TD Games, blocks and cash machines !

In Classical Tower Defense games, you evolve on maps where waves just follow a linear way in order to reach the exit.

This is a screenshot of Gemcraft TD. Waves only follow one way.All you have to do is to buy and build towers in order to fight waves.

Lots of players prefer to play with these games and I understand that. When you play TD games, you just want to buy and build towers in order to fight waves. It’s naturel, isn’t it ? But let me ask you one question : what is the goal of Tower defense games ? To fight and win against waves, of course. But how ?

You will shoot as much as you can against waves. But if it is possible, you will try to slow down their progression.

There are several ways in which you can slow down waves. Let’s have a look on this map of the excellent game Kingdom Rush. Some towers may do it. You also can build a casern and ask to your soldiers to walk up on the waves’s ways ! Soldiers will fight against waves, slow down them, maybe kill them ?

Amazing ! In lots of TD games, towers have several functions. They of course can shoot against waves or slow down them. Let me introduce to you a sub-genre : mazing tower defense game ! In these games, your map is empty ! Ouch ! Waves will choose the shortest way to pass through the map and go to exit. In this kind of game, towers will have two functions. First of all, shooting against waves and killing them. Second function : building a way, the longest way you’re able to build.

This is a map of the game Revenge of the Stick. Sticks get out of the computer and try to leave the desk. Your strategy ? Building as many towers as you can. Upgrade them. Build a long way from the departure to the arrival.

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And what happens when you havn’t enough money to buy and build enough towers ? It’s a mazing TD but you aren’t able to build a way which is long enough. Or waves can go through another way… and you havn’t enough money to buy a tower and close it. What about horizontal tower defense if waves are stronger than your fighting force ?

Easy ! I would like to talk about tower defense games in which you can build… blocks and cash machines. You can’t shoot waves with that but these are very useful. There, you need to define a strategy allowing you to build either towers, blocks  ! The fact is you can’t win if you don’t buy them. For the moment, I’ve seen three kind of blocks.

– You can build blocks in order to build or to modify a way.

Blocks are cheaper than towers. For example, look at this screenshot of Traps and Sorcery. Two ways can be used to go to exit. You can’t defend these two ways at the beginning of the level. You must forbid the access of one way to waves… What does matter is the following : If you buy a tower to close a way, maybe waves won’t come near this tower. So this tower will be used only as a bloc. Isn’t that expansive ?

In the game Traps and Sorcery, you can buy some rocks and build a way with it. Rocks are very very cheap. It’s interesting to buy them and build a way if you can do that. This allow you to build more towers.

The first screenshot is extracted from the challenging game ZDefense HD lite.This game is a mazing tower defense. Some maps are totally empty, you must build a way from A to Z.In others maps, walls have already been built. Waves can reach exit by different ways. You must close some of them in order to build a long way.The point is you can do it only with towers.The second screenshot is extracted from difficult mobile game Mini Droid Defense II Lite.In this game, you can buy towers but also blocks. You sometimes must slow down waves and it’s less expansive to buy blocks than towers.Of course, if you can buy blocks, you are able to continue building a way AND upgrading existing towers !

In lots of Tower defense games, building blocks is just a possibility. You can win only with towers, without any bloc. That’s why I think it’s better to be forced to buy several blocks. It’s the case with a game like Traps and Sorcery I’ve already talked about.

Gaia Defense is such an interesting TD game ! Quite challenging ! And a very original horizontal TD game ! In this game, you don’t have to kill all waves, just the most part. It’s possible to buy some blocks because you want to slow down progression of waves. You know waves are able to hurt blocks and destroy them.

The question is : is it useful ? Gaia Defense is a good example of a challenging game in which you seem to have several strategy and must define the best one !

In Horizontal TD games, you often can buy and build some blocks. Of course you know the so known Plants vs Zombies must play !

In this kind of game it’s possible to buy some blocks, building it on waves’s way in order to slow them down. Lots of horizontal horizontal TD games are based on this mechanic. You know you will lose money because blocks will be destroyed. But it’s important. Because towers need more time to kill them… Or because you need time to build more towers…

Blocks are very useful to slow down ways or build mazes, yes. They have another functions ! In some towers defense, blocks are necessary… to build new towers. Funny, isn’t  it ? And excellent idea if you want to force players to buy and build blocks before building towers !

Yes horizontal TD games are original games !In Paper Defense, waves can go from the left, from the right but also… from the air !You can build some towers only on a wall.But unfortunately, you can’t build enough towers to destroy waves.And you’re not able to reach flying waves.	Your solution ? Building horizontal and vertical walls. The more walls you build the more towers you are able to build !Of course, if you build vertical walls, you will be able to reach and shoot against flying waves !
	This screenshot is extracted from Sanctum, a mazing tower defense game.At the beginning of the level, map is empty.First or all, you must build a way with blocks. Then you have to decide if you want to build towers on wall or not.Interesting !

Great ! we have seen some examples of tower defense games in which you may buy and build blocks. What about buying machines producing money ?

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– Ah money ! Money ! In many tower defense, you havn’t enough money to deploy an efficient strategy. So it’s necessary to win money. How ? Just build a machine aiming at earning money !

Plants vs Zombies like horizontal tower defense games allow you to build this kind of machine. This is Toys vs Nightmares, a nice game. You can buy and build books that produces energy. You need energy to build Toys or other objects. If waves come near books, they can hit and destroy it. That’s why you need to build these machines behind towers. This is a first difficulty : if you build a book on a square, you can’t build a toy !

Of course, you have to define a specific strategy if you want to build this kind of machine !

On Gaia Defense, you sometimes need to build two machines, wait for earning enough money, building new machines, waiting and then building towers. Too bad, you need to wait before being able to build new towers and then shoot against waves.

Machine is just like blocks. If it’s pertinent enough, this kind of machines can be use to slow down waves progression. Waves will either hurt and destroy it or bypass it. Is it interesting to let it destroy by waves ? What about build it, let waves hurt it, repair it ? It depends on your strategy !

Is this post interesting ? Please feel free for giving me your feedback ! Do you know another games in which it is possible to buy some blocks or cash machines ? Please tell me !