Babel Rising (link opens iTunes), created by Bulky Pix Games, is a tower-defense game with a twist. The tower in this case is the Tower of Babel from 
Genesis 11:1-9. And you play God trying to keep the builders from completing the tower for as long as possible. The game is currently on sale for .99 cents in the app store.
Unfortunately, in this game God is not omnipotent, and the humans always finish the tower no matter how mercilessly you zap them. You accumulate points for killing humans with your various divine powers and for slowing the builders down. Your powers include the finger of God (invoked by touching humans), lighting bolts (swipe down with one finger), mighty wind (swipe across with one finger), a tidal wave (swipe across with two fingers), fireballs from heaven (swipe down with two fingers, and earthquake (shake the iPhone). Each power takes time to recharge, and depending on the destructiveness of the power, recharging time ranges from quick (finger of God, lightning) to slow (wind, tidal wave) to very slow (fire balls, earthquake). That means the stronger destructive powers can only be used occasionally. It should be noted that none of these divine powers do any damage to the tower itself, only to the humans. However, occasionally, God’s divine eye grows large and blinks. If you touch the eye at the critical moment, you can utterly destroy one level (but only one) of the tower.
Something really strange happened while I was playing the game. In the middle of pelting the builders with fire balls, I was caught up in a vision and transported to Cupertino, CA. God appeared to me in the form of a giant Apple and gave me this message for the developers of Babel Rising:
“This is GOD.
I have a bone to pick with you about Babel Rising, a game based on that little misunderstanding at the Tower of Babel. In my own defense, I didn’t destroy those people, I just messed with their languages so they couldn’t finish the tower. And, most importantly, I WON. You apparently failed to read to the end of the story.
I have had fun playing your game. I enjoy destroying humans with My divine powers. I laugh with glee when my tidal wave washes them off the ground. I cast my balls of fire and smell the sweet aroma of burning flesh. I relish accumulating points with every death and the trophies I win are a nice addition to my heavenly treasures.
However, BulkyPix, thus declares the LORD. Your game has incurred my divine wrath! You have emasculated me, Your God, by allowing the humans to win! I have three commandments for you:
First, thou shalt restore Me to omnipotence. I want to be able to destroy the tower utterly, not just wipe out one level every so often. And, if I don’t destroy the tower, I should, at least, have the power to wipe out all the humans and stop them. I am the LORD. I ought to be able to win your puny little game!
Second, thou shalt fix my Mighty Wind. You allow it to be triggered too easily by my divine finger. Here I am, minding My godly business, using my divine finger to strike humans down when all of the sudden the stupid wind bursts forth even though I did not invoke it. Lo, this is unacceptable. I am infallible. My divine finger does not make mistakes–neither should your programming.
Third, thou shalt increase the speed of my Divine Powers. They take too #&@*% long to recharge! Speed them up so I can kill more humans, or I shall smite you.
I am the LORD.”
After that weird experience, I’m not sure I’ll be playing Babel Rising for 12 consecutive hours ever again. That said, it’s an amusing game with great potential. The developers offer two .99 cent in-app purchases (so far). The Fury Mode update creates a hell theme with the builders as demons. Some of them are immune to God’s powers. In Campaign Mode God travels to several cities and destroys towers in each.
If you want a tower-defense game that isn’t overly challenging, Babel Rising is a good choice. The developers just need to tweak the game a bit to make it more fun and to give God more power (lest He smiteth them).
Screen pics and video from the Bulky Pix website.
