Confession time: here at Card Gamer, we hadn’t heard of, let alone played the first Tower Tactics. So we were unsure what to expect when we had the opportunity to check out the sequel. Let’s find out what it’s all about, as we take a look at the Early Access version of Tower Tactics II!
What is Tower Tactics II?
A really interesting take on roguelike deckbuilding games, Tower Tactics II combines that genre with tower defense gameplay. It seems that tower defense, as an overall genre, has fallen out of fashion since its heyday in the late 00s and early 10s. So pairing that game style with the currently-in-vogue roguelike deckbuilding genre is a stroke of genius.
How to Play Tower Tactics II
In Tower Tactics II, you’ll find many familiar elements if you’re a fan of roguelike deckbuilding games. You’ll find a branching path of encounters, such as combat, campfires and shops, along with boss fights to overcome on each run. You’ll upgrade and buy new cards, try out new characters and discover unique trinkets to give you special bonuses.
What’ll likely be new is how you use your deck. Instead of one on one combat encounters, your decks are towers or tiles, allowing you to defend against the waves of enemies on each map, protecting your base from their advances.
Place three tower cards of the same type on the map and they’ll automatically level up, merging into a single, stronger tower. Though your towers start out fairly basic in their functions, you’ll unlock more elaborate, powerful towers with different effects as you progress through each map.
Is Tower Tactics II Fun to Play?
Having been a huge fan of tower defense games when they were at their peak, I slipped very comfortably back into the genre with Tower Tactics II. The deckbuilding elements are fairly light, but there’s a really interesting collection of towers and abilities to discover, even at this Early Access stage.
Image credit: asraworks/Assemble Entertainment
The gameplay is intuitive, as well as being full of clever features, with no doubt more to be added over the coming months. With a map editor and Steam Workshop support included too, Tower Tactics II is likely to have much more content available beyond launch.
The Card Gamer Verdict
We’d normally give a points-based breakdown to conclude a review, but with Tower Tactics II being in Early Access, it seems unfair to give it a definitive, final score when so much could change between now and its full release. However, it’s worth noting that Tower Tactics II already feels like a polished, feature complete game. The mechanics are very well explained and implemented. The presentation is superb too, with excellent character design and pixel art visuals. Tower Tactics II is a great indie game that mashes up two genres in a smart way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to head back; those maps won’t defend themselves!
The Early Access version of Tower Tactics II is available now on Steam; you can buy the game or add it to your wishlist below:
Check out our other coverage of digital card games, such as our review of Heroes of Magic and Cards. We also reviewed auto-battling card game, Grail.
