Intrusive Thoughts Win
Life is full of minor inconveniences, like your neighbor’s chickens hawking all the time. The choice is simple: ignore it and move on or begin a massacre of chickens. Indie developer Vikas Pawar has made a game where murder is a valid option. Intrusive thoughts win in Who Let the Chickens Out, and it is so satisfying.
Ready, Aim, Fire
Tap the screen to line the barrel’s sight, tap the screen to steady the weapon, tap the screen fire. It’s harder than it seems. These chickens are smart. With their 2-D serpentine and helmets to avoid headshots, it’s a hard hit. Additionally, the barrel changes speed, moving faster at higher levels, making it hard to aim properly. Once the gun is level, there is no changing it. So, if the barrel is aimed higher or lower than the target, the only choice is the follow-through. Success or failure is deemed from the start, so take a breath and take it slow.
While the game may be all about shooting chickens, it manages to remain entertaining. The introduction is hilariously absurd. What starts as a calm night quickly becomes a man’s massacre mission. Somehow, the game manages to make the player indignant at the audacity of these chickens that are simply trying to live. It comes with a lot of personality and channel’s the player’s inner hick.
Just Because
There is no goal in the game except killing as many chickens as possible. Level after level—it’s simply killing chickens. Who Let the Chickens Out serves as a bit of mindless fun. After a few levels and chickens guffawing at every failed attempt to shoot them, it’s best to put down the phone, take a breather and understand that you are in the wrong and should move on with life. This game is hick neighbor’s tantrum gone a bit too far. Something you don’t realize while lining up a headshot.
There are upgrades that let you slow down the barrel, making it easier to line the shot, but that’s the only handout this game gives. It’s a lot more difficult than it initially seems with no forgiveness. It’s all fun and games with the music playing in the background, but try turning off the music. It becomes a tad eerie. Shooting chickens, round after round in the silence, really changes the atmosphere. Who Let the Chickens Out serves up an excellent niche humor joke and if you don’t get it, you don’t get it.
