It is quite amazing, if you think about it, the amount of very high quality TD games that are being released for the iPhone. between The Creeps, Fieldrunners, 7 Cities, Sentinal, Elemental Monster, Dungeon Defense, Beseigement, GeoDefense, Hardgore, TapDefense, Zombie Attack, Crystal Defenders, SG Defense, Retro Defense, MoteM, AntiVirus... uh... I'm probably missing like a billion other ones that are equally good. but my point is, what is with this? why are they springing up like daisys? is there something about the TD genre that is particularly suited for the platform? or is it just that the initial success of Fieldrunners and 7 Cities spurred this on? I just find it interesting how many there are...
Uhhh, you forgot iTD. Yeah, but I agree with you. It's kind of like fart apps. One becomes really popular so others spring up hoping to repeat success.
Tower Defense games work really well with the iPhone interface, and they usually don't require constant concentration which makes them perfect mobile games. I have an entire page full of TD games, they each have things I like and don't like about them.
^^^ What he and Hodapp said Furthermore, I think it may be relatively simple to code for this game as its usually 2D, and the logic of the runners is basic: get to the otherside following set rules. Kind of like Chess, but with TD games, you can inject your own style, presentation, graphics, music etc, and that's all before trying anything new to gameplay, such as Sentinel's barriers and drones, or 7Cities allowing you to fully focus all guns on one enemy, etc. Then again, I could be completely wrong! I'm not a developer, but that's my impressions
I love TDs, I think. They are not my favorite genre, and yet, due to the frequency of them on the iTunes store, I tend to have a lot on my iTouch. Zombie attack, geoDefense, and Fieldrunners being my favorite. I like options of some, and new takes by others, but I seem to settle on these. Let me see and break down what I have: Favorite setting: Sentinel Favorite aesthetic: geoDefense Favorite gameplay: Fieldrunners / Zombie Attack Interesting gameplay quirk of the moment - Elemental TD Still, there are a lot that have something to be desired. I'm not quite a fan of Ink!coming, but I'm still getting used to the lite version. I just think it's an easy game to manipulate for different genres and settings.
Yeah I've never really gotten into the whole "TD" gaming, haha, I did heavily consider purchasing Fieldrunners though...
Get 7 cities. It is cheap and it is easily the best one. The standard mode is a preset path TD, but they also have "open waters" mode where you create the path. Its like 2 games for the price of 1!
I absolutely love TD games and have almost a page full already. I don't see what the hype was all about with 7cities though. It's a bit harder I have to say but the only new thing is a skill tree (which there is something similar in Garden War).
The reason TD games are so popular is the same reason that word games are so popular: the iPhone is perfectly suited to games where the only control needed is that of a computer mouse, which the touchscreen easily replicates. Aside from their actual content, TD's and word games have a lot in common. They are both relatively easy to program, easy to pick up and put down, don't usually require a significant storyline or character development to get into, contain significant strategical elements, and usually don't require constant attention. Combined with the perfect control for the device, it's no surprise how popular both genres are.
