Freebie: ‘CreepTD’

CreepTD caught my eye simply because it sounds like the kind of game that I used to play in the school playground – Creep Mouse anyone? Alas, upon investigation my train of thought was further insinuated with the game’s title when I noticed a statement from the developer that read: “It’s the mother of all TD games.” A bold claim for sure, but one I was prepared to invest in, strap on my scuba gear and dive in further.

So, what is this tower defense title all about? Simplistic as it looks, the gameplay boasts an appeal unlike others in the genre – not all of them, but most. Why so? Well, it’s an online game for a start (fancy) and it suports four player matches…OF EXTREME TOWER DEFENDING. That last bit may be made up, but it’s nice to think that things of this nature can be extreme. My original plan was to direct you over to Desura where the game has just been released, with some information of course, and then have you play it. But that changed upon finding out that the game is actually free. “Well” I said, “I’ll have me some of that free action of the tower defense kind”. So off I trotted to download the game and from there I never looked back.

CreepTD is a very addictive game and that is evident in that I started writing this post about 5 hours ago and I’ve only just managed to pull myself away from the game to continue writing about it. In that time, I’d say I’ve managed to advance from the worst player in the world to an amateur at best. I’m still learning the ins and outs of the game but I am loving every second with it. Oh and before you go there, yes I have played tower defense games before – I’m not the n00b that I may come across as in the next few paragraphs. So, where to start?

Each match in the game splits the board either into two or four, depending on the game type. Rule of the thumb is that it’s divided into four unless you’re playing 2v2. With your grid, you then have to plant your defense turrets around the path upon which the attacking units (known as creeps) will advance through. You’ll take damage if a creep manages to move all of the way across your screen. Income is sought by killing creeps and launching your own off into enemy territories. Every 15 seconds, a new chunk of income will magically appear in your bank as well and so you’ll find that you make most of your decisions in 15 second intervals. You’ll want to be attacking most of the time as that’s usually the best way to make sure your income goes up the most every 15 seconds. However, everyone else will be doing the same so you’ll have to defend as well. Defending is still something I am getting the hang of – trying to balance putting enough turrets down and of the right type without ever putting more than you need down so as not to waste income, is one of the game’s most acquired skills.

So what you end up doing is putting your turrets down (the most powerful usually) and upgrading the bare minimum so as to not take any damage. Unless, of course, a sudden onslaught of powerful enemies comes your way, in which case it’s best to go on a defending spree and then deleting the surplus turrets afterwards so as to get the money back from them. That’s pretty much the whole game but it gradually gets more perilous and decisions have to be made quicker as you go on. This is due to the income being so much higher so every 15 seconds you’ll find that a lot of big enemies will be coming your way.

One of the great things about CreepTD is that there’s a range great online features outside of and directly complementing the game. Being able to chat to those in your game, in private or publicly, is a great feature that could have so easily been overlooked. After finishing a match you are sent directly to a webpage which shows you the stats and the end result of the game, so as you can get a look at what you may have done wrong or right. Another is the progression system – there’s the familiar roster of ranks to progress through – I’m obviously very far down as I have yet to win a match (apologies to all my co-op partners who I let down). I’m confident that I am getting better with each match though so I’ll rank up soon…hopefully.

Another thing I really like about the game is that I haven’t played on the same map twice yet – there seems to be a huge range of maps (they’re all very simple) as well as game modes so every match feels fresh in a way and forces you to learn the best choke points each time. I feel like I’m going on a bit now as there isn’t that much to the game, yet there is if you dig deep enough. There’s a great community behind CreepTD already, some of them right buggers when going up against, but everyone says hello and talks tactics – well, “you defending?” being about as far as that goes, but it works.

You know what, just go and play the game already and I guarantee that most of you will be hooked in a matter of minutes. You can find out more information and grab a download of CreepTD for Windows, Mac or Linux over on the official website.