LunchTimeWaster: Crane Wars

crane-wars-picFlashbang have made some awesome games. Off-Road Velociraptor Safari. Minotaur China Shop. And now Crane Wars.

Except Crane Wars isn’t awesome. Which is surprising. It’s worth playing though because Flashbang games are always full of interesting ideas.

Like Velociraptor and Minotaur, Crane Wars takes one physics based interaction and embellishes it into a complete game. Here it’s controlling a crane lifting heavy slabs of concrete on a building site. You’ve got to consider the weight and momentum of your sluggish conveyance as you try to construct tower blocks as quickly as possible.

There are scabs working the site across the road, you see, so you – a good union worker – swiftly find yourself in competition. (There’s some sort of workplace commentary there.) You can try to undermine the scabs’ efforts by flinging junk at the towers, while they inevitably do the same to you.

Crane Wars isn’t as good as it could be for two reasons. One, the rivalry with the scabs never really heats up – to be honest, you can play without even bothering with them. Two, the crane control is a bit buggy and you’ll find yourself swinging blocks into your own constructed towers by accident. Which is annoying.

Still, worth a look. And if you get bored, play Off-Road Velociraptor Safari instead.

Crane Wars [Blurst]

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