Tower age is a tower defense game with resource management mechanics where the goal is to defend your base from enemies while keeping balance between resource gathering and defense capabilities. Upgrading existing and unlocking new buildings and towers is a crucial part of the game which will allow you to keep up with the ever growing strength and tactics of the enemy.
In tower age, every building costs a certain amount of resources. Resources can be acquired through building special types of buildings called resource gatherers. Each resource has it's own production requirements and special traits which need to be fulfilled in order for the resource to be produced. Additionally, the game contains a market system which allows the player to exchange gold for certain resources.
On the other hand, fighting against the enemies is done using towers, which come in a multitude of different types and every type has it's advantages and drawbacks depending on which type of enemy it's currently facing.
As with the enemies, they have a lot of ways of fighting back as well. From fast enemies and slow bulky ones, to enemies that have special abilities to either boost other enemies or weaken your defenses, the enemy has a lot of tricks up their sleeve to get past your defenses and destroy your base. Besides standard enemies that can be attacked, the player also has to fight against pollution, which if unattended, will severely strengthen enemies to the point where the player won't be able to keep up.
As mentioned previously, managing balance between resource production and defending your base is crucial: build too many resource gatherers and too few towers - the enemy will overwhelm you, build too many towers and too few resource gatherers - the enemy will outgrow your technology.
Another important mechanic of the game is age advancing. As enemies get stronger, so should your towers as well. For this purpose the player can advance their buildings to the next age, which unlocks new towers and buildings. However this mechanic also unlocks newer resources which are required to build the newly unlocked buildings, and with each age the resources become more and more complex and harder to manage, so choosing the right moment to advance to the next age is challenging. As for the buildings of the previous age, there also exists a mechanic called "Tower retirement" which allows the player to reuse these towers later on.
Next to the tower leveling and upgrade system that last only once per play, the game also has a global leveling system. After each game, the player earns a certain amount of experience which which allow the player to level up and earn global upgrade points, which in turn can be spent on improving the runs through upgrading general stats or by unlocking new gameplay features which can help the player in different ways.
In addition to the main features, tower age also has 4 different game modes.
Standard - The standard game mode where the goal is to defend a set amount of waves on one of the available maps, after which the player can continue playing the endless mode.
Survival - Similar to standard game mode with the main difference being that the player has to survive timed waves.
Tile hunter - Instead of pre-created maps, in tile hunter the world is generated on the run. Here, the player starts on a small island and after every couple of waves they are given a selection of tiles to put down, thus expanding the world and path which enemies need to travel. The game mode also contains some roguelike elements which can either improve or hinder the progress the player has made so far.
Maze builder - Similar to tile hunter, the player starts on a small island. However instead of the path being generated through tiles, here the player dictates the path the enemies have to take by blocking their path using buildings. In addition, this game mode also has roguelike elements in the form of "Blocks", where the player can select one of the given "Blocks" and position it somewhere. These "Blocks" can also change enemy pathing or contain special traits to help the player advance further.
This game is split into multiple "Phases". After beating each "Phase" the player can advance to the next one. Advancing a "Phase" fully revamps the game, unlocking new towers, resource gatherers, enemies and waves as well as changing certain gameplay features in other game modes. Each "Phase" is designed to be completely different and harder than the previous one, adding newer more challenging mechanics that the player has to take into account when playing a certain "Phase".
Want to test your skill against other players? Try out the PvP multiplayer that allows up to 16 players in a single lobby.
Multiplayer has support for both tile hunter and maze builder game modes, as well as it's own unique version of standard mode with new maps. In every game mode, players have the ability to send additional enemies to disrupt their opponents using a points system. The player can adjust the order and amount of enemies, as well as certain other parameters which adds additional strategy to the game.
