Tower defense games are a dime a dozen these days and Wild Defense [99¢/$1.99], in spite of its zesty-fresh tropical flavor, doesn’t bring anything really new to the table. Still, that doesn’t stop it being a moderately entertaining affair. Less a game for the casual enthusiast and more for the hardcore fan, this one is for those who just have to have another tower defense game on their phones.

Functionality-wise, Wild Defense will be rather cut and dry for tower defense aficionados. Your objective is a simple one: protect your fortress from the enemy waves. To accomplish this, you’ll have to drag and drop your units onto strategic locations in the map, all the while trying to maintain a proper composition of troops to ensure that you can deal with the various enemy types. In addition, you’ll also have to do things like purchase weapons for your army, work with bombs, cast spells, defeat bosses and occasionally play the Wild Defense equivalent of Russian Roulette.

I’m especially fond of the last, by the way. Though still essentially the same tower defense game, there’s also a random element of luck: you’ll only be able to use whatever the RNG has selected for you be it a tamer (she’s a rather scantily dressed chick with a whip, one capable of lowering defenses with every blow she renders) or extra currency. It’s a small twist but it provides a refreshing touch.

That said, Wild Defense isn’t quite the sure-fire formulaic success that it should have been. Though it has a lot going for it, Wild Defense is also plagued with small flaws: the jagged difficulty curve, the pause button that sends you to a menu instead of halting the action so you can adequately plan your next move, and bare bones plot (a crying shame given that the setting is all kinds of awesome) are but some of them.

All these would have been forgivable, however, if it wasn’t for the fact the interface is painfully clumsy. In theory, the whole drag and drop thing should have worked fine. In practice, it’s a lot less effective. For one, it’s impossible to tell the range of a unit prior to setting it down and by then, it’s a little too late. This, in turn, wouldn’t be so bad if things could be sold for a decent value. You can see how it all adds up.

Don’t get me wrong. Wild Defense isn’t bad, per say. The flaws I’ve mentioned? You could probably fix them with a patch. If anything, Wild Defense is actually pretty decent. Nonetheless, those who are looking to dip their toes into the genre should probably try their luck with another title.