Immortal Defense is a tower defense game, but with many great and unique twists. It takes place in a weird half sci-fi, half mystical universe and it's by far the only game of this genre that is story-driven. Well... the only one I know of.
And the story... it's really... really great. Wynand (its author) is a professional SF writer and it's immediately apparent. Immortal Defense is only a game, but it touches many quite serious subjects - like protecting the family, barrier between gratitude and worship, limits of responsibility, loneliness, memory and love. Actually the game seems like a stylish metaphor of human life, gameplay aside. It's SF, but more on the Roger Zelazny's, Ursula le Guin's and The Fountain's (movie by Darren Aronofksy) side, rather than the usual "kill-the-aliens" stuff.

I was involved in the game's play-testing and, while I had to play it all over again a couple of times and got bored with the gameplay eventually, I still try to complete it. Just to see the ending of the story. There are only few games that I could tell the same about. And for an indie game - it's really exceptional.

The gameplay is a twist of the usual TD stuff, but with many unique aspects. I mean - in what other game, the towers (here called "Points") are different parts of your personality? Even the cursor, representing you - the ghost, the defender has some interesting special abilities and is more close to being your avatar, rather than a clicking tool. The game also seems to have a well designed universe, with its own physics that can be used to your advanatage (giving some nice optional depth).

Production values are also nice. The game has great graphics of unique style, being a mix of classic pixel-art and procedurally created effects. It can look chaotic at times, but creates a proper feeling of the game's enviroment. I'm not that fond of the music though, but I guess it's not bad overall. Maybe a bit boring in the long run. The sound is decent.

Anyway - the game is more than worth to take a look.

Learning Curve: Takes a second

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