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Review: Clicker Heroes

Clicker Heroes Setting 2
Review: Clicker Heroes
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Platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Browser, Steam

Game Name: Clicker Heroes

Publisher: Playsaurus

Developer: Playsaurus

Genre: Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Strategy

Release Date: May 15th, 2015

Clicker Heroes – What We Think:

Developed by Playsaurus, Clicker Heroes revolves around the simple mechanic of clicking on enemies with the mouse button until they meet their untimely demise. These enemies will drop gold that can then be used to hire a number of adventurers who will do the dirty work of killing enemies for you. And so the premise goes from level to level, remaining true to the original Cookie Clicker game while offering more incentives for players to keep on clickin’.

Clicker Heroes Settings

Click to Win

The game is relatively simple to learn in that all you need is a mouse. You click on enemies to cause damage to them. Once you’ve hired adventurers, however, it’s no longer as necessary to click enemies, as their health will gradually deplete due to the damage these adventurers do.

There are a substantial amount of adventurers to hire, many of which are unlocked after a certain amount of gold is obtained. All of them are rather original, and can be leveled as well as upgraded, sporting new abilities that will increase the damage they do to enemies permanently.

For every 10 enemies killed in the current level, a new level opens up with enemies that have more health and require more time to kill. There are bosses every five levels. A timer counts down from 30 seconds as you and your adventurers try to deplete their health. If the timer reaches zero, you failed in killing the boss and will have to restart the level.

Clicker Heroes Setting 2

Animated Enemies, Still Heroes

Another plus to the game is that the enemies and backdrops are quite colorful, even if you don’t interact with them directly. There’s your standard variety of enemies and stronger recolors, but I like that they all have their own animations rather than being statues like the pixellated adventurers that aid you.

I wish that I could actually see my adventurers take action against all of these monsters; it would give at least a little bit more intimacy with the characters you’re leveling. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and their representations are little more than figureheads to help you decided whether you want to hire a cook, a giant tree or a mighty warrior. There is rarely any other distinction between characters.

Achievements Galore

Those gamers who love to gather achievements will have a field day with Clicker Heroes, as there is an entire page devoted to what achievements can be obtained and how. It would take a great deal of time to complete them all, an extra feature that banks on keeping players interested with goals they can achieve besides killing enemies, getting gold and leveling up.

Skills are also unlocked when certain adventurers are upgraded that normally increases the damage dealt to an enemy for a certain amount of time. These are rather useful when facing bosses with enormous amount of health, and aren’t needed in any other situation. They have a cool-down of 10 minutes—considerable, but considering how efficient it is when paired with your adventurer’s damage, I can see why. The more focus put into leveling and upgrading adventurers, the more likely to benefit from having these useful skills in your arsenal.

Clicker Heroes Boss

Multitasker’s Delight

The one thing holding back Clicker Heroes is the very genre it covers: clicker games. We as players do not consider clicker games to be full of depth by any means. They are meant to be played in the background, while your average player writes a paper or watches a video or waits for another game to load. There are achievements and leveling and upgrades, but it all feels so pointless when the game essentially plays itself.

Can’t get past a certain boss? Go back a few levels and watch a movie—er, grind—and you’ll have enough gold to get past it. While this is the nature of most clicker games, it doesn’t satisfy my thirst as a gamer, as interacting with Clicker Heroes feels like more optional than necessary.

That said, others who play this game have the opposite view and enjoy playing due to all the achievements, unlockable adventurers, and the ability to play while doing other things. To each their own. For certain, it greatly satisfies that niche of gamers that enjoys playing clicker games. Others may just have to see click for themselves.

Play the browser version of Clicker Heroes: official site

Get Clicker Heroes on Steam

[xrr rating=”3/5″]