Juicy power-ups, a pesky alien scourge, tanks capable of mass destruction and an added pinch of gloriously animated explosions – that seems to be the recipe for success according to Lead Money Games. Their first ever creation, Lil Tanks, just so happens to put those concepts into a side-scroller that almost fits the bullet hell genre, substituting more traditionally-associated aerial crafts with prototype tanks geared to withstand hordes of enemies (or “Cuur”, as the developers call them).
It’s interesting to note that Lil Tanks is made by two former VFX artists with plenty of film work under their belts – this includes the likes of Rise of the Guardians, Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice in Wonderland. Despite this being the studio’s first foray into making interactive entertainment, gameplay looks solid and well-executed, if we are to ignore the slightly uninspired concept of having to fight off mysterious aliens threatening the existence of Earth.
You have your bosses, power-ups and unlockable perks, which is really all you’d want out of a fast-paced, missile-dodging action game. The best part is that Lil Tanks’ funding goal sits at a mere $4,000, with there being no stretch goals whatsoever. Promising co-op support and a release date set during Summer 2016, the campaign seems to be nothing more than a final push aimed at bringing “some more artists” and a PR firm.
With that being said, there is an unfortunate lack of any kind of demo available as of right now. Judging by how close the game is to completion, this really seems like a missed opportunity, although I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a playable build pop up in the near future. Whatever the case, a bit more than $1,400 has already been covered, which makes me think that investing into Lil Tanks would be a pretty safe thing to do.
(PS. The trailer above has a serious case of wub wub.)
