Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game Is Fun From Another Galaxy

This is the Lighthearted Survival Game You Have Been Looking For.

Horror is more popular than ever, and as a result, we are seeing more and more horror based IP games being released each year. While horror fans are always excited to see their favorite characters show up in the gaming world, some of these entries don’t stick the landing as well as we would hope.

That doesn’t seem to be the case with Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game. Now that fans are able to spend some time with their favorite amusement park themed aliens, this silly game looks very promising. This makes sense when you factor in the legacy of the cult classic film. Killer Klowns from Outer Space was released in May of 1988. Since then, it has amassed a huge following as one of the best cult classic horror films ever made. The IP is known for its whacky gimmicks and genuine frights. As generations of new horror fans are introduced to the iconic film, its following just continues to grow.

However, while other games focus on the scares and seriousness of death, Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game brings a fun, almost whimsical approach to the format. This new game manages to feel familiar while somehow being completely new and unique. That is a huge feat to pull off in the current gaming market where many games feel like a clone of a clone.

Plan your own alien invasion and harvest humans as the iconic Killer Klowns or gather a team of survivors to escape the extraterrestrial threat in Crescent Cove! - Illfonic

Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is set up the same way as all asymmetrical horror games. Players are split into two warring camps. Our survivors must scrounge for tools and weapons while trying their best to survive against the kooky aliens. On the other team, we have the brilliant Klowns. These vicious creatures spend the night hunting down the survivors, attempting to kill them in unique and hilarious ways.

Somehow, IIIFonic and Teravision Games have taken the “It's so bad it's good” phenomenon from the 80s classic and translated it into an awesome horror gaming experience. Now, Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is far from the first asymmetrical horror game to utilize legendary horror icons. First, you'll love customizing your characters. You'd have a huge wealth of options to get the perfect throw-back character who looks like the walked right out of the totally tubular mall from your childhood (and for you youngsters...malls used to be what Amazon was...but indoors). For additional options, outside of the wealth of DLC that keeps getting add over time, you'll have to complete certain challenges in-game to unlock more and more customizable items for the human characters (and additional weapons and Klowntalities for the Klowns...more on that later).

This campy stylization is what makes the game so special. Not only that, but the game is amazingly intuitive. Traditionally, learning the ins and outs of an asymmetrical horror game can take weeks or months to master. However, Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game manages to make the complex survival mechanisms of the game feel simple and easy to navigate.

This vibrant, horror filled world is the perfect throwback to the wild and whacky horror that came out of the 80s. Not to say that this game is just another 80s horror cash grab, far from it. Even gamers who aren’t a fan of the 80s over the top horror can get into the action and find silly ways to kill off their friends. You get a variety of fun maps, like an amusement park, a local suburb and a camp site that total gave us Friday the 13th: The Game vibes! You can tell these are the same folks who worked on both games, as the love is clearly present! Much like Friday, you'll have several exists (like a boat, a bunker and others), that require raiding for items and installing the needed parts to make those paths to freedom accessible. Each are fun, and randomly generated at different parts of the map. We found learning the maps took some repeated playtime, but for those who get lost easily, you can find a compass to guide your way (and a special meet up that will briefly mark the general locations for each spot).

Playing as  Klown provides its own set of challenges, but having a team of three definitely makes it easier to hunt down your victims (especially if you're on a squad using their mic, who can call out the humans locations and activities). You can either use your cotton candy weapon to cocoon them, that will allow you to power generators to increase the speed of the end-game (called the Klownpocalypse). But I found it was more fun (and sometimes easier), to simply kill the victims using one one of the hilarious Klowntaltiies, which takes that human out of the game (providing their team doesn't resurrect them later). While you're waiting, fun little mini-games will allow you to help out other team mates with additions to their inventory. More can be unlocked, and no doubt we'll see additional ones added via DLC later.

While this is somewhat of a wash, rinse repeat formula, it's fun and never gets old. This is the charr of these types of games, which provide a fun, casual sandbox that allows you to kick back and have some great fun on the weekend, without all thee sweatiness of other games. TCM for example is great, but it's much more intense. If that's not your jam, Klowns will provide a let more stress-free fun, where your chance of survival are much easier (by the 10th hour of gameplay, we found using the bushes and keeping a energy drink in our inventory allowed us to survive much easier).

The lobbies and gameplay matching can be set for cross play, so finding a match is never a problem. And continued quality of life tweaks continue to roll out and make this experience even better.

That’s one of the reasons Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game works so well. Not only does it honor the horror lineage that the game is based on, but it also takes the genre and makes it approachable to all players. Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is a fantastic game that all players can enjoy. We can only hope that its success will lead to even further horror adaptations down the road.