Rift Riff is minimalist tower defence across an enchanting, icon-based world
- Lovely minimalist visuals
- Interesting enemies with varied traits
- Beautifully designed world
There's nothing overly complicated about tower defence - it is, as it says on the tin, essentially all about defending a tower, and that's all there is in Rift Riff. What makes it so compelling, though - apart from the clever title - is how the visuals are presented, because for me, when you put together minimalist aesthetics with deep strategy, it's magic.
Sure, the mechanics are exactly what you'd expect - you strategise the best positions for your defensive structures to make sure you keep all the hordes of foes charging towards you at bay.
Between each wave, you get a bit of respite to use your earned resources to buy more towers. You can also harvest some lovely flowers that give you more juice, and when you manage to survive all the enemy waves, you'll get transported through a magical portal into a limbo-esque space where you can either unlock more towers or move on to the next stage.
It's a basic gameplay loop for the genre, but what I love about it is that it's all presented across clean, simple, and fluidly animated icons. There's a mysterious yet enchanting vibe to it all, as even the monsters look incredibly intriguing - especially with their varying skills and traits.
And you'll really need to pay attention to those behaviours, because how you address those traits tells you whether or not you can survive the onslaught. Of course, there's also the lovely terrain to consider - do you prefer sniping enemies one by one from afar, slowing them down with a mighty ground shake, or chucking an explosive onto an area just to get it over with?
It promises around 15-20 hours of tower defence goodness, and with what I've played so far, I don't doubt that it'll deliver. Honestly, I just want to get to the bottom of this odd and deceptively calm world - but if it means having to push back waves of aggressive entities with perfectly placed shooters, I'd gladly volunteer as tribute.
Rift Riff is free to try with no ads, with a one-time purchase to unlock the whole thing on both iOS and Android!
