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video game reviews

Is Humans vs Orcs Worth Your Time?

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Disclaimer

I was sent a free copy of Humans vs Orcs to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

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Table of Contents

What is Humans vs Orcs

Humans vs Orcs is an idle (incremental) game out on Steam and Itch.io. You can currently try the game out for free on Itch.io.

Hook

The orcs are invading, and you are the last line of defense. Send your army of brave solders to defend against the endless waves of monsters, dragons, and their bosses. Use the gold you gain from taxes, kills, and the skulls of the soldiers you march to their deaths to upgrade future generations. Unlock new units and customize your loadouts. Do you have what it takes to keep your walls from crumbling under the weight of the orcish threat, or will you be overwhelmed like all the other human settlements before yours?

Gameplay

This is an idle game where you only click to choose the upgrades and summon soldiers. Combat is automated, so sit back and watch your soldiers defend your city. The round is over when you can successfully fight back the orcish invasion, or your city falls. Between waves, you can unlock new abilities to summon like a hail of arrows or new units to summon. You can only have three types of units to summon during a round, and can edit this loadout between rounds.

Does it work on the Steam Deck?

Yes, this game works fine on the steam deck, but some of the clickable areas are a little small. Changing the game speed is a bit annoying and the fact that you have to set it after each death is frustrating. Otherwise, I appreciate that I can touch my selections. The game is very low profile so it won’t kill your battery or make your fans go crazy. Is it a good Steam Deck game tho? Not really. It feels like a waste to use your Steam Deck for and idle game, even one that requires as many imputs as Humans vs Orcs.

Review

I enjoy idle games. I’ve spent too much time in idle gocha games like Monmusu Girls, but that was only fun because I got to collect waifus. The game isn’t terrible. Human vs Orcs has a cool fantasy aesthetic and some cozy vibes, but it feels like busy work. A lot of the time, it feels like I am just waiting for a timer. Most of the time, it feels like it better to do nothing to collect enough gold to do better damage in future turns. If you’re looking for an idle game to play, check out Tingus Goose instead.

Aesthetic

Humans vs Orcs is a very cool looking game. I am a sucker for pixel art, and the detail that goes into this world is fantastic. I like the units, the animation is cute, and the monsters are terrifying. The game has clear inspiration from the Warcraft franchise, which is great, but it does remind me that I would rather be playing Warcraft instead.

Gameplay

The game is fine if you haven’t played any idle games. As far as idle games go, it feels like too much work. Most Idle games require a lot of clicking, especially when they are predatory with their Gotcha Mechanics. This almost feels close to that, except you don’t get the rush of dopamine that comes with the gambling. Instead, it feels like I am clicking in hopes of getting enough upgrades to progress through the game, or having to wait in real time for better upgrades.

This wouldn’t be a problem if it didn’t require so much clicking to progress through the story. Why do I have to reset the speed after every death? Why do I need to upgrade after every death? It could just let me set my army, forget it, and collect the skulls after a while to buy the upgrades I need to keep moving. As cute as the animation is, it gets old fast and there isn’t any real reason I should have to click so much. Sure you can set the game to auto summon, but you still have to click after each round and auto summon feels terrible for progression. It is almost better to let round run without summoning units, but this might be a skill issue.

Is it a good idle game?

Not really. The game requires too much attention and there isn’t enough of a payoff to make it worth it. Even terrible gotcha versions of this type of game will at least let you pull cool looking units, and that rush you get from those gambles almost makes you forget how terrible the game is. There is nothing to make you forget about this game. Instead, you are stuck clicking away in hopes of getting enough upgrades to progress to the next round. The scaling is also a little too toxic to be the cozy idle game I wish this was.

I enjoy idle games because they are low profile games I don’t have to no life. I can log in, set my units, and forget about it until I have time to check it again. The fun comes from using whatever resources I gather to get stronger and of course, the gambling. These games usually have something to work towards whether it be a powerful team for PVP or a cute collection of waifus to show my non-existent friends. While this game isn’t terrible, it doesn’t feel like I am gaining anything except progression that seems gated by its inconstant power scaling. Why would you play this when you can be playing Monmusu Girls if you like cute anime girls or Tingus Goose if you are looking for something more whimsical and less predatory gocha.

Conclusion

Humans vs Orcs isn’t the worst game I’ve played, but it is boring. Maybe if you get deep enough into the game and collect enough units it gets better, but it takes too long to get there. The game is incredibly unintuative as it offers almost no guidance on how to play the game. I didn’t know there were additional pages to the upgrade book for example. After figuring out how to play, and building up my army, it still felt terrible getting stomped randomly by the next wave and having to reset the game speed because I didn’t want to have to sit through the same battle for the 30th time. If you’re looking for an idle game, go play Tingus Goose. If you like the aesthetic and want to see for yourself, you can try it on Itch.io for free and then buy it on Steam if you end up liking it.

Trailer

video game reviews

Tingus Goose: A Surreal Idle Game Review

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Disclaimer

I was sent a free copy of Tingus Goose to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

Shameless Self Promotion

If you’re looking for a way to upgrade your aesthetic, check out my latest reviews for the Epomaker HE68 Mag or the KiiBoom Moonshadow V2. Check out my latest review of the Fifine M9 Microphone System and the Kiwi Ears Aventus Wireless Headset.

Make sure you check out the free ways you can support me, like using my Amazon affiliate link before you buy anything. It really helps me out if you do. You can also always buy me coffee! Don’t forget to share this with your friends!

Table of Contents

What is Tingus Goose?

Tingus Goose is a surreal idle game where you bounce babies for money. This is the trippiest weirdest game you’ll ever play, but it might be worth trying at least once.

Hook

Help your ground goose grow tall enough to mate with the sky goose in what has to be the most laid back tower defense you’ll ever load to your computer. Bounce babies as they rain from the ground goose to earn the money to grow your goose. Unlock upgrades and buildings to help you increase your profit margin. Build a good enough structure and you can step away and watch your money grow. How many different stages of goose can you get through?

Gameplay

The goose will mate and transform into different creatures that spread across the world. While there is nothing sexual about this game, there are a few references that some might find offensive. Nothing explicit, but something to keep in mind.

The goose is born into the world from the love of their parents. In order to mate and continue to the cycle, players must help it grow. They do this buy spending money. To earn money in this game, players must bounce the babies that rain out of the ground goose. This is done by clicking on the falling babies to earn money actively, or arranging structures to do it passively.

Passive Income

As the ground goose grows, it will sprout random structures that can be used to bounce the babies. These structures are themed after the level and can be arranged along the neck of the goose. It is a very laid back tower defense game where there is no right answer or losing. You can leave the game running in the background and watch your money grow (or log off if you pick up the skill).

Skills

Players will unlock abilities as they play the game and grow their geese. Players have access to a comprehensive skill tree and a few RNG abilities that they can unlock throughout a run. These abilities help increase a players learning potential, but there is no real need to minmax (although you probably can). Buy whatever seems fun to you.

Structures

The ground goose sprouts random structures as it grows. These are randomly selected from a players pool of structures. All players start with the same limited pool, but unlock additional structures as they progress through the game. These structures will bounce, blow, suck, and manipulate a baby’s fall while earning players money. The game gets very creative and thematic with their structures, and leaves enough room for players to get creative with their Rube Goldberg machine.

Review

Tingus Goose is the weirdest adventure I’ve ever had to go on, and I am not mad about it. This game is an excellent example of creative surrealism and bundles it in a way that is digestible and relaxing. If you want to sit back and enjoy some weirdness with what little precious time you have for gaming, take it up with Tingus Goose.

Art

Tingus Goose has a fun and quirky aesthetic that gives the game its cozy atmosphere. The art is simple, but the cut scenes are wild the best possible way. I am having trouble finding the right words to describe what it is I just played, but I know I liked it. I commend the devs on how creative they get with their story telling with a style and aesthetic that definitely stands out not just against other games in the genre (if there are any) but all other games in general.

Story

The story is simple, but creative. A goose falls in love, grows, mates, and the cycle continues. There are 17 unique levels, each as creative as the next. I don’t think I fully understand what the story is about, but I needed to keep playing to find out what the next world looked like, and what structures I would get to use.

Gameplay

Tingus Goose is an idle game, but without the predatory micro-transactions you see in other games. While other games will eventually slow your play to encourage you to spend more money, Tingus Goose only asks for money once. This means players can enjoy the whole game without spending additional money.

The game itself is a soothing and simple loop that doesn’t take too much of a commitment. You can build your goose how ever you want (around the RNG) at your own pace. I am sure there is an optimal way of building and designing your goose, but I never felt the need and had fun messing around. I loved arranging my structures as they came, watching the cute animations of my machine in action, and occasionally clicking to get through the game faster. There might be a grind, but it doesn’t feel like it.

Conclusion

I enjoy a good idle game, but I hate how predatory they get. I usually can only get through the first few levels before the game will nerf my progress so that can start spending money. Looking at you League of Angles: Pact. I understand the need to make money to develop the game, but some companies get a little too greedy. Tingus Goose was fun throughout, with enough content to be worth the price tag.

I like that I can be active and design my Rube Goldberg machine to bounce babies and chose my upgrades for my goose, but I also like that I can just sit back and enjoy the general silliness. What I like most is that it never felt like there was a right answer. I could explore the games different mechanics at my own pace without the fear of messing up. In that way, Tingus Goose offers the purest gaming experience of any game in one of the most bizarre packages.

Even if you don’t like idle games, Tingus Goose is a strange trip that you need to go on once. I appreciate the devs doing something out of the box, and staying out there. I love this game, and will continue to run it in the background.

You can pick up Tingus Goose on Steam. Just be warned, this game gets wild.