Stickman Trenches

The stick man is the perennial choice for a developer who wants to keep things simple and easy to manage. Stick men games come in all shapes and sizes, from old school Flash games to modern kung fi fighting titles. One recent release, though, Stickman Trenches by Big Play Games, is a real time strategy game that sees you try to come through the ‘First World Stick War’. Is it as fun and as humorous as it sounds?

War is fought from the trenches

As an RTS game, Stickman Trenches is based in a stickman-inspired take on the First World War. You will spend much of your time either diving into trenches or breaching trenches, clearing them of enemies as you go. You need to spend much of your time managing your soldiers and their weaponry so that you can overcome defensive positions and push forward.

One thing is clear: you will lose men. This is a title where you need to accept that you will lose lots of infantry, and a few armoured units along the way. Smart planning is needed to breach even a basic trench, so there is definitely a challenge waiting for you in this game. You can choose from the Single Battle mode or you can take part in the Endless Survival mode, both of which could be worth many hours of your time.

Get used to using WW1-era firepower, so you won’t be running in with laser rifles or anything like that. It’s all single-shot rifles, machine guns, shotguns, and flamethrowers. The main tactics will come from smart use of individual abilities and timing your pushes forward.

A new take on the wave-based survival game (7/10)

If you have played more or less any kind of tower survival game, then you will know what to expect with Stickman Trenches. Most of the time, you are basically defending against an army of enemies charging your trenches – or you are charging enemy trenches. Get used to calling in air support and tactical assistance, though, as each wave gets continuously harder.

If you are looking for something to compare this to, you might some similarities with games like Toy Soldiers. There is lots of love about Stickman Trenches, though, and it definitely has its place in the growing number of World War 1-era games.

Pros

• Exciting and interesting gameplay loop that forces you to think before acting
• Excellent variety in the way your units work and combine together
• Enough content present to make sure you want to come back for more

Cons

• Steep early learning curve might put some people off
• Cartoonish graphics limit the depth of strategy elements when you gain experience