This gripping series has become the gold stard for tower defense on touch devices, so much so that it’s also the top target for knockoffs: Activision’s new Duck Commer: Duck Defense is a lame rehash inexplicably based on reality TV series Duck Dynasty. But ignore the clones, as Kingdom Rush Origins ($3) just launched to offer a proper fix— for newcomers, it’s as good a place as any to start.
Origins story
That’s because Origins—as its title implies—is pegged as a prequel, there’s more of a traditional fantasy bent at work, but story really isn’t a strong pull here. Over the dozens of hours I’ve spent with Kingdom Rush its sharp sequel Kingdom Rush Frontiers, I haven’t learned a single character’s name, nor could I tell you anything specific about the conflict portrayed. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all attractive window dressing for the richest tower defense option on mobile. Origins doesn’t break the series’ mold, but it didn’t have to: the formula established back in 2012 still holds strong today. Kingdom Rush focuses on simplicity when it comes to tower selection, only offering four types: long-range archers, barracks for close-range soldiers, heavy-duty rock launchers, spell-flinging wizards. ir that with limited building plots it seems like a recipe for repetition, right? It’s not, thankfully, that’s due to the extensive upgrade system. You can upgrade each tower several times over, as well as choose between branching ability paths, meaning two of the same tower type might function very differently on the screen. That approach provides plenty of depth for your strategies, you’ll need to use your limited coins wisely to take down the myriad monsters super-powered sorcerers that flood the pathways en route to your base.
Delightful defense
Each tower can become an incredible powerhouse (with enough coins), split upgrade paths mean you can decide between two versions of its later form, each with different abilities. Even those abilities can be enhanced multiple times over. Kingdom Rush Origins spreads its 15 levels across a h-drawn map screen, which is also your hub for between-round enhancements. You can permanently improve your towers special abilities, as well as choose upgrade a hero. Each level is attractively drawn requires different strategies, if you look closely here, you can find some pop culture tributes: nk from The gend of Zelda p Boy from Fallout appear as bushes, that deer sure looks like Bambi. Brief comic cut-scenes appear from time to time, Origins is considered a prequel set before the two other games. Story doesn’t make much of an impact, however, so you won’t be lost if you start with any Kingdom Rush game.
y it’s worth your money
ke its predecessors, Kingdom Rush: Origins is an impressively polished intensely addictive strategy experience that’s an absolute steal for three bucks. I love how the seemingly limited core game design really just forces you to think smarter about every tiny decision, whenever you fail— you will, spectacularly—it just emboldens you to dig back in rethink your approach. Credit the great h-drawn aesthetic, complete with onomatopoeia action words to designate major attacks, for keeping things cheery even in defeat. Origins is a steal for the price not only because it’s so damn fun engaging, but also because there’s plenty to enjoy. The 15 included stages will keep you playing replaying until you perfect them all, then you can play intense challenge stages jump up to Veteran difficulty to seriously test your skill determination. Mastering all of that will take a long, long time—I promise you that. If you’re already into Kingdom Rush, then you probably grabbed this latest entry as soon as you saw the headline. If not, then start now, as Kingdom Rush Origins is one of the top tower defense experiences on any platform, not to mention one of the best Android games of the year.
