[timestamp] is a running journal and reflection on the games I play, news I’ve read, and commentary on hot topics and conversations I have come across. These will be free to read online and printed in a limited monthly edition for $15/mo Patreon supporters!
Games played: Tower Dominion (PS5)
I picked up a new game I knew nothing about and just rolled the dice today. I was listening to Gaming in the Wild (a great podcast run by a great person!) on my way home and thinking about checking out a couple of the games he mentioned on the episode, and when I was in front of my PlayStation staring at the store… I completely forgot the name of any of the games. So, as I was scrolling, I saw “Tower Dominion,” and I am a pretty big tower defense game fan. Based on the title, it deserved a look. It was on sale for about $17, and that didn’t scare me away, as I have had a good time with plenty of budget titles like this in my day.
If you watch the trailer, it presents a really dense tower defense game with multiple paths, not just a single main line, which can be hit or miss. Then it showed that during certain waves, you add a tile and build out the map, allowing for an extra layer of strategy to route the path in a certain way, or in stages with multiple sides to defend, it’s even possible to snake the paths to a single point if you are lucky. Towers can upgrade, there is a lot of variety from the looks of things, multiple enemy types, elevation mechanics to increase range, and even a main commander you select before each stage that reminded me a bit of Advance Wars. There are even some roguelike “pick three” elements in play. Basically, this game has enough fun nuggets and mechanics I enjoy that a $17 gamble felt like a strong bet.
I was right. This game is rad. The initial tutorial and in-game UI did give me a moment of concern. Multiple windows and menus pop up to access tower upgrades, and to start waves or see additional details, tooltips, and other menus, you need to hold R2 and press other buttons. It’s initially off-putting, but it only took as long as the tutorial to get used to it. From there, I was cruising. I managed to complete the first game I played, building the map of the single path, learning that open tile breaks mean enemies can spawn from there, and keeping a good range of towers out and about so I wouldn't break a sweat. If you come into the game with knowledge of the tower defense, you’ll do well enough. It’s the extra layers you get later that will give you more.
These extra layers substantially add to the replayability and progression of the game. In addition to picking between three rewards between waves of enemies, other roguelike elements appear in the game. Stage difficulty works in tiers, similar to the other tower defense game I have been playing this month, The King is Watching, and familiar to fans of games like Hades. The higher the difficulty, the fewer bumpers you have to sand off the edge of the challenge. I played through a number of levels and got through a few of these difficulty levels today.
What makes this game more than a flash in my monthly playlist is the commanders and the stage difficulty system. Each of the commanders has special traits that impact the game in unique ways, which will change the way you plan out your defense in any given run. In addition to that, playing x number of towers, clearing x number of waves, etc., unlocks additional towers and things that permanently appear in your playthrough on any given level. So right now, I am playing and mastering what I have access to, then unlocking newer and bigger/better things that help me knock out even harder stages, and I have been having such a good time. I know this is supposed to be a daily recap, but typing and talking about all of this is making me want to play more, and I have plenty more I can say about this game and the genre next time!
