KILL A MILLION RATS REVIEW: WHEN TOWER DEFENSE MEETS RODENT GENOCIDE
Ever wondered what would happen if someone threw Vampire Survivors, They Are Billions, and Disney's Ratatouille into a blender? Kill A Million Rats answers that question with an oddly adorable yet chaotic mix of base building and mass extermination.
BUILDING A RAT-FREE UTOPIA
The game's core loop is deliciously simple: build stuff, recruit cute animals, and turn countless rats into furry confetti. The procedurally generated maps keep each run fresh, forcing you to adapt your strategy based on whatever random nonsense the game decides to throw at you. It's like playing SimCity, if SimCity was constantly under siege by an endless tide of squeaking doom.
COMBAT THAT HITS DIFFERENT
Combat feels like Vampire Survivors had a baby with a tower defense game. Your spirit of vengeance floats around blasting rats with various magical powers, while your village's defenders do their best impression of a pest control company on steroids. The escalation of power is satisfying as hell – by late game, you're essentially a mobile rat apocalypse.
CUTENESS OVERLOAD MEETS MASS DESTRUCTION
The art style is so adorable it should be illegal. You're committing wholesale rodent genocide, but everything's drawn in this ultra-cute style that makes you feel like you're playing through a children's book gone horribly wrong. The juxtaposition of adorable allies and the endless rat massacre is chef's kiss perfect.
THE JANK FACTOR
Not everything's perfect in rat-killing paradise. The tutorial could use some work – it's about as helpful as a chocolate teapot. Some mechanics are about as well-explained as quantum physics to a goldfish. The difficulty can also spike harder than your blood pressure after seeing a rat in your kitchen.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Despite its rough edges, Kill A Million Rats is more addictive than cheese to a... well, you get the idea. The combination of base building, action combat, and roguelite elements creates a gameplay loop that'll have you saying "just one more run" until the sun comes up.
Score: 7.8/10 - Like Vampire Survivors but with more property management and an intense hatred for rodents.
We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.