Review: Tower Factory

Genre / Tags: Automation, Tower Defense, RTS
Developer/Publisher: Gius Caminiti/Gius Caminiti
URL: Tower Factory on Steam

Beginning the game, I was presented with the choice to play the tutorial or skip it, which is always appreciated. Some provide it as you play, others give you the option. I took it upon myself to give it a go and was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting a tower defense style game, but this game was different from others I have played previously.

Most tower defense games start off with a limited amount of resources to build your defenses. The goal is to try to survive that wave of enemies trying to get to your base / core. Tower Factory starts off kind of like a clicker mobile game actually. At first you have to click the trees to get enough wood to make your first lumber mill. After this the game becomes more of a RTS game instead. You’re now making little lumbermills and stone mining spots, and conveyor belts to guide those materials back to your base.  I’ve never experienced a game combining the genres. I found that it was enjoyable to have a little bit of a brain teaser optimizing conveyor belts to get the most out of my stations.

Your base does start you out with a couple of towers. monsters started to advance with around a minute left. You don’t want to wait too long to get your materials set up before you get overrun. These initial towers don’t have a ton of reach and are right next to your base.

As you get more materials you can then use them to build your braziers. These clear out some of the fog of war. After you can see enemy locations, or materials to help you defeat the enemy tower.

When the timer is complete, it becomes night time. Where a much larger / faster wave of enemies starts to show up for a short period. I had a couple extra towers placed, but just about perished before daytime began again. I didn’t even hardly last that second day.

After the tutorial you have some golden coins to spend. This is the in-between level rogue-like ‘meta’ progression element to the game. Where you can upgrade either your starting resources or your towers, etc. Loads of options to choose from to make your next playthrough even easier.

I give this game easily a 7.6/10. The game is quite challenging, but it’s doesn’t make me want to give up. It’s really all about improving the setup and management of gold and resources. It’s definitely a game that I’ll come back to and want to get better at.