ASCII Tower Defense

This is pure tower defence maze making brilliance. So many tower variations. So very simple. Reminds me of ye olde flash games on kongregate etc Don't be put off by the simple graphics. It at least has 2 music options; calm>intense personally :D Only thing letting it down is the lack of achievements to stroke my ego.

ASCII TD is a nice and simple game with variety on how to beat its many waves. I've beaten it a few times with varying strategies. It took me a long while to find a perfect maze design for a few towers in this game and the grid was a fun and challenging aspect since there is no perfect pattern. working around enemies as well as the grid made a hard challenge but in the end I have a good experience with the game and played it for many hours

This game is simple... until it isn't. The simple graphics belie a game with an enormous amount of depth. Unlike many tower defenses, every tower type (and each of the two upgrade branches for each tower) is truly unique -- not just a minor variation on damage, attack speed, and AoE size. Mazing is a level of strategy that I miss whenever a TD doesn't have it, and this game does it right. There's enough space for there to be many different maze types, but you're constrained enough that you have to decide on the trade-offs. Easy mode is just that -- easy. It's a good way to try out all the towers just to see what they do. I beat it on my first try and I wager many of you will as well. Normal is a lot more difficult. It took me a few attempts to discover the combination of towers that actually worked for me: [spoiler] a kill zone with a Melee Tower and a Black Hole tower that's within the charging range of the Charge Tower (with the damage over time upgrade)[/spoiler]. I still haven't managed to beat Hard mode, but I get a little further each time I try. The fact that there's a screenshot of someone beating Hard+19 (that's PLUS NINETEEN) absolutely blows my mind.

It all works, but it is so boring I quit out of the first level long before I would have died or won. I think I got to level 15 out of twenty. For starters, the list of towers you can use is HUGE making the map barely half the screen. There was no reason for that. And there is nothing to make the game interesting. A game is built, in my experience, on the decisions a player gets to make. There are no tactical options, and I don't think there are strategic upgrades, though I can't be sure. The towers do upgrade, and have two paths they can take, but that is the limit of their flexibility. You don't get any say on targeting, and there really doesn't seem to be any variety in the foes, except in shape. And the one that never seems to take any damage. If there is any difference, a glossary would be nice, but there isn't one. Put it all together and it's well less than the sum of it's parts, sadly. Cannot recommend, but only one thumb down because it all seems to work.

tis good

Its a fine game for the price point. Theres a lot of depth to mazing and layouts, but unless you have prior experience, give up on the idea of beating it on your first try. The enemies have a large array of unique differences, and towers are specialized. You will need a bit of everything to properly win.