Fun and challenging game, got all current achievements in around 15 hours.

The gameplay didn´t feel too repetitive so far and i am looking forward to the full release with all the content.

I´d strongly recommend atleast trying this "demo" version, if Tower Defenses interest you.

⠀

It's fine. Adequate. Competent. Acceptable. A solid C.

The addition of roguelite elements is a novel take, and I can see the dimension it is supposed to add, but I don't think it works. Mindustry leans into the engine-builder concept better with its Factorio-eque elements and rewards your success with the vaporized corpses of your enemies. In this game you are rewarded with the tedium of dying with increasing slowness.

The aesthetic here is bland and muddy. The Bloon's Tower Defense series is colorful and zainy with a wide variety of enemies and turrets which creates a charming chaos on the screen.

The Gemcraft series offers both a compelling narrative and profoundly crunchy gameplay, with a variety of modes self-adjusted difficulty. There is only one mode here against the predetermined wave of enemies. I would have thought the procedurally-generated hex tiles would have created more interest but the tiles are... bland. There is no resources or challenges on them to scramble after like Gemcraft's Mana Pools, bombable buildings, wasp jars, nests, etc. and bends and forks are less interesting when the range of most turrets starts as the whole tile. The inability to plan across tiles means it's not worth putting down a turret and waiting for it to grow either in the vain hope the path will loop back on itself in a larger way.