Price: Free (ad-supported)
Version: 1.3.2
Site: TapJoy
Tower Defense games are a dime a dozen, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun. If you’re the type who enjoys setting elaborate sentry gun traps in Team Fortress Classic, Tap Defense, TapJoy’s foray into the genre is worth looking at. Tap Defense doesn’t offer flashy graphics or cute designs. What it does offer is level after level of enemies, lots of upgradeable towers and even a couple of handy skills.
Tap Defense has two modes: Classic and Challenges. Classic offers increasingly difficult stages while Challenges mode offers stages with limits imposed on them such as a limit on tower type or lives. Each mode has 3 difficulty levels.
In Classic mode, each stage begins with a hint on how to complete it. For those who want a challenge, simply tap past the hint screen. The action is paused at the beginning of the stage, which gives you ample time to set up a couple of towers with your starting gold. Pressing the ‘PLAY’ button will start the onslaught of enemies. It’s possible to pause anytime during the game to build more towers as more gold is accumulated.
The towers range from basic damage dealers like arrows and bombs to support towers like water and ice which damage enemies as well as slow them down. To correspond to the different towers, there are also different enemies which not only have differing amounts of health and speed, but also weaknesses.
As you progress through the stages, you earn halos, which can be used to buy more types of towers, put research into existing towers, or to buy skills such as the ability to earn more gold. The halos are limited, so it takes some planning to figure out the best way to spend them.
One thing that I love about Tap Defense, which has nothing to do with the game-play, is that it’s free with a catch: in order to save so you can quit the app and come back to the same stage later, you have to click a banner ad at the end of each stage. It’s unobtrusive while I’m playing the game, and only takes a few seconds when I do need to save. I didn’t have to pay anything, yet I can feel good about putting money in the developers’ pockets.
As a tower defense game, Tap Defense isn’t overly complex. Stages are short enough that the game is a decent pick-up-and-play game and there’s almost no slow-down unless you’re in a very enemy and tower heavy map. The first couple of stages go by quickly and easily, but the later stages can be brutal — especially at higher difficulties. The interface is easy to navigate with the touch screen and so intuitive I didn’t even need to think about it the first time I played.
When I’m waiting around for the bus, this is the game I’m usually playing.
