Fluffy Horde Goes Forth And Multiplies

Bom chicka wah wah is the theme for Fluffy Horde on the Nintendo Switch. Hh-mmm – sexy stuff is going on as the evil hordes you’ll need to thwart in the game are rabbits, and they increase their numbers rabbitly (heh) through bumping uglies with one another.

Ok, it’s not that kind of game, but as you can imagine where the phrase “at it like rabbits” comes from, you have to stay on top of things if you’re likely to succeed the onslaught of furries destroying your windmills. Just another day in paradise, eh?

Fluffy Horde, from RedDeer Games, is like a tower defence type game, but it isn’t – it’s more of an action puzzle game. Said critters will bombard your crops and ravish the peasants dressed up as carrots until there’s nothing left. Your job is to earn coins from your crops and then invest in an army, upgrading their abilities on-the-fly, pending there’s enough dosh to go about.

Fluffy Horde Switch Review

As a tower defence nut, I was looking forward to this – especially as there was a comedy element (it takes the edge off the choppy pixel art visuals). However, it wasn’t what I had hoped, and the tutorial and early levels, albeit very brief, were as chaotic as the concept of being swarmed by rabbits. One of the biggest reasons for this was playing in handheld and having chunks of text show up on screen, but it would remain static as you move your troops to the action. Read it, and then the rabbits are already on your doorstep.

Depending on the level, you may start with a handful of troops or have to ‘build’ them. When they’re available, you select them by clicking on a flag above them and dragging them to the action. This can be done with multiple units, but using an analogue stick is very slow, and a mouse would be waaaaay better. Still, shoulder buttons can be used further down the line, which improves things – especially once you get to grips with Fluffy Horde’s style of play, and the text becomes less meaningful (in a good way). This was when the game naturally improved.

There are about 100 or so levels, and they’re all relatively brief. The rabbits will appear on one side – maybe both sides of the screen, and you have to counter their attack by placing your units around your base to protect it or take the battle to them. The second is an incentive as, due to ‘nature’, the rabbits multiply if left alone, and if their groups increase too much, it’s game over. But a third incentive is to beat the clock and earn medals for speed, not using X number of troops, ensuring nobody dies, and so on.

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

Once you learn the mechanics – well, familiarise yourself with the level design; Fluffy Horde is enjoyable and funny, too, without trying overly hard. The introduction of the princess you have to escort to a party without being eaten alive was a lot of fun, and the voiceovers matched the comedy very well. You can’t take a game seriously with killer rabbits as your foes, can you?

If you asked me at the beginning of the week whether Fluffy Horde was worth playing, I’d probably direct you somewhere else – but in a constructive manner. But, as mentioned, sticking it out a bit and getting used to a controller over a mouse pays off, as it’s a genuinely challenging and innovative game and, dare I say, addictive.