| Minions | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Paul Preece, David Scott |
| Distributor(s) | Kongregate, The Casual Collective |
| Version | 1.21 |
| Platform(s) | Adobe Flash |
| Release date(s) | 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Strategy video games |
| Mode(s) | Multi-player |
| Media/distribution | online Flash game |
| System requirements
Flash-compatible web browser, Adobe Flash |
|
Minions is a free Flash-based browser game created by Paul Preece and David Scott of the Casual Collective, who are the creators of Desktop Tower Defense and Flash Element TD, respectively. The game has been featured by gaming reviewer The Escapist[1] for winning an award at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.[2] As of 2011, the game has been played millions of times on Kongregate.[3] It is based on the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients.[4]
Contents |
The game is a multiplayer game playable by any even number up to 12 players. Every player controls a "minion", similar to a tank or bot, and works with a team (either red or blue) to destroy the enemy base. There is a selection of eight minions (five when playing on Kongregate, six when playing on the Casual Collective without the "Bonus Pack" and eight when playing on the Casual Collective with the "Bonus Pack"), each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Each player has the option to create a game. On the option screen when creating a game there will be numerous options in which you can modify your game. These options include, how many players the game can have (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, 5v5 and 6v6 this the "Bonus Pack"), next the player can chose whether it is a standard game, which stets the tower health at a higher level and decreases the rate in which a player gain experience to level up and gain skills. The next option is what the game mode will be, the options are normal, random, and mirror. Normal games are where each player gets to select his/her minion in a 30 second minion selection period. Random games are where each player gets a randomly selected minion. Mirror games are like random games but, however both side will have the exact same minions. The next option is where the player decides whether the game should be standard or Pro Connection. Pro connection mode increases the connection speed, however only people with the "Bonus Pack" can select pro connection.
After the initial 30 second phase of Minion selection, the game begins. The game is two dimensional, and scrolled vertically. The two teams, blue and red, spawn on opposite sides of the map; one on the top and the other on the bottom. Each advance across the terrain, destroying towers, fighting enemy minions and mini-minions, and cooperating with teammates, with an eventual goal of destroying the enemy base. Towers, mini-minions, and minions are destroyed when their hitpoints level reaches zero.
Towers and mini-minions do not respawn after being destroyed; however, minions turn into "ghosts" when destroyed and respawn after a certain amount of time.
Gaining experience is a crucial part of Minions, as it enables a minion to increase damage and to level up its unique specials. Experience is gained as long as a player is living; however, attacking enemy minions and towers enables players to gain experience faster.
At the end of each game, players are ranked and awarded points based on their performance in the game. A player's score depends on experience, kills, tower damage, and whether or not the player is on the winning team.
People playing on the Casual Collective can purchase a "Minions Bonus Pack" with the site's virtual currency, called "Casual Credits". The bonus pack allows the player to unlock two exclusive "minions" and enhanced game hosting options.[5]
Minions underwent beta testing during the later part of 2008. In terms of graphics and gameplay, the beta version of Minions was quite different from post-release Minions.[6] Towards the end of 2008, it was released along with the Casual Collective website, as one of the featured games. It was, and still is, by far the most popular game on the Casual Collective website, having been played millions of times, and is also a top rated game on various other websites such as Kongregate, where it attained a 4.26/5 rating.[3]