Saturday Casual Gaming 305: Defender Idle: New Beginning

In Which I Actually Enjoy A Tower Defense Game

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a naturally high-stress person. I know, I tout myself as being chill, but the fact is, I'm an inert ball of anxiety 90% of the time - physically chill, mentally freaking out. I don't usually like games where it's possible to lose. I don't like my characters dying. I don't like losing progress. I hate screwing up and not being able to fix things. Life doesn't have an "Undo" button, but video games (newsflash) aren't real life, and I'm not looking for them to be.

So I usually hate Tower Defense games, because you go on for a bit, then it's game over because you didn't put your points into whatever arbitrary loadout the level wanted from you. And you take a penalty. Because you didn't know the first time you played what it was the game was looking for. Ugh.

Don't like that at all.

But that's where Idle Games creep in. See, in an Idle Tower Defense game? The goal is to die. You're not punished for dying. Dying is how you learn. Dying is how you progress.

And Defender Idle: New Beginning, from Barbasu, is a great example of how to make an engaging Idle Tower Defense Game.

This game has only existed since the end of December, 2019, so it's a little over a month old now, and I have to say - having started to play it over two weeks ago, I'm nowhere near even the mid-game. It's a very long game - especially if you're bad at paying attention like I am.

See, this game isn't gonna hold your hand from start to finish, but it also doesn't punish you. If you're confused, click around for a bit - you'll figure it out. That's good game design, folks. I like that.

Your goal is to beat various waves of enemies in several game modes while building up your base. Simple enough, right? Right! There's no twist. There's no surprises. You just. play. the game.

I'm still early enough in the gameplay that I have no idea what half of the currencies are used for, I've barely leveled up my base, and I only have three kinds of turrets, but I still feel like I'm having fun. I rarely ever devote this much time to a game where I make so little apparent progress. The secret, my friends, is that you're never actually stuck. Bored? Surrender. Take a lower prize than you would if you played to the inevitable outcome of your enemies overwhelming you, and go level up some random stuff in your base. I've literally only surrendered once, and that was because I'd put some turrets in the wrong place and completely missed that you can sell turrets because I have the eyesight of a very myopic newt.

DI:NB is not a graphics-intensive game. It has a comfortably nostalgic Atari-vibe to it (some of the enemies vaguely resemble the spaceship from the OG Galaga, for instance), but it has its own flavor. I like that the colors, while bright, aren't obnoxious, they mostly make sense - green buttons can be clicked, red ones are locked, and yellow ones are close to being unlocked (except in the Masonry building - why are the purchasable upgrades red, but the maxed-out ones yellow? That makes no sense...)

Yes, keeping track of no less than 11 different currencies/substances can be confusing, but thankfully, there's not any real crossover. You'll always use gold for tower-defense upgrades, you'll always use RP (Rebirth Points) for percentage-based upgrades (like what % of a chance you have to find a specific substance/currency when killing enemies, boost your health by x%, etc), and you'll always use "Esoteric Substance" (lol nice name) to boost your Masonry projects.

Music and gun sounds are fun, with some chiptune aspects as well as some more modern effects. It's fairly repetitive, but it's also exactly what you want from a game like DI:NB. The gun sounds are fairly standard crunchy lasergun sounds not a pewpew, but also not a bangbang, more like small, satisfying explosions.

Overall, I'd have to say that Barbasu has a real winner on their hands with DI:NB, and if you want to check it out on Kongregate, you should. The developer has indicated that the game is now in its final form, barring any unforseen bugs. My only suggestion is that you keep it opened in a separate window, rather than a separate tag, as it doesn't always run very well when you aren't actively watching it, and it doesn't seem to do much while your computer is in standby or sleep mode. If that's not the purpose of the design, then it's a bit annoying. If it is the purpose, then well played - you're demanding attention for your game.

So yeah, go play this game!

And Go Enjoy Something!
FC