Badland for iOS might be the mobile game you’ve been waiting for

Things are looking good for Badland, a new game from Finnish developer, Frogmind. With a release that’s been met with critical acclaim and plenty of sales, Badland has the potential to be the next big indie game on the iOS market.

Mixing the eerie atmosphere of LIMBO with the unique mechanics of Angry Birds, the game delivers an awesome, engaging experience. Players are tasked with helping a bunch of black, owlish creatures to escape from the evil robotic overlords and make their way to paradise. It sounds cute and childish but don’t let that fool you.

The robot overlords are sadistic, bunny killing monsters. In order to escape their increasingly deadly traps, players must sacrifice some of their owls so that the rest may escape. As the game progresses, more and more owls must be sacrificed for the greater good. Even if you do lead the owls to paradise, they’ll have to crawl over the corpses of their fallen comrades to get there.

Players can also join their friends in Badland’s four-person multiplayer. The multiplayer can also be deceptive, though. This isn’t the friendly multiplayer that you’re used to where you cross the finish line, hand-in-hand with your friends. Here you have to claw your way to victory by throwing your friends into traps and walking over their dying bodies. Not exactly the friendliest of multiplayers but certainly one of the most enjoyable.

In recent years, indie games, especially mobile indie games, have become increasingly popular. Games like Angry Birds and Minecraft have made hundreds of millions of dollars since their release. As the indie game market becomes more popular, it also becomes more competitive, and none is more competitive than the iOS market. With millions of other developers competing for the limited space in the list of top iOS apps, things can get pretty hectic. Often times wonderful games are buried and never get the success they deserve. Hopefully Badland doesn’t suffer this unfortunate fate.