Digfender

I gave up on this game a few years ago because they didn’t properly support phones with a notch, but they’ve since fixed that. And playing it again, I remembered why it was so great. It’s got a simple twist (building the path gradually) that makes a difference, instead of loading it up with a bunch of useless novelty ideas. It’s well balanced and fun to play. You can watch ads or spend money if you want, but you can get the same benefits by grinding a bit more instead, and the monetization never gets intrusive. It’s not perfect. The early levels are too easy, so you don’t get a sense of the strategic choices right away. The graphics and sound are pretty rudimentary. But those are minor complaints; this is a great game that blows away most of the more recent competitors.

I’m giving it 5 stars because it’s better than 95% of the tower defense games out there. Kingdom Rush is the king of tower defense, but this is probably in the top 3 that I’ve played, and I’ve tried tons. The towers themselves are well done, upgrade trees make sense, and the game play is unique and interesting. The digging down and creating your own path makes for a fun change to the tower defense genre. For a free game, the simple ad banner at the bottom and lack of constant ads (as in, I haven’t watched a single ad in this game ever) is a refreshing and much appreciated change. My only negative critique is that it’s a little too easy. I’m over 80% of the way through the game and I haven’t had to try any level more than twice to three star it. The variety of enemies is lacking, though the enemies I’ve encountered so far are well thought out and each represents a specific challenge for your towers. I am finding this game many years after its release, but given how hard it is to find decent tower defense games, I felt obligated to write a review and hopefully convince others that this one is worth a spin.

I'm surprised this game isn't more popular. It requires some strategic thinking by allowing you to largely create your own path which is quite rare these days in the TD genre. Good selection of towers with a lot of variety in how to upgrade them. There's also a good variety of enemies which makes things even more interesting as it requires careful selection of towers. They do throw the tougher enemies (and the kitchen sink) at you right from the beginning in the Bonus level maps but otherwise, the game is well balanced and the difficulty ramps up smoothly. I would like the ability to target enemies. It's kind of silly for a TD game to not have that option or, at least toggle between attacking the first or strongest enemy. If you like the game spend the 10 bucks for the "special offer" but you can complete most of the game without spending money. I opted for one of the cheaper IAPs to support the developer and for the hours of enjoyment they provided. I hope they will update with more levels in the future. I would be glad to even pay for them.