Monsterz Revenge

Resource management games are well suited for mobile gaming. I mean, what other genre has turn-based activities that require waiting minutes, if not hours, for something to be grown or built?

There's nothing quite like getting a game notification while you're running errands about town.

And while Monsterz Revenge is a quirky addition to a genre that includes the popular Smurfs' Village, the gameplay is, unfortunately, too scattered and restrictive to really shine.

A collection of culinary monsters has been kicked off its home cemetery by some unscrupulous humans. In Monsterz Revenge, you're helping the motley crew cook their way back into home ownership.

The graveyard is initially a small patch of land. Cook some good food, such as Popcorn Toes or Brain Cake (mmmmmmmm!), and your ghost friends will pay you handsomely. That wonga can be used to purchase new equipment, potions, or, most importantly, patches of land.

Cooking isn't the only way to get dough, though, for Monsterz Revenge is packed with moneymaking mini-games.

For instance, if you catch a human wandering around your little graveyard, one of your zombies can scare them and get a bonus. In another instance, you can give Frankenstein juice by rapping on-screen in time with lightning bolts à la Tap Tap Revenge 3.

You can also play with friends, working co-operatively on graveyards or competing for kitchen resources on a turn-based basis.

The rough part about Monsterz Revenge is that its best features create the gameplay issue. If you'll pardon the pun, the problems lie in the execution.

The first of which is the mandatory online connection. That's right: fire up the game without a wi-fi or data connection and it won't start.

The second major problem is the severely disjointed gameplay. There are a ton of nameless options along the bottom of the screen which require trial and error to figure out - it took 10 minutes just to figure out where the graveyard expansion was located, despite it being a key point in the game.

Of more concern is the wide graveyard. Scroll the screen and you'll notice that certain things are important play points, while other equally colorful locations are just decoration. Add in incongruent, bizarre mini-games and you have one confusing, potentially frustrating game.

The odd gameplay could be forgiven if the game didn't seem so kid-focused. The cute cartoon graphics, funny storyline, and strange situations will make a 12-year-old crack up, but we aren't all teenagers, alas.

The competition is too fierce, and there are plenty of other child-friendly games that are easier to understand for both children and adults.