.
What is it?
Kill the Crows is a top down shooter. Fight incoming enemies with your trusty revolver until you kill enough of them and a boss spawns. Keep going until the final boss or until you can’t go on any more. All the action takes place on a single screen, like an old school arcade game.
Everything in the game dies in one hit, including the player. This means every enemy attack is lethal, but it also means you can take anything out with just one bullet. This lets you make quick decisions on what to take out first, and the constant, brisk pace of the shooting puts you into the flow state easily. Even the bosses die in one hit, but they have shield mechanics that you have to deal with before you can shoot them.
There are different types of enemies to keep you moving. There are melee guys who rush you with axes, gunslingers, snipers, exploding guys, shielded brutes and some more specialized units that show up later to ruin your day. Each of them has a clear purpose and design, and they work to keep things interesting.
Other than shooting, you can dodge and use a special dead eye attack. The dodge moves you out of the way of enemy attacks and gives you a few frames on invincibility to avoid danger. The dead eye attack charges up as you kill enemies. Once the bar is full, activate it to kill any enemy you mark when it activates.
The game is very simple, but fun. It’s like a flash game you’d play back in the day, instead of paying attention to computer class.
Short
The game is extremely short, meant to be completed in under 15 minutes. It’s a quick, bite-sized game. There is some replayability to it. You can unlock a lot of equipment. Things like revolvers, new dead eyes and accessories that provide passive benefits. These change up how you play, and offer some variations on the base formula.
The game is really short, but what little content it has it does well.
Worse Graphics
The game has that low-res pseudo retro look some pixel indie games have. It gets the job done. Enemies are clear on screen, they have good designs, their attacks are telegraphed and you can always tell who’s doing what.
The color palette is limited, but it looks good. It conveys the grim atmosphere well, while offering enough color to make everything look distinct. The graphics are very utilitarian, proving you don’t need much to make something that looks decent.
Made by People Paid More to Work Less
I’ll have to get back to you on this one. This was made by 5MinLab, a Korean indie team that also made Smash Legends. They have different games listed in their Steam page, iStore page and on their site. There’s an Itch.io profile under that name that has different games, too. Their Android store has some recent games that look like they use AI art for their promotional material.
I don’t know what’s what, but I’ll assume they don’t pass in this category. Or maybe they pump out games on their lunch break while making a decent wage? I don’t know.
Conclusion
Kill the Crows is a very short, simple and to the point. It’s only a few minutes long, but it’s solidly made, and its short list of mechanics is well executed. It gets you into the flow state quickly and you’ll find yourself trying one more run to try to get a higher score. I can’t vouch for everything the company has made, but I can at least say I enjoyed Kill the Crows and recommend it for anyone.
You can get Kill the Crows for $5 at full price. On sale it usually goes for $2.50, which is less than the price of a cup of coffee. Give it a try.