Three Moves Ahead 116: Creeps and Towers

Here come the creeps, led by Rob and Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Quintin Smith! Fortunately, they encounter a maze of discussion and towers of topics. Inspired by first-person tower defender Sanctum and tower attacker Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Quinns and Rob explore how these games change the tower defense formula, and what about that formula needed changing? Are we doing a disservice to a neat mechanic by insisting that it is a genre? Why are we continually drawn in by games we often find shallow and unsatisfying? Is tower defense really about destruction, or is there an under-served creative aspect to these games? A lot of games and pieces come up for discussion here, so brace yourself for a link attack. Quinns' Sanctum Wot I Think Troy's reactions to Anomaly: Warzone Earth Rob, two years ago, on tower defense games Quinns on Ace of Spades 3MA on AI War Rob's "excessively positive" Dungeons review The Verdun game Rob couldn't remember is The Trench Kieron Gillen on Warfare: 1917