KMGR of "Tiki Tower"

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Real Arcade also calls this "Tropical Towers". What it actually is, is "Bridge Builder" but with monkeys. Yes, monkeys as in simians. The story is simple: these five monkeys fell out of a plane and wants to go home, but they landed in a bunch of islands. Help them go through each island (each island is a level) by building them some bridges, and also find them all the bananas on the level as well. The result is surprisingly challenging and addictive piece of game that will have you coming back for more.

There are five groups of islands. Each island group has nine levels/islands. The first group is pretty simple, but later groups you *can* fall to your death. Third group introduces lava pools (needless to say, "monkey + lava = no-no"). Final two groups are for experts only. Each level, you are limited in the amount of bamboo you can use. Some levels comes with anchor points and maybe a few steel rods. You must construct one or more structure(s) that can get all five monkeys a) to the exit point, and optionally, b) allow them to grab all five bananas on the level. If you fulfill just a), you can pass on to the next level, but with a silver mask or less rating. If you fulfill both, you'll get a gold mask for the level.

If you manage to beat all 45, you will unlock the "Eco Warrior" mode, which makes you go back through each level and start REMOVING bamboo pieces! Do more with less, so to speak. On some levels you remove just 1, while on others you will need to remove like 8. It may sound impossible, but it is quite doable. I've gone WELL BEYOND what was requested before, and the monkeys DID escape with their bananas. It's all a matter of physics. Remove the required numbers, and you'll add "leaves" to the gold masks.

And remember, you are dealing with simians. They will go for the bananas if they can get to them, else they try to go for the exit... else they swing back and forth a bit and look for the path through. This may look stupid, but it is surprisingly efficient. It is also very hard on your bridge as the monkeys actually swing from junction to junction, and they can easily tear your structure apart if you did not "monkey-proof" it.

In fact, you can build free-rotating wheels (which are needed on some levels) as well as the standard bridges, towers, and so on.

Graphics are cute, and music does get a bit repetitive, but the sound effects are right on. And there are some awards awaiting you if you do complete the all three achievements (complete all islands, complete all islands with gold mask, finish Eco mode).

All in all, Tiki Towers is one of the most educational and fun games to come along in a while that is easily accessible (even for kids), yet challenging even for adults. With nearly 100 levels (counting both regular and eco modes) to go through you will be spending quite a bit of time, and perhaps, even more by beating the requirements of eco mode. Just how few bamboo sticks CAN you use?

Overall rating: 8 out of 10 (!)
Pros: easily understandable, charming, AND still challenging
Cons: no editor, no online board for records, no multi-player