Kairosoft's Beastie Bay is basically Pokemon for Android, and it's free
With a little city building thrown in for good measure
The latest game from Japanese sim maker Kairosoft (Game Dev Story, Venture Towns) pays a great deal of debt to Pokemon.
Beastie Bay, after all, is a game where you amass a small army of critters and use them in turn-based RPG battles.
The idea is that you have washed up on a desolate island, and you've got to fight the native beasts to survive. Then, in your spare time, you'll build the island up into a personal paradise and even head off to explore new lands.
So you'll spend much of your time in your small homestead, building homes for human survivors and bedding for animal allies, research labs for discovering new technologies, and even hotels and airstrips.
But every now and again, a new plot of land will mysteriously appear just off the coast from your main base. You can wade in to explore it and use the land to expand your home area, but you'll probably run into a monster.
This is where it goes full Pokemon, with your beastly pals (including a duck, a crab, and a dog) going toe to toe with other animals. You'll choose attacks, use items, put your guard up, or flee. And, like Pokemon, you can entice enemies to join your team - using bait, rather than Pokeballs.
We've only just started playing it, but it already looks to be as barmy, ambitious, and addictive as all of Kairosoft's previous games.
Interestingly enough, this one is available free of charge. There's an advertising banner at the bottom of the screen, though, and it costs $3.99 if you wish to remove it.
It also looks like some other elements of the game will be sold as the game progresses. We'll find out the full details for you next week.
