Holy Moly Dragons

Let’s face it: dragons have a bad reputation. In many mythologies and works of literature they're villainous, evil creatures. If St George isn’t slaying one, then a group of dwarves and a hobbit are attempting to steal another’s gold.

But there are two sides to every story. Perhaps dragons are just protecting themselves. The dragons in Holy Moly Dragons certainly take this view, though if they hope to succeed they'll need to engage in a little bit of strategic thinking.

Dragon’s den

Your goal is to prevent waves of enemies from crossing the valley of the dragons by hatching eggs in strategic positions. Eggs can be hatched into Fire, Ice, Lightning, or Flamethrower dragons, each of which possesses different skills and abilities. Dragons can also be placed to block paths to the goal, meaning that enemies have to take a longer route to victory. Different types of enemy such as footmen, skeletons, and catapults are resistant or vulnerable to certain types of dragon, while gargoyles are able to fly and therefore able to bypass many of the obstacles in their way.

Each type costs a different amount of money, which means you're frequently presented with the dilemma of quantity versus quality.

Dragon quest

Money is earned by defeating enemies and also by selling dragons, presumably to some sort of magical cattle market. Selling dragons can rectify mistakes and can raise capital quickly should you need to relocate a unit or find something more suitable. You acquire food by defeating enemies, and you can use this to upgrade your dragons. Food is also necessary to use one of three special abilities that are unlocked as you progress through the campaign.

More than a dozen well-designed campaign levels serve up quite a challenge. Success is dependent on your score as well as not exceeding the limit of enemies which you are permitted to let through your grasp.

There are also three challenges per level, such as dealing with multiple spawn and exit portals or a managing a finite amount of funds. Does it drag-on?

Although Holy Moly Dragons may ultimately fail as a PR exercise designed to improve the image of dragons, it does succeed as a basic tower defence game.

Colourful graphics add appeal. The campaign is certainly challenging, and earning three stars from every level is no easy task. Still, it feels a little on the short side, even with the inclusion of the extra challenges.

The limited number of dragons and upgrades is also disappointing as it limits the number of approaches you can take to each level, even if the conundrums of where to position your dragons and what to do with resources such as food compensate for this.

Some more levels and a few more variables to play with would have helped, but the striking visuals and some novel ideas mean that as far as tower defence goes, there are far worse alternatives.