Devil, and other types of enemies, like Forked Toungeys that multiply when defeated, or Zombie Ninjas that can infect the player's own ninjas. Each enemy has their own strengths and weaknesses, which the player must exploit to successfully defend Ninjatown. Players are graded on how many enemies they allowed to advance past their defenses on each mission (from A to D, with an A awarded for destroying all enemies), and a mission fails once ten enemies reach a defense point. If a player repeatedly fails a mission, they will be offered the option to temporarily reduce its difficulty, at the expense of receiving the uniquely "worst" mission grade of an "E" if it is cleared with such reduction. The final element is the tokens, which are won at the end of most maps if you get a better letter grade (see gameplay) than you previously had. Tokens allow the player to summon special ninjas who each have a special, time-limited area-of-effect ability. There are a total of four Tokens collectable in the game. Examples of these include baby ninjas who slow down all enemies, or ninja dropping, who emanates malodorous fumes that damage enemies. Development and release Ninjatown was Venan's first game to be built for the Nintendo DS and its developers, already accustomed to the variable limitations of the mobile phones they made games for, faced unfamiliarity with the hardware and were also surprised by the larger capacity of its Game Card. It was conceived to be a tower defense game from its very inception in 2007 when Jeremy Pope from Cashmere Productions popped the idea to Venan, confident in its potential for a DS game. The development team had the honor and privilege of working closely with Shawn Smith himself to design gameplay roles for the ninjas he created. Ninjatown was released across Atlantic regions in the fall of 2008. It debuted in North America a few days before Halloween, with a European release following one month later. Reception Ninjatown received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. The game was a nominee for Best Nintendo DS Game by GameTrailers in their 2008 video game awards. It was also a nominee for Best Strategy Game for the Nintendo DS by IGN. In addition, Ninjatown was a nominee for 2008 Best Strategy Game of the Year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Comic