To the Green – Electromaze Defense

Yep, a Tower Defense game. I can see some of you hurriedly clicking the back button even as I type this. No matter, there are plenty of us (dozens maybe) who enjoy a good TD, particularly one that emphasizes mazing. While Electromaze Defense isn't the prettiest lookin' game out there, it seems set up to deliver on some fun gameplay.

There's not a lot to talk about when it comes to most Tower Defense games, for the most part, except what sort of variety they can promise. Electromaze Defense seems to have a good amount of that going for it, with over 14 towers, enemy abilities, maps and random generated maps, bosses, and more.

One of the reasons Electromaze Defense caught my attention is the fact that it emphasizes mazing. Those of you who played the great custom maps on Warcraft III know just how fun screwing around with various different maze types can be, particularly those that have a set path and certain points where enemies had to reach before moving onto the next. Most TD games now all have their own set up level with designated spots for towers. That's a different level of strategy and thinking for sure. 

Creating your own maze, however, allows just a little more freedom and creativity on your part. It becomes less about figuring out how to beat a particular level by placing the correct towers wherever and allows you as the player to solve it in your own unique way. That's something that the TD games we've seen of late are missing. Granted, some have a little bit of a mix like Defense Grid.

There aren't a ton of details on the Greenlight page, but Electromaze Defense definitely seems to have a good foundation. What it brings unique to the genre I can't really tell, it may be with the four utility upgrades of which you can choose one of for each tower.

The real meat of a TD is not in the towers, ironically, but in the enemies. Having a good variety of enemies with various attributes and abilities is what will really make you think, and the Greenlight page promises a reasonable amount of that at the moment. Again, it's one of those things that we'll just have to see fully detailed, but the small glimpse into enemy abilities like healing, blink, and summoning is certainly a good start. The screenshots give away a few more like an aura that speeds up other enemies, extra hp, extra armor, etc. 

Of course, we can't ignore the towers in a TD. Electromaze Defense promises 14 unique different towers, which is actually quite a lot for a TD. Most have less than ten, usually. We'll have to see just how different each of them are, but having a few unique types can certainly help Electromaze Defense set itself apart.

To harp on it one more time, the emphasis on player's creating their own maze is definitely what Electromaze Defense has going for it at the moment. The preset pathing and waypoints, as well as the randomly generated ones allow for a ton of different possibilities and those that enjoyed things like Sprout TD or Gem TD from Warcraft III should definitely take an interest here.

If you're interested in Tower Defense games at all, I would say Electromaze Defense is certainly worth your attention. It may not have the flash or style of some others that have come out—not many of them have been all that great in the gameplay department, however—but it can make up for that in some interesting gameplay. We all just have to wait for more details. Until then, give it a thumbs up on Greenlight if you think it worthy.

What else do you see on Greenlight to mention at the moment? What do you think of Tower Defense games? What will Electromaze Defense need to do to stand out?