Bad Hotel

About

Bad Hotel is a single player casual real-time strategy game with a comedy theme. It was developed by Lucky Frame and was released on October 16, 2013. It received negative reviews from players.

An insane hybrid of a tower defense game and a procedural music toy with tons of bullets (and healthy number of Wu-Tang references and credit crunch satire). The hit game for iOS now available on Windows and Mac! You are a budding entrepreneur, whose hotel is rather unfortunately located within the territory of Tarnation Tadstock, the Texas Tyrant. Your only defense against Tadstock’s army of sea…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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32%

Audience ScoreBased on 276 reviews

gameplay15 positive mentions

music23 negative mentions

Bad Hotel offers a unique twist on the tower defense genre by incorporating music generation based on the player's actions, creating an interesting auditory experience.
The game features a quirky art style and a humorous premise, which can be entertaining for players looking for something different.
Despite its challenges, some players find the frantic gameplay and strategic elements engaging, making it a fun time-waster.

The game suffers from a steep difficulty curve, with some levels being frustratingly hard and requiring trial and error to complete.
Many players report poor controls and bugs, including issues with the mouse cursor disappearing and crashes when trying to pause the game.
The music, which is supposed to be a highlight, often becomes annoying and chaotic, detracting from the overall experience.

music
120 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
67%
19%
The music in *Bad Hotel* has received mixed reviews, with many players finding the procedural music generated by building rooms to be more annoying than enjoyable, often describing it as cacophonous and repetitive. While some appreciate the concept of creating music through gameplay, the execution has been criticized for lacking melody and coherence, leading to frustration rather than engagement. Overall, the game's musical elements seem to detract from the experience rather than enhance it, leaving players divided on its effectiveness.
- “What I like most about it is the variation on rhythm and music based on the units you play.”
- “Each room placed also adds to the music, depending on type and location.”
- “The beautiful artwork, quirky storyline, and frantic gameplay all work seamlessly together with a generative music system, which creates original music depending on the player’s actions and decisions.”
- “The gameplay loop is decent, but the visuals and music are distracting and terrible.”
- “Unfortunately the music turns cacophonous as rooms are added or removed from your hotel.”
- “The music consists of sounds made by your rooms (i.e. towers) that don't form a melodious whole but end up driving you to the brink of insanity with cacophonous chaos.”
gameplay
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
69%
11%
The gameplay of *Bad Hotel* is characterized by a blend of tower defense mechanics and music generation, but it suffers from a lack of polish and clarity, leading to frustration among players. Many reviews highlight the simplistic and repetitive nature of the mechanics, which can feel unengaging and confusing, especially with a steep difficulty curve. While some appreciate the artistic elements and potential for a fun distraction, the overall consensus is that the gameplay is unbalanced and often detracts from the experience.
- “Bad Hotel is an interesting combination of music and tactics, as its core gameplay is centered around rapidly generating profit to maintain your hotel while defending against multitudes of enemies attacking from the air and ground.”
- “The beautiful artwork, quirky storyline, and frantic gameplay all work seamlessly together with a generative music system, which creates original music depending on the player’s actions and decisions.”
- “Bad Hotel manages to take extremely simple, borderline-mindless game mechanics and elevate it to one of the most intense, vivid gaming experiences I can remember having.”
- “Despite Bad Hotel being a BAFTA-winning game, I struggle to see why the British Academy of Film and Television Arts would award it anything because outside of the frustrating core gameplay loop, neither the art nor music is anything I would hand out awards to.”
- “The mechanics are confusing, the gameplay is frustrating, and you’ll find yourself wondering if you’ve accidentally stumbled into a poorly designed parody of a tower defense game.”
- “The game is obviously meant for a phone-based clicker game, which is fine, except the gameplay is severely simplistic and incredibly boring.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
63%
10%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the unique art style and its suitability to the gameplay, while others criticize the simplistic and unpolished visuals that can be visually jarring. Many find the bright colors and minimalistic design either charming or distracting, leading to a polarized reception. Overall, the graphics are seen as a notable aspect, but opinions vary widely on their execution and appeal.
- “The graphics and art style suit the game really well.”
- “After watching the trailer for this game, it seemed like a really interesting minimalistic take on the tower defense genre with a cool art style and nice music.”
- “With its unique visuals and design, it adds an interesting experience to the gameplay.”
- “Although some people will claim that they are stylized, the combination of bright colors with simplistic graphics tends to hurt the eyes.”
- “The controls are as shaky as a caffeine-addicted squirrel, and the graphics look like they were designed by someone who thought pixel art was a new concept.”
- “Graphically, the game isn't much to look at.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The story aspect of the game is generally perceived as lacking depth, with some players finding it minimal and underdeveloped, primarily focusing on gameplay mechanics rather than a compelling narrative. However, the vibrant artwork and quirky dialogue add a unique charm, and the integration of a generative music system enhances the overall experience, even if the storyline itself feels thin. Overall, while the visuals and music are praised, the story fails to engage players meaningfully.
- “The color palette used is vibrant and attention-grabbing, and the in-game dialogue/storyline is quirky.”
- “The beautiful artwork, quirky storyline, and frantic gameplay all work seamlessly together with a generative music system, which creates original music depending on the player’s actions and decisions.”
- “I lol'd at graphics, I lol'd at music, I lol'd at gameplay, I lol'd at story...and still played it.”
- “It's not much of a story in any case, just type up what the structures do and how they 'should' be used.”
- “There's not enough meat in the gameplay or the story to keep me invested here.”
- “That's the whole story.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
Overall, players find the game's replayability lacking, citing its short length and minimal incentives to replay after completion. While some may appreciate the score attack mode, many feel that the game does not offer enough content to justify replaying, especially for its price point.
- “I don't care about score attack, but that may appeal to some people for replayability.”
- “It'd be nice if it were a bit longer or had some more replayability.”
- “After you manage to complete the game, you notice that there is about no replayability available, which is quite disappointing for a $5 game.”
- “Another downside is the length of the game, very short with little to no replayability.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game's optimization appears to cater primarily to casual players, resulting in poor performance and occasional hangs that detract from the experience. While it offers originality, those seeking a more competitive or min-maxing approach may find it frustrating due to its performance issues.
- “Probably optimized for casual players on portable initially.”
- “B+ for originality, but poor performance and hangs for seemingly no reason.”
- “Anyone who approaches this game as a min-maxing optimization exercise (as I suspect most of those who complain about the alleged 'learning curve' do) is using the wrong parts of their brain.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting numerous bugs that disrupt gameplay, including erratic difficulty levels and problems with the pause function. Overall, it is described as a "buggy mess," particularly on Windows systems.
- “The issue is that the difficulty is wonky and the game is generally buggy.”
- “This is just a buggy mess on Windows.”
- “So buggy that if you press Esc to quit/pause, it jumps levels behind.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with a lack of engaging music and gameplay that feels more like a drag-and-drop chore than a strategic experience. Despite the potential for grindy achievements, the overall experience is short-lived, lasting no more than five hours.
- “In practice, however, it becomes tedious and repetitive, with the procedural music generated never being particularly interesting.”
- “What might have been a strange frenzied tile flicker for tablets has been ported over to be a rather tedious drag and drop under the guise of a strategic tower defense game.”
- “Even if you're aiming for the more grindy achievements, Bad Hotel shouldn't last you more than five hours.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized as lighthearted and frantic, with players appreciating its comedic elements and soundscape. Users enjoy the ability to create amusing shapes and share funny screenshots, highlighting this feature as a redeeming quality of the game.
- “It's very lighthearted and funny.”
- “Personally, I am not so great at it, and it is really frantic... but I like the sense of humor and the soundscape.”
- “If the game has any redeeming quality at all, it's the idea that you can make funny shapes like swords or faces or names and upload some amusing screenshots.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is noted for its unique and engaging mood, standing out in a landscape often filled with clichéd visuals and soundscapes. Players appreciate its ability to evoke emotion through simplicity rather than relying on typical atmospheric tropes.
- “Simple but difficult tower defense game with an interesting atmosphere.”
- “In an age where 99.9% of games described as 'atmospheric' tend to be nothing more than blue-green forest hues, gratuitous mist, and new age music, Bad Hotel actually manages to create a mood through pure feeling alone.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy incorporates ads that enhance the gameplay experience through unique visuals and design, making it an interesting addition rather than a hindrance.