Tower Defense

Ironhide Game Studio posted a teaser this afternoon for its upcoming Kingdom Rush Frontiers Halloween campaign on its Facebook page. The post was tagged with the hashtag #ShadowmoonCampaign. The announcement came a few weeks after Ironhide finally released the popular Tower Defense game to Google Play for Android users.

The last Kingdom Rush campaign Rising Tides brought three new levels, six new enemies, a new boss and five new achievements. Ironhide did not give specifics about the upcoming update, but they did post a message that suggested it will have something to with the undead.

An endless night is upon us! The dead rise from their graves and mindless horrors prowl the land! Something dark has awoken, something to fear... Welcome to the #ShadowmoonCampaign!

The Shadowmoon campaign will be available on October 31, 2013.

Dead Defense is now available for all current iOS devices. It is a typical Tower Defense game where you must use a variety of towers and special abilities to defeat waves of various monsters and bosses. The controls are very simple, but the game play can be kind of difficult. The game does not allot you enough time between waves to set up your towers, and too many different types of monsters come at you from a variety of different directions. It also takes a few seconds for each tower to be built or upgraded, making it hard to adjust on the fly and learn the layout of each level. The restart button will be your best friend in this game.

Make sure to pay close attention to the tutorial and learn about each individual tower's abilities before you start the game. There is no encyclopedia or in-game information to help you along the way. Tapping a tower's icon during the game does not bring up its individual stats, and tapping a power up icon will only bring you to an in-app purchase screen if you do not have enough crystals to use it. Not having enough time to plan your defense, and not having easy access to a individual tower's information can make Dead Defense seriously frustrating.

UPDATE: You can see the specs for all the towers under the "Research" section.

Over the last few years Tower Defense games have become watered down and uninspired. The genre has fallen victim to copycat developers who spend more time coming up with goofy concepts rather than tapping the format’s potential to create new, fun and challenging games. However, there have been two diamonds in the rough for Tower Defense fans: Kingdom Rush and Plants vs. Zombies. Both started as free flash games, and both have found well deserved success on iOS and Android devices, making them two of the most popular current Tower Defense games available today.

In 2013, Ironhide Studios released the long awaited sequel to Kingdom Rush, and PopCap (now owned by EA) released Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time. Both games quickly rose to the top of the App Store Charts soon after their release, and both were well received by fans and critics. But which game is the best Tower Defense game currently available for iOS devices?

After almost being delayed for a month, the long awaited sequel to the popular Plants vs. Zombies iOS game will be available tomorrow. Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time is the first official sequel since the original game was released in 2009. That's unless you count the few spin-offs like the Facebook game Plants vs. Zombies Adventures.

The release of the sequel is so highly anticipated that the App Store posted a teaser image to its Facebook page alongside a message that reads: "It's about time. Guess what game is coming tomorrow?"

Allen Murray, Senior Producer for Plants vs. Zombies 2 promised fans that the game would feature plenty of new content and a entirely new gaming experience. However, some are worried about the game's freemium status. This means the game will be free to download, but it will most likely require some in-app purchases to be able to enjoy the full experience.

The popular tower defense game Kingdom Rush: Frontiers is getting a major update. Ironhide Studios has listened to its iOS fans and is adding all new levels, enemies and heroes on August 1st. Unfortunately, Ironhide disappointed other fans of the franchise by once again snubbing Android, Flash and Steam users. However, the developer did address the controversy via its official Facebook page on Friday:

"Hi everyone! We are working very hard to deliver the Android, Flash and Steam versions as soon as possible. Your feedback is always welcomed and very useful for us. Stay tuned for more news and surprises! Thank you for being part of our awesome community!"

Demand for Android, Flash and Steam versions of the game has turned into an outright flame war on all Ironhide's social media pages. Hopefully those fans will get a chance to enjoy Frontiers soon, because it is a shame that anyone is being left out of all the fun.