Tower defense games

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So while I'd been hearing about tower defense games and their addictive qualities for a while, I never actually checked one out until I started playing games on my iPhone. The most popular iPhone TD game is probably Fieldrunners, but I find that shallow and uninteresting compared to the one that first caught my eye, Besiegement. With Besiegement I found myself, for the first time ever, actually playing a mobile game for sustained periods of time and even choosing to play it over desktop games.

It's a bit silly to be sitting in front of a Windows machine and a Mac, both with nice 24 inch monitors and loaded with games, yet be dinking away on an iPhone to get my gaming fix.

I spent so much time playing it that I started exploring the genre...a couple more for the phone are Zombie Attack (very slick and fun, but still not as engaging as Besiegement for me) and Tap Defense.

I was having so much fun with all this that I decided to delve into the history a bit by trying out the mod scene that started the genre, so I installed the Warcraft III mod Element Tower Defense, which is still in Beta but is amazingly creative and detailed especially for a free mod. I need to explore this more.

Most recently, a Steam ad caught my eye for the new game Defense Grid: The Awakening, a science fiction-themed TD game with some nice graphics. I find the environment a bit sterile and the attempt at a background story to be about as compelling as the original Total Annihilation story, but there are some interesting twists and challenges that mean I'm playing it and will probably keep playing it even after I've finished the story mode.

Some things I like about these games:

Once the difficulty ramps up, they require me to think. Being a pretty bad game player, I might lose a level (especially in Besiegement, which gets damn tough) dozens or even hundreds of times, but if I think through why a particular wave of enemies is defeating me and really consider the types of towers available and the ways I can place them, eventually I abuse my brain cells enough to overcome the challenge (except those Besiegement levels that continue to elude me...)

There's not too much luck involved. While some towers may do random amounts of damage, in general once I've "solved" a level, it's solved, though I might find it interesting to solve it in new ways.

There are many different approaches to take, but it's a matter of rearranging a finite number of options, so I'm not overwhelmed and don't run into analysis paralysis.

What other TD games are worth checking out?

And a question that's been on my mind: Is this a new genre that is going to survive forever, as Bejeweled's "match three items" gameplay will be around forever, or is this a fad that will fade out in a couple of years?

I got to towerdefense.net, and sort the online games by score. The top 10 are all pretty good though some are better than others. Warzone and Turret Wars currently have my interest.

I hadn't realized how many different TD games there are out there. For Flash games, I've really only tried Desktop TD which is simple, enjoyable, and challenging. On the PS3, I found Pixeljunk Monsters cute and compelling. Since you have a controller instead of a mouse, they give you an avatar that runs around turning trees into towers.

I've been playing GemCraft a little bit lately.

I'm playing Defense Grid these days and I like it quite a bit. The art direction may not be mindblowing, but the gameplay is solid and the effects are decent. I wish there was some coop mode. As for flash games, I tried out quite a number of them, but Desktop TD is the one I ultimately keep coming back to since it's evolving.

I like this one:

http://towerdefencegames.com/dungeon...

mainly because it has a bit of Dungeon Keeper to it.

Also, of all the tower defense games out there, the one I spent the most time with was "Protector." There are two versions of it on Kongregate.

How many of these are multiplayer outside the WC3 mod?

Deadron wrote:

The most popular iPhone TD game is probably Fieldrunners, but I find that shallow and uninteresting compared to the one that first caught my eye,

I had the same experience. I haven't played Fieldrunners since the day I bought it.

Recently I grabbed 7 Cities and it's much better than Fieldrunners.

Still waiting for something for the iPhone with the depth of GemCraft, Onslaught, VectorTD, or DesktopTD.

Interesting seeing so many different TD sites. This one is my site of choice.

Thanks for the 7 Cities pointer -- looks very interesting. Installing now (while waiting for Left 4 Dead to download on my non-iPhone game playing machine...)

Anyone with a DS should check out Lock's Quest. It's a great game released this year that unfortunately has been over looked by most.

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ds/locksquest

Has anyone checked out ninjatown or locks quest for the DS?

You may not find this as in-depth as you are looking for, but since you are also looking at the history of the genre, have you played the original (or latest updated version of it)? http://www.handdrawngames.com/Deskto...

I like Onslaught, which is on the Tower Defence.net page. I feel like it has the most strategy and most options. In addition to upgrading your towers you can place towers near one another to create combination attacks. Unfortunately after the first few hundred waves the only weapon with enough power is the nuke, then after a few hundred more it becomes virtually impossible to kill your enemies as you don't have any more room for nuke launchers and power boosters. At that point you can build some "black hole generators," which instantly kill large groups of enemies but award you no money or points. Set up a enough of those in the right places and you can let the game run indefinitely. I think I made it to wave 2,000 or so just letting it run in the background, then closed the tab.

demonbox wrote:

You may not find this as in-depth as you are looking for, but since you are also looking at the history of the genre, have you played the original (or latest updated version of it)? http://www.handdrawngames.com/Deskto...

The latest version of DTD is over at http://www.casualcollective.com

I really love DTD and Pixeljunk Monsters, but I haven't found any more tower defense games that really stuck for me. There are tons of them, but I find them all to be really poorly made and poorly balanced. I'll be really interested to see the variety of TD games available on the iPhone/Touch once I managed to get my hands on one.

Speaking of WC3, does anyone know about any really good single player maps and where it could be downloaded?

DAMN YOU WEBSENSE DAMN YOU TOO HELL!!!!!!!

Been playing Tap Defense at work for a couple hours now. Very cool and free! Except the ads of course.

I also never played one of these games until yesterday.

I'm glad you like Zombie Attack! We made that at the studio I work for, although I didn't really work on it much myself. The game is still being worked on, so keep an eye out for updates.

0kelvin wrote:

I'm glad you like Zombie Attack! We made that at the studio I work for, although I didn't really work on it much myself. The game is still being worked on, so keep an eye out for updates.

I have this idea...make it 3D (actually doable on the iPhone), add in three more survivors that can be played in multiplayer, and it could be the next big thing...

Nah, my ideas always suck.

Be careful on towerdefense.net

Either some of the ads or the game Turret Defence has malware/trojans.

Deadron wrote:
0kelvin wrote:

I'm glad you like Zombie Attack! We made that at the studio I work for, although I didn't really work on it much myself. The game is still being worked on, so keep an eye out for updates.

I have this idea...make it 3D (actually doable on the iPhone), add in three more survivors that can be played in multiplayer, and it could be the next big thing...

Nah, my ideas always suck.

Well, it's already 3D, so we're halfway there! Valve better look out!

I've been playing Tap Defense a lot, mostly because it is free. A lot of fun, but I would like to try something new.

"Ninja Town" for DS is both a tower defense game, and is also impossibly cute.

TD is my favorite genre honestly, its what I alway come back too. WC got me into it with the official maps they released and since then I am always looking for new and innovative versions. One of the latest I have come across is Immortal Defense via http://studioeres.com/immortal/. Really compelling, and surprisingly it integrates a story of some depth to it. Give the demo a shot and see what you think. I heard of it through the brainy gamer podcast, another great source of gaming critique.

Yeah I just heard about Immortal Defense on the latest Brainy Gamer and the description definitely intrigued me -- now that I've done my first pass at Defense Grid, which for whatever it's strengths is pretty weak on the story side (they try, but for me at least it really doesn't work and the game would play and feel exactly the same if they simply removed the story dialogue), I'll take a look at this...

tempted by defense grid, but I would really like a demo of it first. the videos of it do not show much.

I'm still figuring out what I think of Defense Grid. I will almost certainly return to it from time to time to try out the challenge modes and such, but it lacks the addictive quality of the better TD games, and while it does have some interesting gameplay twists, the tower choices are not nearly as clever and extensive as, say, the Element TD WarCraft III mod linked to above.

I think my advice would be to stick with the better free games or try out Immortal Defense since it has great reviews and a demo (I haven't touched it yet) and to wait and see if they add more content to Defense Grid.

So I broke down and bought Pixel Junk Monsters.

I have already become obsessed with maximizing my score.

I have only played 3 levels and probably have put 10 hours into the first easy level. For the life of me, I can't figure out how people can score 11,000 points on that level. I can only get to 9,500. I am missing something.

I am about ready to start formal experiments to figure out the scoring system. Maximizing money does not appear to the sole driver of score. My feeling is that it has more to do with the number and type of towers used. For hours, I was stuck at a score of 8,500 but then I elected not to use the anti aircraft tower and just rely on arrow towers. Although I had to build many more arrow towers, my score went up 1,000 points.

Deceptively simple game.

O M F G YES TD PWNS.

I've been playing WC3 TD games religiously lately. Ele td is pretty fun but 40k, green, line, cow, x, so many other ones are much more fun than ele td.

I just spent 12 hours (two six hour trips) in a extended cab truck playing fieldrunners. It was the topic of conversation between three nerds as we ice fished. Sitting there trying to come up with new strategies to overcome more and more levels. It was pretty simplistic though, and I would have loved more options.

Is there one with zombies?

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