Crane Wars

The Latest Game from the creators of Minotaur China Shop and Off-Road Velociraptor Safari. Crane Wars is aiming to hit the very same slightly madcap buttons that its predecessors did. However, what seems to be missing this time around is the fun element.

While the idea is sound - build a group of towers by using a crane to pile building blocks on top of one another -the execution doesn't have the required to charm to make it worth playing.

Your crane follows the movement of your mouse and holding down the left button picks up building blocks. Move grey ones to the highlighted areas until a brown one appears, which caps the building and turns it into a less wobbly skyscraper. Competing against you is a gang of ruthless scabs - unlicensed builders who'll stop at nothing to bring down your skyscrapers. They'll do this by lobbing building materials, trucks and other debris in your direction, trying to dislodge the foundations of your towers and bring them crashing to the ground. You can do this back to them, if you fancy, so it isn't all one way traffic. Keep playing until your money runs out and that's it, really.

While Crane Wars isn't bad, it doesn't retain the same charm as Flashbang's earlier releases. And those two talking heads are annoying, repetitive and stupid. Get rid of them!