Introduction

How many times have you kicked open a door and thought, 'Wow, this is shockingly therapeutic'? Enter the world of Door Kickers, the game that's part SWAT simulator and part masterclass in door disrespect. Developed by the indie genius KillHouse Games, this tactical gem finally found its way to the Switch, where refusing to knock is a way of life.

Gameplay

Game mechanics in Door Kickers will make you feel like the smartest person in the room, or at least room temperature. The game is set up with three distinct phases: deployment, planning, and engagement. Sounds fancy, right? It’s like being a tactical superhero without all the latex. In deployment, you’ll pick your squad and arrange their entry positions. Think of it as organizing your friends for a selfie: someone needs to be on the left, no one can stand in front of the tall guy, and nobody is allowed to blink. Then comes the planning phase, where you can set up advanced strategies. Fancy a little Panic Room moment? Click on your troopers and decide their paths (if you've mapped out the way to the snack table, that helps in real life too!). The level is paused, so this strategy phase is actually less stressful than deciding dinner plans with friends. Finally, the engagement phase involves kicking doors open in a dramatic fashion while your troopers execute your plans. They’ll fire at anything that moves (or even remotely resembles fear). How cinematic! You can still intervene mid-action, switching gears between planning and executing as seamlessly as you switch between binge-watching series. Team management is equally robust. You can customize your SWAT squad with assorted classes ranging from Pointman (who only carries a handgun, but hey he runs fast) to the ostentatious Shield class (aka the human barricade). Each area of expertise means you can experiment, fail spectacularly, and learn important life lessons about tactical breaching. Let's just hope these life lessons don't involve disaster in your own abode if you decide to kick down the pizza delivery guy's door after losing a mission.

Graphics

Graphically speaking, Door Kickers sports a slick 2D top-down perspective that provides a clear view of any chaos, ensuring that even your catastrophic failures look somewhat sophisticated. The design feels like it got lost on its way to film school, but ended up having fun instead. Each level could serve as a modern art piece, if contemporary art was all about poorly executed men in tactical gear, and also held mandatory door-kicking contests. Colors are vibrant, and while you won’t be confusing it with some triple-A visual marvel, the aesthetics do a commendable job of immersing you without overloading your senses. So pour yourself a drink, because this is more visually palatable than a kitchen sink casserole.

Conclusion

Door Kickers on the Switch is a delightful tactical endeavor wrapped in a package of humor and unrealistic depictions of door etiquette. For those craving a strategy fix without the commitment of brain surgery, this game serves a perfect blend of planning, panic, and police action with a dash of chaos. While it won't replace your yoga class as a way to decompress, it will teach you valuable lessons about priorities, like not kicking down doors just because you can. Ultimately, Door Kickers leaves us wondering: What if we could all kick down doors without consequence? The world would be a vastly different place, but in the confines of this game, we get to enjoy that fantasy minus the paperwork. Therefore, if you’re ready to embrace your inner door-kicking tactician, the Switch version awaits your tactical brilliance—or the joyously hilarious disaster that ensues from it. Score: 8.5/10. You gotta love kicking doors for the fun of it—even if just virtually!

See Latest Prices for Door Kickers on Switch on Amazon