Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis doesn't seem to have reinvented the wheel and that's a great thing

Recently, Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis opened pre-registration on iOS and Android ahead of its launch on September 24th. While that's truthfully not too far away, it certainly feels like it for long-term fans. Thankfully, to whet our appetites ahead of that, Ironhide Games have released a demo on Steam that I've spent about an hour with. 

And while I played it on PC, it's clear that the developers view mobile as the true home of their legendary tower defence series. All of the tutorial instructions use the word 'Tap' rather than 'Click,' and the simple concept of getting three stars for completing a level in the best way possible feels utterly mobile, even if that's in a more nostalgic way nowadays. As such, I'm confident the mobile version will be up to the same standard.

With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let's get into the meat of the Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis Demo, of which there's plenty. The story sees you heading back in time to stop Vez'nan's corruption before it ruins everything in the kingdom. Despite the high stakes there, it's not presented as seriously as it sounds, which will come as no surprise to fans of the series. Instead, everything's bright and cheerful, with a gentle humour present in all of the comic book panels that lay out the narrative. 

It remains a fantastic look, too. The illustrated vibe that's ever-present in the Kingdom Rush series has always effortlessly stood out from other tower defence. If nothing else were different in a gameplay sense, I'd still find myself drawn to this over the many other options simply because it's a huge standout in this regard. 

Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis is comfortably familiar

However, it's far from being just a pretty face. Genesis excels where a lot of its genre contemporaries falter by ensuring you always feel involved. Usually, after popping down a few towers, it's time to sit back, fingers crossed, until there's enough cash in the bank to carry out a few upgrades. Carrying on from Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance, you have two heroes to micromanage alongside several spells to use to turn the tide of battle. It's enough to make you feel part of the action, rather than witnessing it from afar.

Of course, none of that is new to KR. It doesn't appear that Ironhide have reinvented the wheel here. Nor do they necessarily need to. Innovation is great, but it can sometimes move a series away from what made it appeal to people in the first place. Sometimes it's fine to meet expectations without doing anything drastic. There's comfort in the familiar, after all. There's a reason Elden Ring's open world was jarring to me after the tightly woven, intricate locations of FromSoftware's previous efforts, uprooting an ethos I adored.

Naturally, I expect there will be new spells, heroes, and all that other good stuff. But it's the core that remains intact and, truthfully, I wouldn't want them to touch that. It's a perfect series for kicking back and listening to music or a podcast while you fight wave upon wave of enemies. It becomes somewhat hypnotic. There's just enough hands-on involvement to keep your brain ticking over, yet enough idleness that makes for a relaxing experience.