The scrolling shooter genre isn’t exactly known for being chill. They’ve always been about fast, frantic action, and Attack of the Karens may look no different at first glance, but surprisingly, I've found that that's simply not the vibe the game puts off, and I mean that as a good thing. Attack of the Karens is a scrolling shooter that feels welcoming, with low stakes, a goofy story, simple to understand mechanics, and a difficulty curve that’s just right. 

When you first start the game, they let you know up front that dying is all part of the experience. Expect to die. Don’t let it stress you out. The more you die, the more you’ll be able to power yourself up, and the more you'll be able to handle the challenges that will eventually come your way. It’s actually kind of brilliant. 

But before we go any further, I have to address the subject matter. I just so happen to be married to a woman named Karen. Over the past several years, popular culture has co-opted her name and turned it into a symbol for some of the most wretched people out there. So when she saw I was reviewing a game called Attack of the Karens, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. And I get it. When I was a kid, it was impossible to avoid the constant references to Kris Kross. That wasn’t nearly as bad as the whole Karen thing, but it’s enough of a taste to see where she’s coming from. Entitled people are the worst, and being equated with them is not fun. This is a game about those people gaining superpowers and creating evil robot arimes that you have to fend off with a spaceship. It’s completely absurd, and well, it actually kinda works. 

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It’s got voice acting, so these awful women who have had their already volatile personalities cranked up to eleven are very effectively portrayed. There's a young social media junkie, an old lady who thinks she knows better than everyone, etc. They're exactly the kind of people who have been associated with that name, and they're portrayed here as over the top charicatures with a cartoonishly violent streak. You will definitely want to blast these giant ladies with everything you've got, and defeating them is quite satisfying. But even with the bosses being these titans of terror, the game never reaches that white-knuckle level of intensity that the genre is known for. Things get frantic, that's a given, but it never feels unfair. When an enemy is about to appear from the back of the screen, there's a warning arrow. When an enemy is about to launch an attack, the game puts up a warning to show you where the attack is going to happen. It makes the whole thing seem far more fair than having to die to a random attack in order to learn its pattern. But again, it's the whole vibe that makes this game feel so much less stressful than a bullet-hell. Maybe it’s the relatively low key chiptune soundtrack, or the almost complete lack of color on display, or some combination of it all, but the whole experience left me feeling really pleasant every time I played. 

The game consists of four stages and boss Karens to tackle. They're represented in a random order every time you start, so sometimes you’ll face different bosses on different stages. Keeps the limited amount of content feeling fresh. The goal is to beat all four stages in a single run, because you don’t get any lives. One death and you have to start all over. However, you get to keep whatever currency you collect after you die, which can then be used at the shop to upgrade your capabilities and try again. 

Once you successfully defeat all four Karens, (none of whom are actually named Karen, by the way) you can tackle the final stage, and then that’s it. Game’s over. Short and sweet. It controls well, the powerups are cool (like a floating assistant manager who helps you out) and the enemy designs are amusing, like murderous "live, laugh, love" signs or robotic high heels. It's a concept that shouldn't work, and could have easily come off as downright crass, but it's handled just right.

Attack of the Karens isn’t some sort of revelatory experience, but it is a solid indie title that’s well worth the whopping $5 price point. It’s fun, it’s challenging but not overbearing, and perfectly silly. If you’ve seen the trailer and it seems interesting, go for it. You won’t be disappointed. 

Attack of the Karens is available now on Nintendo Switch and Steam. 

Note: The opinions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not represent Stone Age Gamer as a whole.