Game: Kids vs Zombies by Donut Lab

Genre: PvP action fighting game

Platforms: Android

The mobile gaming industry is thriving and players have a lot of options to choose from in any given genre. PvP shooters is an immensely popular genre and keeps growing. However, cutting through the clutter becomes important and Kids vs Zombies: Battle for Donuts — which is in its alpha stage of development on Android — is a great example of how to do that through a unique theme.

The premise is simple. All the adults here have become zombies and it’s up to the kids to save the day. Zombies per se is not a new theme; there are plenty of shooter games with the zombie theme. What sets it apart is adding kids to the equation and thus giving it a quirky vibe that is immediately relatable. It has piggybacked on the success of Stranger Things and is a reminder of 90’s films such as Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

The gameplay is easy to pick up. You start by choosing a character to take in. It is a top down shooter where the objective is to collect more donuts than your opponents before time runs out. You do this by shooting zombies which causes them to fall to the ground.

If you choose to, you can store your collected donuts at particular points. You can also steal them off other players when they die. The shooting is made fun by the ability to trap your opponents. Here you don’t attack other players — you just attack the zombies. This makes the experience less aggressive as well as more fun. Winning matches gives you trophies that unlock characters. You can then upgrade with the trophies that you have collected.

What sets the game apart is the love that has gone into creating the personalities at play. There is the Bedwetter, who is so scared of the zombies that he has to stay up all night by eating pills. Then there is Dislike, who was Instaroyalty but even after the zombie apocalypse has managed to #NeverGiveUp and “shoots” the crazies with her camera gun.

The zombies themselves are also unique with each of them behaving differently. There is the energiser bunny that drops batteries to power up your gun, and there is also the ice cream zombie that freezes you. There is a lot of charm in the quirkiness of the character and enemy designs that hooks you into coming back.

Kids vs Zombies provides you with ample reward moments through the Battle Pass. It also allows you multiple modes to pick from to keep pace with your skill level. You get the character cards at random and that makes you upgrade and try out different characters. All this keeps the game from becoming boring, and ensures you continue to be invested in it.

VERDICT: The core gameplay is fun but we have already seen these mechanics in action before. However, the quirky character designs seem straight out of the 80s and that is what sets this game apart from the rest. I am eagerly waiting to see how the game shapes up on its way to launch. I would give it an eight out of 10.

Karan R. Gaikwad