Pyra Defense: Build the ultimate maze to achieve victory in this strategic 3D tower defense game.
This game was brought to us by Roel who is completing a Masters in Game and Media Technology. He’s applied his knowledge into creating a full 3D tower defense game all by himself. Check out what we thought of his solo hobby project.
Gameplay: It’s a tower defense where spheres will travel the shortest path on the map to get from the entrance to the exit. You can place down seven different types of towers which will inflict damage in various ways. Money is earned for each creep which is destroyed, so it’s best to just kill everything that appears.
Sounds pretty much like the same stuff right? Ah… but you’re wrong… it’s different: There are 7 special abilities which can be casted: these will slow/stun creeps down, or boost your tower temporarily… and there’s even a spell which will allow you to change the map! Speaking of maps, there are 25 different maps in the full version of the game, and in some of these levels there are multiple spawning points which will really test your defenses. So let’s say you’re only out to try the free version – well no problem, because eventhough you only have 3 maps to play, you’ve got 20 difficulty levels to overcome!
“Give me more” I hear you chanting… yes the game doesn’t end there, there’s a whole heap of achievements for players to win (there are literally several pages!). This should keep any dedicated Tower Defense gamer busy.
Hardcore Tower Defense: Graphics-wise it’s fully 3D with beautiful camera angles. As you can see from the screenshots there aren’t any cutesy jelly enemies, nor are there any cartoony flower towers. Nope, it’s very simplistic with pyramids for towers, and spheres for enemies – it’s a no nonsense tower defense. (… No nonsense and the developer probably couldn’t be bothered to use his artistic talent!) In fact, the developer was so strong with his vision, that he even decided to forgo the sound effects and music.
Instead of graphics and sounds, the one man development band honed in on the strategy in the game. This is where this game excels in fact… usually most defenses are poor on the stats and reporting, but this game is very clear in multiple ways. There are indicators of the next wave of creeps, exact tower power details, and potential levelling available. All the buttons are clean, and the effects/descriptions of towers are pretty darn clear.
Some personal thoughts: We’ve covered a variety of different Tower Defenses here at AGR, and we do like it when a game surprises us. Pyra Defense surprises me because I couldn’t complete the first level on the lowest difficulty with my first few attempts! Don’t get me wrong here, it’s not too difficult to play – it’s just that I figured this would be mazing game like Robo defense. Instead it’s about channelling with the correct towers and upgrading to suit your strategy.
Rating: 3/5 A top notch game for those hardcore tower defense addicts out there. What Pyra defense doesn’t have in the sound and graphics department, they’ve made up for with no-nonsense pure strategy gaming. We recommend you try the free game first to see if it’s to your palate.
Pyra Defense Promotional Youtube Video
Pyra Defense Tips from Android Games Review
- On your first few plays we suggest you build up the cash so you can test out all the towers and understand their effects.
- If you only maze, you should keep the game speed low so you have plenty of time to place your towers before the next wave comes. Expect the creeps to be far more powerful than you anticipate, otherwise they’ll run straight out of your maze and you’ll be helpless to stop them.
- You’ll realise that although it’s possible to beat the creeps with a maze of the most basic tower, it’s a lot of building work and isn’t that much fun. So instead you want to mix in the other towers and base your strategy around them.
- The basic, double and laser towers are only for the beginning of each round. During the mid game, if you need to maze you should opt for the slow tower where possible, and only goto the basic tower when you’re low on cash. Expect non-upgraded basic, double and laser towers to have low effect on the creeps in the late game.
- Although the gate tower holds great potential, it must be used in conjunction with slow towers, and both of these need to be fully upgraded. Otherwise the late-game creeps will run straight by rendering your investment worthless.
- When a tower attacks a creep of the same colour then it’s meant to do more damage. However, this is probably only important in high difficulty games. In normal games, the functionality of the tower is more important than the colour matching.
Game spoilers below!
- I’ve found that slow towers combined with “Light” towers are the best. So during the mid game when I have enough money I’ll only channel with slow towers and I’ll snake the path around the “Light” towers to maximise the exposure time. These “Light” towers will fire at multiple creeps at the same time, so they’ll drain the damage across the creeps fast. Once I have a decent maze and I have enough excess money, I’ll dump all my money into upgrading the “Light” tower. Once that is saturated I would either upgrade some of the slow towers or invest in another “Light” tower.
- Kite your enemy: This is a trick for the following problem… if your maze is too short and your towers aren’t doing enough damage, but yet you don’t have enough money to either build or upgrade something worthwhile… then sell a tower in the middle of your maze, and rebuild it a few seconds later. By selling a tower in the middle, you’ll change the direction of creeps because they’ll always travel along the optimum path. Remember to plug the hole in your maze to make them return on their original path. By doing this buying and selling you can do much more damage than building or upgrading any singular tower. (Don’t forget to leave some money in the bank to do this though, because selling a tower won’t reclaim the same money which is required to build it.)
Pyra Defense QR Code
(Click on the image or scan the barcode with your Android phone to goto the Android Market)
Developers: Local Space
