10-player arcade hit is sweet gaming nectar for the soul
Arcades have been making a thrilling comeback. Now they are fantastic bar/game room hybrids that call back generations of gamers from around the world.
For those uninitiated in gamer history or episodes of Stranger Things, arcades were, at one time, these earsplitting meccas of childhood adventure and starry-eyed obsession way before gaming consoles dominated our lives.
One main attraction was a co-op cabinet; the shining pinnacle of multiplayer gaming technology. According to my 8-year-old brain, having the means to team up on one cabinet with my brother or stranger was a glorious achievement of humanity. It ranked second to the moon landing and lightsabers. I fondly remember those nights racing around floors soaked in beer and neon lights with coins burning holes in my pockets and pizza stank clinging to my innocent soul.
But let’s clear the air and lean in towards the present at a game that looks dated, stings like a hardcore triple-A, and has swarmed the hearts of arcade lovers across the nation. Let’s talk about a fantastic arcade treasure called “Killer Queen”, a lovely multiplayer game that’s built a cozy nest right in our beloved arcade The Coin-Op.
“Killer Queen” is a dual cabinet 5 vs. 5 platforming strategy game from the minds at Bumblebear games. The sleek and sexy arcade cabinet is 100 percent designed with the gamer in mind, and is complete with appealing artwork and friggin’ cup holders!
The cabinets are divided into two colored teams the Blue and the Gold. Players will assume a role as either 1 of 4 drones or the vicious queen. Like chess the queen is arguably the most powerful in terms of mobility and attacking power, but in “Killer Queen” she has finite lives (respawns): three to be exact.
Her main role is to capture drone upgrade gates, assassinate the rival queen, or defend her drones against attack. The drones serve as the main squad of workers. Drones cannot attack but they can and must collect berries from collection points on the map and run them either to a neutral or team occupied gate for an upgrade or to the hive to progress their team to victory.
Drones have infinite lives and can morph into warriors to harass other drones or even murder the queen. Drones can also hijack the God snail which is a very slow weapon of mass destruction in the Killer Queen universe.
Victory for either team can be achieved in an economic victory by stashing berries in the hive, military victory by killing the queen three times, or by running the weapon of mass snail to your team’s side of the screen.
Seriously, the snail is bad news.
The design shares similarities with arcade games such as Joust or Mario Bros. from back in the day but offers a complex level of strategy that one often finds with a modern tactical shooter game. “Killer Queen” has a frightfully fun platforming strategy game mechanic which requires teamwork, communication, and cohesion in order to be successful.
It’s a game that produces outbursts of cheers, streams of curses, and cultivates ritualistic tribal bonds similar to your grandparents’ cigar-loving bowling team.Since its debut in 2013 at an indie arcade exhibition, the game has taken flight across the nation ending up in pretty swanky digs from Seattle to New York City and producing hives of leagues and tournaments in each area every year.
Chattanooga will be another top battle ground with The Coin-Op hosting of TenGig’s Hive Turkey Tourney this Saturday. This bad mamma-jamma will run from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. and boasts a $2,500 cash prize to the ultimate winning team as well as prizes from local businesses.
Watching a “Killer Queen” match is a competitive spectacle to behold; I will admit this is a game I enjoy watching. This event will be sweet as honey as eager teams and lone strangers toe up to the sticks for some 8-bit bee-on-bee violence. It’s a gaming event for the history books this weekend, so drop by this Saturday to see what all the buzz is about. Tickets are $11.94 and available at eventbrite.com
And if you are on the more antisocial or agoraphobic of the gamer species do not fret because “Killer Queen”will be soon ported to Nintendo Switch and Microsoft in 2019.
“Killer Queen” is a game that teaches fundamental team building while unifying around a strategic goal for domination. Perfect for family and friends looking to bond or feud over simulated studies in fantasy Apiology.
When not vaporizing zombies or leading space marines as a mousepad Mattis, Brandon Watson is making gourmet pancakes and promoting local artists.