Ahead of the Game - Kingdom Rush Battles is seemingly harmless tower defence steeped in sneaky sabotage
Look at that hen-throwing farmer go
- Build towers and upgrade spells to defend against foes
- Climb up the leaderboards to score some loot
- Sabotage the other player's defence because deep down, you really want to
Hello and welcome to Ahead of the Game, a series where we tell you all about an upcoming game that, despite not being out yet, is available for you to play at the time of publishing. Through this series, you can grab a chance to play games well ahead of their release date, be that through Soft Launch, Open Beta, Demos, or more.
"It's bad enough that I have to defend myself from random goblins and ogres charging at me relentlessly for no apparent reason - now I have to do that against someone else too?"
…is what someone who's never played a tower defence extravaganza before would (probably) whine about. But for me, that's exactly what the so-called "rush" of Kingdom Rush is all about - the thrill of the endless enemy waves, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, and the ragequitting that inevitably accompanies every epic defeat.
In Kingdom Rush Battles, however, you get to amplify that feeling by busying yourself not just with your own problems but with the problems of another player, because we just can't leave well enough alone, can we?
That, in essence, is the beauty of this glorious PvP online tower defence. You strategise the best position for your towers to defend against the oncoming horde, but every so often, you get to choose randomised buffs for your team - or randomised debuffs for someone else's.
That means you can unleash creepy Broodmothers, tanky stone golems, and pesky goblins in hot air balloons to make sure your opponent doesn't get to survive each wave as well as you can.
It's all about sabotage, and it's glorious.
As you work to clear each arena, you can climb up the leaderboards and score some handy loot - all these rewards help you unlock more towers, better spells, and epic heroes who will join you on your crusade.
You'll then need to level up your cards to survive the progressively more difficult stages, and while I wish the split-screen were a tad bigger to help with my poor eyesight, it's still a joy to watch the PvP chaos unfold with the Kingdom Rush coat of paint.
Now, I initially thought I could just mind my own business and win by sheer firepower alone, but the beauty of the gameplay design here is that you simply can't cruise by without trying to ruin your opponent's day. I've found that it's much easier to win each stage by making your opponent lose theirs - all's fair in love and kingdom rushes, after all.
So, how do you play Kingdom Rush Battles?
Kingdom Rush Battles is now in soft-launch in the Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, and Uruguay, so if you happen to be based in any of those regions, you can start flexing your sabotaging skills today.Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to turning KRbattler888's Paladin Barracks into a Farm Tower - a hen-throwing farmer is better than a beefy paladin, isn't it?
