Fat Chicken Review

This game will grow on you.

Have you ever looked at one of the gigantic chicken breasts at the supermarket and wondered, “Silicone isn't edible, so how do they get so big?” Well, boys and girls, this massive growth is achieved through the miracle of science. You see, biologists have discovered that merely stuffing livestock with food and water doesn't bloat them enough to increase profits, so animals are also fed and/or injected with growth hormones and antibiotics. And now any budding farmhand can fatten virtual livestock before leading them to slaughter with the unusual tower defense game, Fat Chicken.

Although this title is billed as a reverse tower defense game, I find it to be more of a standard tower defense game with an unusual twist. Instead of trying to destroy every creature that tries to make it to the “tower,” players are tasked with helping the livestock survive the trek from the farm to the slaughterhouse. Additional points (or pounds) are earned by fattening each animal to increase its weight. Beating each level not only earns new levels, but also helps players get promoted within the Fat Chicken Meat Co. so they can fight this evil corporation… from within!

Just like most tower defense games, players must set towers along a predetermined path to achieve their goals. In Fat Chicken, basic towers feed and water the animals, but there are also towers that inject hormones, antibiotics, and even ones that promote the growth of tumors (can you say Genet-O-Cannon?). Not to worry, though, as the FDA says that a small amount of tumor in your diet is part of a healthy breakfast. Every tower can be upgraded twice within each level, and stars earned by completing levels can be spent to increase each tower's effectiveness.

In addition to spending stars to improve towers, they can also be spent to improve things such as the final weight of livestock and the effectiveness of farmhands (who literally beat the meat with cattle prods). Three stars can be earned per level, and returning to levels to earn missing stars adds a welcome bit of replayability. Better yet, earning the third star requires more than simply meeting the meat quota. For example, one level requires that no more than 15 towers are built while another tasks players with ensuring that six or fewer animals die during their journey.

There's a fine line between fattening up livestock and overbloating them to the point of literally exploding, and chickens, pigs, and cows each have a different threshold. In addition to the bloody mess, animal carcasses simply aren't good for the bottom line. Additional challenges come in the form of random UFOs that float into a level and kidnap cows, and hippie protesters that attack towers to make them ineffective. Building gun turret towers will take care of the pesky UFOs, and hiring security guards for towers will send those patchouli-scented protesters scurrying away like rats.

Not all is well-down on the farm, though, as Fat Chicken could definitely be more challenging. To begin with, players shouldn't be able to earn enough stars to purchase every upgrade in one game. I would want to replay the game if my choices included sacrifices rather than only determining the timing of upgrades. Also, it only takes a few levels to learn the subtleties of stuffing livestock without killing them, so I rarely had to replay any levels. As a result, I rarely purchased and used the power-ups and heroes that give passive bonuses, which is a waste. 

If the livestock weren't cutely rendered as squares and rectangles with faces but no appendages, then fattening them up and adding tumors wouldn't be such morbid fun. The over-the-top humor and wacky visuals are needed to hide the disgusting nature of what is actually occurring. As soon as you start to see through the mirage, you start to realize that Fat Chicken is not just a game, but also a wake-up call for the livestock industry. Who knows? Some people just might start buying organic meat after playing this title.