I have never been the greatest at strategy games. They always seem to take a while for me to figure out the patterns, usually after about the 10th death in a row. After a while I get into a groove, but more often than not, I never seem to finish them.

But the teasing of NinjaBee Games via their Twitter account about Avatars casting spells & battling giant bugs intrigued me. So a couple days before the Avatar update and new DLC was released, I found myself preparing with the game’s original star, Maal. We got off to a rough start; I was trying to get used to the controls, Maal kept getting into harm’s way. Once we got the ball rolling, I was having a great time. Maneuvering and getting used to the various characters (and their unit status) was a treat. Tiernan gave me the guidance I needed to learn how to defend myself and defeat the evil mosquitoes and spiders who lay in wait. (And I am a huge arachnophobe, so killing spiders is kind of liberating.)

On Wednesday, the Avatar support update became available. I had just crawled out of bed, queued up the DLC for downloading, booted the 360 and hopped in the shower to let everything be ready for when I was done. There were frantic messages on my computer screen. “Get on BoB! We are dying! We need a healer!” I joined my boyfriend and another of our friends in a round of Spider Hunter, and there I was! My Avatar, in all her green haired glory, was trying to avoid getting beaten to death by giant bugs while casting healing spells like crazy. We played for a few hours, my boyfriend casting Heat & Chill spells, which look really cool seeing the red fireball or icy blast hovering momentarily in your hands. Our friend was the muscle, armed with a very long stick. He ducked out for a minute to update his Avatar’s look, which sadly didn’t register with our game right away.

I decided to celebrate my Avatar’s new powers by giving her a bit of a make over. Decked out in the largest hat I could find, some dungarees and Crocs to match my ultra-cool hair, I’m rocking the BeeKeeper look while I kill as many evil bugs as possible.

After witnessing my usurping of Maal, I ventured into the Tales of Kaloki content. Ten more missions based around the Kaloki Universe. Tiernan is narrating the story of a brave space Captain who chases his nemesis across the galaxy. The DLC features various space ships and a whole bunch of new humor (the Home-Star button being my personal favourite). Yegg, your mosquito friend, even weaves a rather interesting tale for you to play out.

I have to admit that I am really loving this game. Like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, I am not the best at strategy games. However, my love of achievements and good multiplayer are keeping me coming back for more. I find myself replaying missions to get gold medals and lighting spiders on fire gives me a happy tingly feeling inside. If you are looking for something fun showcasing your Avatar, I highly suggest you grab Band of Bugs.

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