Minions (flash game)

Minions
Developer(s)	Paul Preece, David Scott
Distributor(s)	Kongregate, The Casual Collective
Version	1.21
Platform(s)	Adobe Flash
Release date(s)	2008
Genre(s)	Strategy video games
Mode(s)	Multi-player
Media/distribution	online Flash game
System requirements Flash-compatible web browser, Adobe Flash

Minions is a free Flash-based browser game created by Paul Preece and David Scott of the Casual Collective, who are the creators of Desktop Tower Defense and Flash Element TD, respectively. The game has been featured by gaming reviewer The Escapist^[1] for winning an award at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.^[2] As of 2011, the game has been played millions of times on Kongregate.^[3] It is based on the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients.^[4]

Gameplay

The game is a multiplayer game playable by any even number up to 12 players. Every player controls a "minion", similar to a tank or bot, and works with a team (either red or blue) to destroy the enemy base. There is a selection of eight minions (five when playing on Kongregate, six when playing on the Casual Collective without the "Bonus Pack" and eight when playing on the Casual Collective with the "Bonus Pack"), each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

After the initial 30 second phase of Minion selection, the game begins. The game is two dimensional, and scrolled vertically. The two teams, blue and red, spawn on opposite sides of the map; one on the top and the other on the bottom. Each advance across the terrain, destroying towers, fighting enemy minions and mini-minions, and cooperating with teammates, with an eventual goal of destroying the enemy base. Towers, mini-minions, and minions are destroyed when their hitpoints level reaches zero.

A skirmish outside the blue team's base; visible are various types of "minions" and "mini-minions"

Respawning and Experience

Towers and mini-minions do not respawn after being destroyed; however, minions turn into "ghosts" when destroyed and respawn after a certain amount of time.

Gaining experience is a crucial part of Minions, as it enables a minion to increase damage and to level up its unique specials. Experience is gained as long as a player is living; however, attacking enemy minions and towers enables players to gain experience faster.

Scoring

At the end of each game, players are ranked and awarded points based on their performance in the game. A player's score depends on experience, kills, tower damage, and whether or not the player is on the winning team.

Bonus Pack

People playing on the Casual Collective can purchase a "Minions Bonus Pack" with the site's virtual currency, called "Casual Credits". The bonus pack allows the player to unlock two exclusive "minions" and enhanced game hosting options.^[5]

History

Minions underwent beta testing during the later part of 2008. In terms of graphics and gameplay, the beta version of Minions was quite different from post-release Minions.^[6] Towards the end of 2008, it was released along with the Casual Collective website, as one of the featured games. It was, and still is, by far the most popular game on the Casual Collective website,^{[citation needed]} having been played millions of times, and is also a top rated game on various other websites such as Kongregate, where it attained a 4.26/5 rating.^[3]

References

1. ^ http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/events/ids/5703-Indie-Developers-Showcase-Day-8-Minions
2. ^ http://blog.casualcollective.com/2009/04/16/were-still-here/#more-268
3. ^ ^{a b} http://www.kongregate.com/games/CasualCollective/minions
4. ^ http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/11/minions.php
5. ^ "CC Wiki – 'Minions Bonus Pack'". http://wiki.casualcollective.com/Minions_Bonus_Pack. 
6. ^ "CC Wiki – 'Minions Beta'". http://wiki.casualcollective.com/Minions_Beta.