Nearly one year ago, my avatar embarked on a new adventure within the Kefling kindgoms; an adventure of epic sci-fi proportions that introduced new elements to A World of Keflings, and treated me to a veritable plethora (I love using that word) of sci-fi pop culture references. It has been almost a full year since the last A World of Keflings DLC was released. Granted, the recently released Avatar FameStar update does include the new weekly Rockstar challenges that could be considered DLC, but it’s more a short weekly play session than a brand new story in a brand new kingdom, so I don’t count it among the ranks of proper A World of Keflings DLC. Today, NinjaBee has released their second full-fledged DLC adventure for A World of Keflings: Sugar, Spice and Not So Nice.

NinjaBee has a quirky sense of humor with their Keflings content, and that trend has continued with Sugar, Spice and Not So Nice. Keeping true to the references to David Bowie and Arthur C. Clark (2001 Space Oddity), Back to the Future (1.21 Gigawatts), and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Stowaway’s Guide to the Universe) in It Came From Outer Space, the new DLC throws Lord of the Rings, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Monty Python, and the Internet at you in subtle, and not so subtle ways. Waldorf the Wizard stands atop his tower (which looks curiously like Isengard), while Kari, the last Chocolatier, quotes Aragorn’s impassioned speech before the armies of the West at the gates of Mordor. Waldorf’s henchman is a particularly rotund child named Augustus who loves candy, and one of your helper Keflings is a giant Oompah Loompah (but not really an Oompah Loompah, because of copyright). Monty Python’s and the Holy Grail is quoted (I didn’t vote for you!), and the amnesiac king of Candy Peak is a unicorn named…Charlie. Along with the sheer entertainment value of cleverly inserted pop culture, NinjaBee has gone above and beyond with the voice acting in Sugar, Spice and Not So Nice. While each of the characters has a unique and distinctive sound, I found myself replaying conversation scenes that featured Fluffton Nuttybuns (a blue bear on a unicycle that thinks he’s a gumdrop); the only real way to describe his vocal quality is “derpy.”

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In Sugar, Spice and Not So Nice, you find yourself magically transported to Candy Peak. The ground is strawberry frosting, and the Peak hosts a caramel lake with a giant caramel apple, a chocolate volcano, cotton candy trees, and candy roads. Waldorf the Wizard, responsible for your appearance, introduces himself and his assistant, Augustus. He starts as your questgiver, with seemingly helpful advice and quests, but something always seems…wrong. Once you build his tower, he reveals his dastardly plan for conquering the Candy Peak while his henchman Augustus drains the caramel lake, freezes the chocolate volcano, and destroys a giant turtle (I know, this bit was a bit odd to me as well). Suddenly, in his moment of victory, Kari, the last Chocolatier, and Charlie, the amnesiac king of Candy Peak, return and recruit you to help overthrow Waldorf and return Charlie to his rightful place.

To help, you are introduced to new characters and new building types as you progress. Most are fairly standard (adjusted for the candy theme), but one building brings a new element to A World of Keflings: the bakery. The bakery does not build blueprint pieces, but serves as (nearly) one-stop-shop to create the advanced ingredients that previously had to be run through a long process of multiple conversion buildings. This makes resource management and ingredient management much easier, and more streamlined for a gameplay experience that focuses more on the building and story than on the walking back and forth from one building to another.

The price for Sugar, Spice and Not So Nice matches the release price for its predecessor, It Came From Outer Space: 320MSP. As with the first DLC, this current content can be completed in about an hour and a half. My only complaint with It Came From Outer Space was its length, and I expressed the hope that the next DLC would be longer. In fact, this new DLC is only slightly shorter, and contains fewer blueprints to build. For 320MSP, however, you are extending the value and length of A World of Keflings (and picking up an extra 100GS from three achievements) with a cleverly written, and wonderfully voice acted adventure in the beautiful Candy Peak.