Radiant Defense is Colorful, Difficult Mobile Tower Defense

Whenever I peruse Google’s Play store, I often see the same games over and over. But every so often, I get a quick glimpse at one I haven’t seen before, and one that happens to be popular (which makes me question how I’ve never seen it before). One example is Radiant Defense, a game I discovered just this past weekend. Chances are good that you’ve never seen tower defense done so cutesy and colorful.

The mechanics behind Radiant Defense are quite simple, but that doesn’t mean the game is. In fact, this is one of the most challenging TD games I’ve ever played, but I kind of like it. Each level has a unique block layout, and on a solid square, you can build your guns, research center and whatever else you have at your perusal. At the start of each wave, aliens will be trying to make their way to a coil, and if too many reach it, the wave is lost.

What makes the game complicated is that there are times when the influx of aliens is overwhelming, and because you’re never aware in advance of what’s coming (most often), there is some luck involved. And with such a design, it does mean you’ll likely get far into a given mission and then will start over, better aware of what to expect. While the strategy of simply building as many guns as possible might work for some waves, it’s not going to work for them all. Some aliens are immune to certain guns, for example.

At the start of each round, you’re given some money to spend. Each kill you get nets you additional funds, and depending on how efficient you were, you get a scalable bonus at the end of each wave. To build some of the more advanced guns, you need the Research Center, which takes a wallop out of your wallet. But, some of these might be required for success, such as a gun that shoots a large, power beam (good for bosses) and a gun that spews toxic gas everywhere.

Though Radiant Defense is free, it does have about $4 worth of DLC at the moment. None of this is required, but it will get you more advanced tools and weapons which should make your success easier to come by. As I’m a bit sadistic when it comes to difficulty, my goal is to get as far through the game as possible with what I have first, before picking up some DLC (seems inevitable as this is a great game).

As you can see in the shots, the graphics are gorgeous, but also great is the music. This is a game you should never turn up the audio for, with headphones being ideal. You can hit up the developer’s site below to find links to download the game for iOS, Android and Windows Mobile. Oh – and if you do give it a go, be sure to check out the official strategy guide.