Crystal Guard TD

This game has a lot of potential, but feels quite unpolished. For a dollar I can't really complain even if I only play it for half an hour, however if the creator is looking for ways to improve this game: #1. Have a way to increase game speed to 2x or 3x. That is a must for tower defense games. #2. It is very clunky to place towers. First you have to buy them, then you have to drag them onto the map. That really makes the game difficult to play. #3. There is no progression. You seem to just start with all towers available and get a random selection of them to choose from. Part of the fun of tower defense games is the rogue-like element that allows you to unlock new abilities. I really hope that the creator keeps working at it and improves some of the play-ability aspects of the game. #4. As far as I can tell you can't upgrade towers. Maybe you can. I only played this game very briefly because of the clunky interface. If I had paid more than a buck I would probably ask for a refund. Again, I don't want this to seem harsh. The game looks like it could have real potential. I like the variety of powers that it seems like you can get, however the lack of progression and how cumbersome the UI is just makes this not very enjoyable right now.

I can't recall ever playing a game with such a clear divide between the good and the bad. Sadly the bad far (far) outweighs the good, and I cannot give this a positive review. For starters, it is a very basic tower defense game. There is a minor strategic set of upgrades that you choose randomly, and no tactical attacks. There is no fluff, and no pathing. There is a speed up button, but no ability to pick your towers targets. In addition there is a tower cap that you can buy upgrades too, but it never goes over ten. There are a wide variety of towers, and you can merge same-type gems to upgrade them, 3-1. I have only gotten a few towers to level three, but it seems like there are only twenty levels so there isn't really time to do more. You can continue after level twenty as a form of endless mode. There is only one foe, and it is cute, but aside from a little run animation, no effort was made to make things look decent. They only have one angle, running to the right, so they run backwards (?!?) when moving to the left. This seems such a minor thing, but it speaks volumes to how the developer didn't put much effort into this. It almost feels more like a proof-of-concept than a game. There is a boss, but he looks exactly like the regular unit, having only a bit more health. There seems to be only six maps, and they are all really short. You can play any of them right from the start, so there is no progression of any kind. Blah. That said, it is fun to putz with, and I suspect I will get a few hours of fun out of it, so it isn't refund material, and at the current price, it isn't a bad thing, it's just not good enough to recommend. I rather hope the developer will put some more effort into this, I love changing negative reviews to positive when a game gets better, but from their comments I have seen elsewhere, it seems really unlikely. One thumb down.