REVIEW: ConnecTank


Title	ConnecTank
Developer	YummyYummyTummy, Tamatin Entertainment
Publisher	Natsume Inc.
Release Date	September 28th, 2021
Genre	Action, Adventure, Multiplayer, Puzzle
Platform	PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Age Rating	ESRB: E for Everyone
Official Website

ConnecTank is a unique action game that blends a bit of rogue-lite with a touch of puzzle and some tank battles. Throw in a quirky story about making deliveries in a tank, a cartoon aesthetic, and goofy music, and you have the full package. Do you have what it takes to best your foes and get your deliveries to their destinations?

ConnecTank | Finneas Fat Cat XV — You start out working as a courier for Finneas Fat Cat XV, but later you can work for others.

Each mission features an overworld map where you get to choose your route. The path you take determines which foes you will encounter, and which shops you will have a chance to visit. Some foes are more powerful than others, so choosing your route is important. You may also want to choose a route because it has more enemies who will net you tank parts. Once you unlock all the parts for a given tank, it will become available for you to select before missions.

ConnecTank | Mission Map — Each mission has a map made up of hexagonal tiles and paths for you to traverse that may be many screens long.

Upon bumping into an enemy tank, battle commences. Each tank battle begins with an assembly phase. You must set up conveyor belts to connect your assembly machine to your cannon. Then you can start throwing in scrap to create ammo. You’ll need to use scrap carefully by following one of the three recipes at the top of the tank deck. If you don’t, you will create weak trash ammo. Ammo comes in three colors: red, blue, and yellow. They have a triangle, similar to the weapon types in Fire Emblem. Red beats yellow, yellow beats blue, blue beats red. Sometimes, the enemy tank can spawn enemies on your deck. You’ll need to take them out to stop them from wreaking havoc with your machines! If you die, you’ll fall back to the mission select screen.

Each ConnecTank battle earns you a bit of money. You can spend it in shops you encounter on the mission map or save it for later. In between missions, you can use it to unlock new ammo types and perks. Different ammo types have various perks, both good and bad. For example, one might take up two lanes on the top of the screen as it hurdles toward your enemy. Another might inflict burn damage, or even bounce back at you in some cases.

ConnecTank | Shopping between missions — In between missions, you can spend money to unlock new ammo types and tank perks that can appear randomly in the game.

The missions you take on in ConnecTank determine which of the business titans will rule in the end. You can see this on the TV in the top-right of the screen on the mission select screen. At first, you can only do one preselected mission from Finneas Fat Cat XV each time. However, after you get through the tutorial missions, you’ll have a selection to choose from.

Connectank | Mission selection — The mission selection screen starts giving you a number to choose from after the initial tutorial missions.

ConnecTank is a fun little game to be sure. It will keep you busy for a while, especially if you aim to complete and unlock everything as far as ammo types and perks. You’ll be looking at 20-30 hours at least. ConnecTank is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $29.99, as well as on other platforms. Can you blast your way through foes and stay in one piece, to get your packages where they need to go?