User:JWmelrow/Kingdom Rush

Towers
The tower system in the game

Description
Kingdom Rush is a real-time tower defense game set in a medieval fantasy setting. Each level presents a pre-determined path with empty slots all around, called 'Strategy Points', where the player can build towers. There are four types of towers to choose from : Mages, Archers, Barracks, and Artillery, or if you prefer D&D references, Sorcerers, Barbarians/Fighters, Rangers, and Artificers/Gunslingers. Each costing a certain amount of money to build and upgrade. At the beginning of each level, the God complex(Player) gets some coins and resources in order to build the first towers. As enemies begin to emerge from one end of the path, the towers must be able to kill them before they reach the other end of the path (defense point). The player will also rely on a few spells and heroes (with cool-downs) to help the towers. Killing enemies generates money, which can readily be used to build and upgrade towers. Another way to earn money is to call enemy waves early, which also reduces cool down time of spells. Money is also earned by selling built towers or having an enemy reach the defense point. When an enemy gets there, the player loses 1-20 lives depending on the enemy. There are 18 levels in total and 48 different types of enemies that one will encounter throughout the levels.

Completing a level for the first time gives the player 1-3 stars. These stars can be used to unlock passive upgrades that improve the effectiveness of the various towers and spells. After completing a campaign level with 18 or more lives remaining (out of 20), the player earns 3 stars and the Heroic Mode and Iron Challenge are unlocked for this level. These are more challenging modes that take place on the same path and impose various constraints. In these modes, the player will only be given one life, so any enemy surviving to the defense point triggers a failure. Heroic Mode and Iron Challenge reward one star each when completed, and they are essentially Advanced Capture the Flag.

On April 25, 2012, Ironhide Game Studio released a new updated version of Kingdom Rush for Android and iOS devices that included new features and a new level. Among these new features were a shop and a hero's room. The shop provides items such as extra coins and dynamite that can be purchased through the winnings of gems in battle. The hero's room provides a selection of heroes that aid in battle and can be obtained by passing levels. These heroes vary from defenders to archers and can be placed anywhere on the path.

Kingdom Rush has full voice acting, most of which was done by voice talent Travis Willingham, Sean Crisden, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Laura Bailey, and Gandalf the Grey.

The game was featured in a problem in the 2012 Google Code Jam programming contest.

Kingdom rush is a series of real-time tower defense games set in a medieval fantasy setting. In line with the tower defense genre, each level presents a pre-determined path with spaces along the sides called 'Strategy Points', where the player can build towers. Enemies will come along the path in waves and it is the player's job to make sure the enemies are dispatched by towers before they reach the end. By spending the gold earned by defeating enemies you can upgrade towers, making them deal more damage or in the case of the barracks have more health. In each game there are four basic types of towers to strategize with; mage, archers, barracks, and artillery. Different enemies in the game sport resistances to certain types of damage, so which tower you put where is the lynchpin of a good level strategy. At the players disposal are spells that recharge over time. The reinforcements spell summons two brave soldiers to the path to block and deal damage to enemies, the meteor spell (called thunderbolt and soul impact in later games) calls down a rain of fire to blast away enemies.

Completing each level will give the player stars, a currency within the game to spend on upgrades. These star upgrades give a serious boost to spells, towers, and friendly units on the battlefield. After completing a campaign level with 18 or more lives remaining (out of 20), the player earns 3 stars and the Heroic Mode and Iron Challenge are unlocked for this level. These are more challenging modes that take place on the same path and impose various constraints. In these modes, the player will only be given one life, so any enemy surviving to the defense point triggers a failure. Heroic Mode and Iron Challenge reward one star each when completed.

The hero room and shop were introduced in an update to the original game on April 25th 2012. To date the shop remains a feature only in the mobile versions of the game, and more than half of the heroes are behind an in app purchase. These hero units provide a huge boost in defense while playing, which affords the levels to be harder. They can be positioned anywhere on the path, and each have a unique style of fighting along with special abilities. The shop relies on the gem currency, only found in the mobile version of the games, and the player can purchase extra spells, power ups, or path clearing bombs to aid in beating levels.

All of Kingdom Rush's male characters as well as most lines said by towers are voiced by Sean Crisden, while the female characters are voiced by Jennifer Ann Perry and others.

Pop-culture inspirations
Even since the first version of the original Kingdom Rush on flash player in 2012 the franchise has snuck pop culture and movie references in almost every single level between the four games. Special items in the background of levels are interactable, causing small easter eggs to take place. References from The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit, cryptids like Sasquatch, Star wars, The Simpsons, The Terminator Franchise and many more can be found through the series to the sides of each level. Nearly every spoken line in the games is a reference to something. These lines come from video games, books, and movies, and are an homage to those things that inspired the developers.

Kingdom Rush
In the first game, the player plays as a general of King Denas, who has to defend his kingdom from an invading force. The main campaign begins with small towns in Linirea being attacked, until it becomes evident that war has broken loose. The player has to defend the capital of the city in the level "The Citadel" from the enemies and The first boss The Juggernaut. After the capital is safely defended, the journey continues with King Denas's troops pursuing Vez'nan's troops into the mountains. At the Stormcloud Temple, a portal is opened to the dark land of Varadul, where Vez'nan is powerful. The troops further march into Varadul to meet Vez'nan's army at his dark tower. The main campaign of the game ends, when Vez'nan is defeated. Once the main campaign is defeated, several side quests are unlocked to the player. A mysterious figure also takes Vez'nan's staff which has a red crystal on top. It is one of the weapons that Vez'nan used in the final battle of the main campaign.

Kingdom Rush: Frontiers
The figure that stole Vez'nan's staff is revealed to be Lord Malagar, one of Vez'nan's disciples. After studying about an ancient powerful entity, Malgar decides to steal the hammer of ages in order to release this entity in a ritual. After this hammer is stolen by him from Hammerhold, the player, who once again is a General of King Denas, has to beat several levels, defeating enemies in order to pursue Malagar and stop him from performing this ritual. After defeating several levels set in the desert, King Denas's army reaches the Gates of Nazeru, which have to be opened by defeating the djinn Nazeru. Opening the gates leads the player into the Lost Jungle, which are populated by savages and other jungle-themed enemies. This state culminates in the Temple of Saqra, which appears to be Malagar's last stand but is revelaed to be an entrance to a system of caves. Travelling through these caves, and defeating several levels of enemies in the process, results in finding Lord Malagar in the midst of an ancient ritual in front of a large crystal. The crystal begins to crack, revealing Umbra, who promptly kills Lord Malagar and attacks Denas's army. Once Umbra is defeated, the crystal was forgotten amongst the celebrations. It was picked up by an unknown alien, which concluded the story.

Kingdom Rush: Origins
Kingdom Rush Origins is a prequel to the first game and is set thirty years before it. The player, who is a general in the Elven army leads the elven forces against a Gnoll and Twilight elf invasion in the Elven Woods. After a couple of battles the elves rescue their princess Alleria Swiftwind and let her escape safely to Linirea while also defeating the Gnolls and one of their best warriors Hi-Hi Enha. The elves then proceed into the Faery Grove, home of the Twilight elves. As the player proceeds through the biome, the army recruits the natives to fight against the Twilight elves' armies. Eventually, the elves reach the Unseelie Court, the palace of Malicia, queen of the Twilight elves. After a tough battle the elves defeat Malicia and her forces but are unable to stop her from being rescued by the Ancient Spider Queen Mactans. The elves and their allies then proceed into the First City, the birthplace of the elven race which had become abandoned centuries before the games events. and had now become overrun by the spiders. The elves worry that their goddess Elynie might be in danger and quickly defeat the Twilight elf and spider forces stationed there. After some battles the elves make it to the Shrine of Elynie where they find out that Malicia and Mactans plan on breaking the shield surrounding the Tear of Elynie (the artifact that gave birth to the elven race) and use its power for themselves. The elves desperately defend against the oncoming enemy army but are unable to prevent the shield from being broken and Malicia and Mactans from jumping in and corrupting the crystal, causing it to fuse them together with it, forming the Spider Goddess. The Spider Goddess promptly begins to attack the elven army. However she is defeated and the elves begin to celebrate. Prince Denas, Eridan and Vez'nan later meet up and decide that the now corrupted Tear of Elynie must be cast into the Rift of Cinders so that it cannot corrupt anyone, with Vez'nan volunteering to do so - becoming corrupted by it while on the mission.

Kingdom Rush: Vengeance
Kingdom Rush: Vengeance, the fourth game in the series thus far, is a sequel game to both the original game as well as Frontiers. The player is now on the other side of the conflict playing from the perspective of the dark lord Vez'nan himself, having escaped from his fiery prison. Vez'nan finds his fortress inhabited by the troops of King Denas. After defeating the humans at his fortress Vez'nan plots to retake the kingdom of Linerea and finally realize his goals of domination. Traveling north the player delves into the halls of the dwarves. After several levels in the dwarven kingdom, Vez'nan defeats Bolgur the dwarven king who attempts one last stand to defend his horde of gold. With Bolgur and the dwarves deated, and vast riches in gold now secured Vez'nan continues his campaign towards the capitol. The next ally of Denas to fall is the Northern Viking king Arkuz of the Frozen North. After several levels and a failed attempt to flee by the northern king Vez'nan finally defeats him in the final chapter of this part of the campaign. In the third and final chapter of this story Vez'nan slowly circles towards the capitol of Linerea the grassland and farmland surrounding the capitol city. Gerald Lightseeker, Magnus Spellbane, and Alleria Swiftwind who were all heroes of previous games are defeated and captured by Vez'nan in the three penultimate stages of the game. With his kingdom invaded and strongest allies defeated King Denas mounts a last defense of the city in the game's final level. Finally culminating in a battle between a huge demon and holy knight, King Denas is defeated and the city taken by the dark lord Vez'nan. In the final cutscene it is revealed that Vez'nan has other plans that required the ownership of the kingdom, and that now "the real work can begin".

Tablet and mobile version
On July 4, 2012, Ironhide Game Studio announced a comic version of Kingdom Rush that would be available for mobile and tablet devices. It became available on October 1, 2012, as a free download from iTunes. IOS and Android versions of the game contain several in app purchases, a feature which the steam versions of the games do not have. In the original game, Frontiers, and Origins there are additional hero characters locked behind a paywall. Kingdom Rush: Vengeance has received the most critique for its inclusion of towers, heros, and gems which are buyable in the mobile but free in the steam version of the game.