Penniless Arcade: Tower Defense

Hola and welcome to the Penniless Arcade, where all you need to enjoy gaming goodness is an internet connection.

Today we take a look at the simple, yet addictive, web-based game of Desktop Tower Defense.

Premise

As far as I can tell, the point of Desktop Tower Defense is to defend your desktop from wave after wave of cutesy bug-monsters who are assaulting it. You accomplish this by obstructing the enemy's path with a variety of "hand-drawn" towers which each have their own special form of attack. The enemy begins on one side and tries to reach the opposite without being destroyed. Once a certain number of monsters reach their goal, the game is over.

Gameplay

DTD is really a very simple game in terms of its mechanics. You select and place towers, paying a specified amount of money for each. If you make a mistake or want to rearrange, then you can buy one back (usually at a loss). And you can select individual towers to upgrade them - an essential part of successful defense.

However, actually winning the game is much more difficult. As time goes on, the monsters become more and more resilient. If you do not keep up with upgrades and new towers, then you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed. Good design takes a great deal of thought, as you want to expose the enemy to as much fire as possible from your defenses. At the same time, you will always find yourself tight on money.

Overall

DTD is a wonderfully simple yet fun game. It is a great source of entertainment when you do not have a lot of time to spend or want to relax.

Pax Vobiscum,
Glain