Sponsored Feature: Day Go By Entertainment on how Monster Feed towers over the competition

The tower defence genre shouldn't work as well as it does on iPhone. Tower defence games involve careful planning and strategies tested by waves upon waves of enemies, whereas most mobile gaming takes place in quick, casual bursts.

But somehow it works. In fact, some of the best iPhone games belong to the tower defence genre, and Monster Feed is looking to join them.

Developed by Day Go By Entertainment, Monster Feed HD appears to follow the basic principles of tower defence: you choose from a selection of different heroes who must prepare for an impending onslaught of beasts that wish to devour your livestock.

But it’s how you are involved in the battle that makes Monster Feed unique. We spoke with developer Robert Pasquini about his influences, his plans for the game, and why he didn't feel the need to censor the gore.

“My goal was to make Monster Feed more interactive than other tower defence games, where all you want is a fast forward button,” says Pasquini.

“I added spells that the player can cast to capture an action element, and they can slow, stun, and knock monsters around. The monsters also have special abilities that they will cast that make them harder to stop.”

The game doesn’t stop there when it comes to bolstering the action. In most tower defence games there’s no real feel to how much damage you’re doing to the enemies. In Monster Feed, you know exactly when your foe is taking a pounding. Certain enemies collapse into puddles of blood when killed, and levels frequently turn red as enemies fall and the claret flows. That’s not to say there’s an over-abundance of gore. As Pasquini tells us, it’s hardly enough to be considered controversial. “I think the blood is comical enough that younger players might not be scarred for life,” jokes Pasquini. “That said, each parent should decide for themselves what is too much for their children. At some point I considered adding a parental mode, but decided against it because I didn't think it was graphic enough.” Defending yourself from cliché Despite these diversions from the usual tower defence path, even Pasquini admits it was impossible for the game not to take some inspiration from other titles in the genre. “I've played a fair share of tower defence games, my favourite being Blizzard's tower defence map for WC3. That game inspired me greatly,” says Pasquni. “I also really enjoy PixelJunk Monsters. For the iPhone I played a lot of The Creeps. I think my game is a good mix of those three games.” And Pasquini hasn't finished with Monster Feed. “I actually have a couple of larger scale ideas for the game, one of which is a Monster-vs-Tower" mode,” says Pasquini. "Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to implement everything I would have liked due to the small team size and it being a side project. I may find time to do it in the coming year.” Towering iPhone-o Pasquini promises a string of updates for the iPhone version of the game. “I'm currently working on an update that will include Game Center, OpenFeint, new scoring mechanics, two new monster abilities, achievements, and several new maps,” he says, “with the update after that including a new hero, at least one tower, more maps, monsters, and whatever else I can squeeze in. I'll have more details when I get closer.” Updates aren’t just being made to add another bulletpoint to the titles’ App Store description, though - Day Go By Entertainment is listening to its players. “I'm also actively improving the game based on user feedback,” says Pasquini, “which includes some small usability changes and balance tweaks to towers.” Now that Monster Feed has survived the dangerous wasteland that is the App Store, an Android release has been confirmed. We don't know exactly when it's coming, but Pasquini says it will follow the upcoming iPhone update. Monster Feed could even be making its way to another large player in the mobile market. “As per other consoles, I'm actually in talks with another studio that has shown interest in porting Monster Feed to Windows Phone 7,” reveals Pasquini. “It is still early in the process, but if all goes well we'll be making a formal announcement about it soon.” Monster Feed is available on the App Store now, priced at £1.19 / $1.99 / €1.59.