Toy Soldiers

LQ: 8.5

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Brain grade: 8.5
Fun score: 8.5

Game Type: ESRB Rating: Teen Platform/Console: , LWK Recommended Age: 12+ Thinking Skills Used: ,

Toy Soldiers is a defensive strategy game in which the player must place defensive units and guide troops about the battlefield to prevent enemy toys from reaching her toy box. Once a certain number of toys reach the toy box, the player will lose the level. If all waves of enemies are defeated, then the player wins. The game is war-themed, so the player’s defenses consist of tools like machine gun nests, artillery squads, and barbed wire fences. The player’s units will attack automatically, but the player can jump in and take control of any unit at any time. As a military strategy game, battles contain a moderate level of violence, but no blood, as the toys explode into plastic pieces. There are also references to alcohol and tobacco. Due to these factors, Toy Soldiers is recommended for players ages 12 and up.


This Game is Good for Kids Who Need Help With:

Organization

Arranging and coordinating materials and activities in order to complete a task.

The player has a limited amount of resources to spend on defenses in Toy Soldiers. The player earns money by defeating approaching troops, and can use this money to build new units or upgrade and repair existing ones. Unwanted units can also be sold back in return for a fraction of the money it cost. In order to beat each level, the player must effectively manage assets, and arrange units about the battlefield logically. Sometimes, it is better to upgrade an existing unit that is essential to the player’s defenses, while, at other times, it may be better to build a new type of unit to diversify the defense. For instance, if there are many slow-moving enemies, then the player should build or upgrade an artillery squad, whereas if there are a lot of invading infantry, then the player should put her money toward machine gun nests. Deciding what to buy is only half the equation, however, as strategic position of such defense about the battlefield plays the largest role in victory. Successful protection of the Toy Box requires a well-organized, logical distribution of weapons and defenses, otherwise the player will find herself overwhelmed with invaders.

Focus

Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks.

As in true battle, Focus skills are absolutely vital to survival in Toy Soldiers. The battlefield is chaos - enemies are approaching from all sides on foot and in air, bombs are being dropped, and guns are constantly fired. The player can bounce between weapons while the computer handles the ones she isn't controlling. Fixating on one area to attack will inevitably lead to failure as enemy soldiers take advantage of misguided focus to infiltrate the Toy Box. Unfortunately, this is very easy to allow to happen, as it doesn't take much time to get caught up attacking soldiers away from the Toy Box, leaving it vulnerable to invasion. To succeed, the player must balance her attention between attacking and defending, placing new units down, repairing units, and selling old ones as she fights back the invaders. Succumbing to distractions or failing to split her attention across the entire battlefield can easily spell defeat.

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