Bloons Monkey City

About

Bloons Monkey City is a single player and multiplayer casual city builder game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Ninja Kiwi and was released on April 10, 2020. It received positive reviews from players.

Top-rated tower defense gameplay plus a super-custom Monkey City builder.

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81%

Audience ScoreBased on 10,000 reviews

gameplay90 positive mentions

monetization1.2k negative mentions

monetization
1,285 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
3%
95%
Monetization in this game heavily relies on frequent, often forced, unskippable ads that appear after nearly every round or action, significantly disrupting gameplay and leading to crashes. While in-app purchases can remove most ads, many users report continuing to receive ads promoting the developer’s other games even after paying. This aggressive ad strategy, combined with slow progression designed to encourage microtransactions, detracts from player enjoyment and frequently frustrates users.
- “The game does include microtransactions that speed up and improve gameplay, but they are so generous with the in-game currency that it doesn't really matter.”
- “Microtransactions are not forced upon you and only occasionally advertised.”
- “Great game, microtransactions entirely optional without adding too much grind.”
- “Forced ads are extremely irritating as always.”
- “You literally can't play free-to-play while staying online without constantly getting bombarded with intrusive, unskippable ads.”
- “The game is littered with ads, every minute you spend playing is two minutes of advertisement.”
gameplay
180 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
45%
5%
The gameplay combines classic Bloons Tower Defense mechanics with city-building elements, offering a fun, strategic, and engaging experience that appeals to both new and veteran players. While praised for its customization, challenges, and balanced microtransactions, users frequently cite issues like repetitive missions, long upgrade times, intrusive ads, occasional bugs, and lack of updates as detractors. Overall, the gameplay is enjoyable and addictive but could benefit from fresh content, smoother progression, and reduced advertisement interruptions.
- “Excellent combination of classic bloons popping gameplay mixed with the relaxing city building genre of games.”
- “The gameplay is engaging, the art direction looks good, the design itself is creative, they don't swarm you with ads (most of the time, anyway), and the game itself is not just fun for kids, is fun for people of all age groups.”
- “It's very well balanced, is a great mix between building and making a good layout with your city, the standard bloons gameplay, and the fun and unique special missions, as well as the elements of PvP with bloon attacks & contested territory.”
- “The gameplay, the graphics, the controls, are all significantly worse.”
- “Will lure you in with quick progress only to grind to a halt with repetitive tedium and beat you down repeatedly with unwinnable asynchronous PvP mechanics (you can pay to essentially win in PvP unless your target also pays).”
- “The game has a good concept, but it slows to a crawl after the first few hours of gameplay.”
graphics
122 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
37%
2%
The graphics in this game are generally praised for being colorful, smooth, and fitting well with the gameplay, often described as cute, cartoonish, and nostalgic. However, some users note occasional bugs, lag at higher levels, and desire graphic improvements or options for lower quality settings. Many players express a wish for updated visuals closer to the newer Bloons Tower Defense 6 style to enhance the experience.
- “The graphics are smooth and the gameplay chapters are challenging with infinite variety.”
- “It keeps the great graphics, large number of towers, tracks, & upgrades of Bloons TD 5, & makes it into a city builder, where you build buildings to house your towers, research upgrades, & even send attacks against other players.”
- “Amazing graphics in my opinion; very nicely thought out story line/plot for the game.”
- “Recently, I am experiencing a graphics glitch where both monkeys and bloons appear as blurred boxes.”
- “It becomes too difficult to activate skills, lay down towers, upgrade, and collect money when as early as level 37 the phone can't handle the graphical demands.”
- “This game's graphics are horrible compared to BTD5, especially just the monkeys in-game.”
story
97 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
78%
3%
The story aspect of the game offers a basic narrative and quest structure that adds engagement through special missions and city-building elements, though many players find the mission variety limited and repetitive after a certain level. Several users express frustration with difficulty spikes, mandatory Facebook-related quests, and technical issues that hinder progression. Overall, while the storyline provides a fun backdrop and some strategic depth, players desire more missions, better balance, and less reliance on social features to fully enjoy the narrative experience.
- “Absolutely love it! This is the only Bloons game with a story line, and it's always fun to get new monkeys or upgrade buildings to see new details.”
- “Amazing graphics in my opinion; very nicely thought out story line/plot for the game.”
- “This gets frustrating when I have to conquer 70 pieces of land for a quest and after each piece of land there is an ad.”
- “There's bosses, events, monkey capture but there aren't any new missions or achievements to get after a certain level, which leaves you only to grind.”
- “The story of the outbreak doesn't make sense at all, please fix the game.”
- “The reason I'm giving it one star is because I went into a mission, finished, and when I came out I was at level 1 again.”
music
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
47%
4%
The music in the game is widely praised for being phenomenal, catchy, and enhancing the overall cozy and fun atmosphere, with several standout tracks and a nostalgic connection to earlier series entries. However, some users find the music repetitive due to short loops and express a desire for more volume control options and the ability to mute or customize sound settings. Despite occasional irritations with ads and minor bugs affecting audio, the soundtrack is considered a major strength and a key part of the game's appeal.
- “The game is extremely cozy and casual, and the music is phenomenal.”
- “Best soundtrack out of any game, would give it ten stars if I could.”
- “This is a real awesome game to play offline or online; the music is great, it's a relaxing kind of tune. I give this a 5/5 and if not 10/10... keep up the good work to all that make this game, it's really enjoyable.”
- “They force you to listen to the awful music for minutes before you have an option to turn it off.”
- “The 15 second loop of menu music is unbearable.”
- “It's just a pity that the music is comprised of short loops that get very repetitive very quickly.”
grinding
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely seen as highly grindy, especially after reaching mid to late levels, with slow progression, repetitive tasks, and long building or upgrade times that some find tedious. Many players note that grinding is often necessary to advance or obtain better towers, and frequent ads can exacerbate the feeling of grind. Despite this, some appreciate the incremental progress and find the core gameplay addictive, though the grind and ad frequency may deter long-term enjoyment.
- “Not a bad game, but super grindy on purpose to push microtransactions.”
- “At that point, my progress came to a screeching, grinding halt, because the costs for the remaining upgrades far exceed your maximum money capacity.”
- “Way too much grinding required to properly enjoy the game, this is my last purchase from this developer.”
stability
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
The game suffers from frequent stability issues, including crashes, freezes, and glitches that disrupt gameplay, especially at higher levels or during certain events. Many users report progress loss, forced restarts, and impaired controls, making the experience frustrating despite its engaging content and community support. While some players encounter few problems, overall the game requires significant bug fixes to improve reliability.
- “I have seen no glitches or crashes in the game so far, but this could change.”
- “When I played, it had no glitches. Please rate 5 stars.”
- “Now, during the tournaments, the game freezes up and reboots around level 61 or 62.”
- “The problems often didn't show up as a big deal as glitches go... recently the game would be interrupted, then stop game altogether, then started to reboot my entire phone system.”
- “It just stopped working after all the money I spent and time; it keeps going back to the beginning where the monkey's first explaining what's going on and it freezes up. It won't let me click on anything after that.”
humor
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is often described as cute, lighthearted, and funny, with charming monkey characters that bring smiles to players. However, frequent and unavoidable ads interrupt gameplay, which some users find frustrating and detracts from the overall enjoyment. Despite this, many appreciate the game's playful and amusing concept.
- “They have a sense of humor and I still appreciate it to this day when I giggle.”
- “Awesome game, it's really nice. I love the game, it's so funny the monkey in the loading screen makes me laugh; he looks like a king.”
- “Concept of the game is a very funny idea.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game generally runs smoothly and offers appealing graphics with optional ads and purchases, making it accessible for casual play. However, there are notable performance issues and frequent ads that disrupt gameplay, especially in later stages, indicating a need for better optimization.
- “The game runs smoothly and the graphics are just as advertised with very few forced ads, with the option to use ads to speed things up. Purchases are not needed to progress, and the competitive option for extra money is always liked.”
- “It runs smoothly, no problem at all, and is a great game for someone who has a busy schedule.”
- “This is usually a combination of phone and game design flaws in optimization.”
- “The game has far too many ads and game-breaking performance issues.”
- “The game is really good and I would certainly give it 5 stars if it wasn't for the horrendous performance issues once you get to the higher rounds in contested territories.”
- “But it's just sad that it's so poorly optimized.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
28%
29%
The game offers strong replayability through special missions, increasing difficulty, and engaging upgrades, making it consistently enjoyable and challenging. However, some users find it repetitive, impacting its overall replay value for them.
- “There's always something that you can do - which seriously increases the replayability of this game vs generic mobile games.”
- “Great game play, and graphics as well as awesome upgrades and replay value.”
- “Great game with high replay value every time you get on.”
- “Extremely repetitive and has poor replayability.”
- “It gets harder as the difficulty increases; replayability and challenges add work to this game.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its beautiful characters and compelling story, evoking strong feelings in players. However, some frustrations arise from in-game mechanics that can dampen the experience, leading to mixed emotional responses.
- “The story is emotional and the characters are beautiful.”
- “I just wanted to complain about how I can leave this app open for hours without touching it, but invest my only three crates in one game and it gives me the Ninja Kiwi stupid opening screen and it doesn't even refund the investment. If you want to spend hours on a game that treats you like the rest of the world does, then this is the game that will kick your teeth for having any semblance of fun!”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features groundbreaking character development paired with stunning visuals and exceptional writing, creating a deeply immersive and engaging narrative experience.
- “Stunning visuals, groundbreaking character development and writing”