I'd like to thank Igniting Spark Games for the review key for this title.

Ever since Space Invaders, shooting invading aliens has become almost completely passe. The formula has been almost done to death, and until Cookie Invaders, I found it hard to imagine they could liven it up. Taking the above pessimism from people like me as a challenge, Cookie Invaders decided to innovate the genre by blending it with a few others, such as rogue-like and action strategy games.

The story is simple, tongue firmly in cheek parody of the usual Space Invader plot. Oh, the aliens are invading, but they decided to disguise themselves as cookies, cakes, and other sweet things we humans love. Of course, we humans aren't foolish enough to fall for it, so we send up spaceships to fend off the confection shaped menace.

The gameplay is, on the surface, much like a "bullet h**l" game, in which you must move a spaceship around to shoot enemies while avoiding taking lethal damage. However, due to a life and shield regeneration mechanic, it's possible to short term "ram" enemies to do damage, but prolonged ramming will drain you to zero, so it's a tactic to be used sparingly.

Elements of the rogue-like and action strategy genre are blended into the gameplay, as each gameplay session is randomized, and there is a level-up system where various attributes of your spacecraft can be enhanced with points. There are also unlockable cosmetic redesigns for your spacecraft, a challenge mode, and a few other unlockable bonuses redeemable by earning in-game currency based on points earned during gameplay.

The graphics draw inspiration from the "cute-em-up" sub-genre, in which shooter games are satirized with adorable parody art. Cookie Invaders does this by having the aliens resemble various sweets, and the designs are colorful, varied, and quite silly looking. The sound and music aren't anything particularly notable, rather generic synthesized "alien invasion" music common to the space shooter genre, but none of it is hard on the ears either.

Controls are done with the keyboard and mouse. As of the time of this writing, there is no controller support. The controls are straightforward, mostly using the mouse to move your spaceship and fire your missiles. The few features like detonating modules (aka bombs) that rely on the keyboard are accompanied by a helpful keypress guide.

Stability is outstanding. The game is made using the Unity engine, and it runs fine. The quality can be toggled in-game for any level of computer hardware, and switches between windowed and full-screen mode without issue. For those who intend to play on Linux via Steam Proton, I am pleased to say it will run out of the box with no issues I could discern.

Morally, there is very little wrong with this title. There is very cartoony violence against cookie, candy, and other confection shaped enemies, which disappear in a silly-looking explosion when destroyed, but otherwise, this has no foul language, sexual content, or other material that is remotely offensive.

In a genre that has been nearly run into the ground, Cookie Invaders dares to be innovative and I have to admit, while space shooters are not usually my cup of tea, this was pretty entertaining. Morally, it's suitable for any young child or older who can operate a computer. Overall, if you want a silly yet fun game shooting silly space aliens with a surprising amount of depth, then I can't recommend Cookie Invaders highly enough.