Dragon Chaser

If you saw a dragon, your immediate reaction would probably not be to chase it. This is probably because you aren't a Viking.

Vikings chase dragons. This historical fact is enshrined in many Scandinavian sagas.

And now in a mediocre Android phone game.

Dragon Chaser is a very basic survival slasher, with a dash of Defend Your Castle-style village defence.

Most of the time you control a Viking warrior as waves of wild beasts and dragons attack you from either side of the screen.

An onscreen stick covers movement, while a few buttons to the right cover attacks.

One attack swings your axe, rolling into a combo when you mash it repeatedly. The throwing axe attack, meanwhile, fends off enemies at range.

After a time, more powerful attacks become available, like the shockwave that fells everything directly in front of you, or the shower of axes that fall from the sky and hit almost everything on the screen.

By earning points and levelling up, your character becomes harder, better, faster, and indeed stronger.

Working your way across the world map, you progress onto harder survival challenges and face up to increasingly beastly foes: dragons who breathe fire, dragons who breathe ice, and dragons who have had archery lessons.

At particular points, however, the main game is interrupted and you're called back to defend your village.

This is a simple matter of slicing the oncoming enemies à la Fruit Ninja, except that it takes several swipes to take them down.

You can also buy catapults and other attacks to help take out multiple targets at once.

Strangely, these less frequent village defence stages are more frantic and entertaining than the ordinary slasher stages, which are too easy and repetitive.

Dragon Chaser has its moments, and the village defence stages - while unoriginal - are enjoyable. But its samey hack-and-slash challenges hold it back.