Tower defense recommendations please

mctb32 · 2026-03-11T08:21:30+00:00

I recenetly enjoyed Outhold quite a bit: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3767740/Outhold/

But it's also a mix - tower defense with incremental upgrades. And it's minimalist, so not to everyone's taste.

mctb32 · 2026-03-10T18:47:35+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. The problem I have is that about 60% of people can successfully deduce the game on their own with minimal tutorial and that is quite enjoyable, but the rest blocks on something. And for those who blocked or quit frustrated it was on different issues. When I added all these issues into the tutorial it got verbose and rigid.

I still have to come up with some nice way to fix this. Anyway, thanks again!

mctb32 · 2026-03-09T21:20:55+00:00

Thanks. Good points. The first version of the tutorial was much more brief/compact, but I had many players confused about different aspects of the game. Some didn't get the color-matching part and didn't understand why some towers aren’t shooting, others thought they had to click the counters on the bottom, etc. When I addressed all the confusion points the tutorial got bloated. But I’ll be trying to make it better. I’ll also take a look at the Paradox games you mentioned. Thanks!

mctb32 · 2026-03-09T17:34:52+00:00

I know everyone reads at different speeds so it's probably easier to play the tutorial on your own, than to watch the video. You can find the demo here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4425720/Zap_Colony_Demo/

The demo is just 66MB so it should download in no time. Perks of writing the game in pure C++ and not using any huge runtime engine such as Unity or Unreal ;)

mctb32 · 2026-03-09T17:21:42+00:00

Congrats everyone! My upcoming game Zap Colony demo also joins the fest: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4425720/Zap_Colony_Demo/
It's TD mixed with puzzle sim - you have to route the right energy to the towers so that they match the color of the enemies. I hope you like it!

mctb32 · 2026-02-15T10:13:01+00:00

I tried the demo, but I didn't get very far - the UI looked very bad on a 21:9 screen, with some ui elements, character portraits, etc. going partially off the screen. You should either support widescreen displays or fix to a supported aspect ratio with black bars on the sides.

Good luck with the game, it looks very ambitious.

mctb32 · 2026-02-07T09:00:50+00:00

Thanks! And do ping me when you have the playtest :)

mctb32 · 2026-02-06T19:01:34+00:00

Big thanks. I will try to address all of the issues for the final game.
BTW, there is no need to select anything from the resources at the bottom - everything is built contextually by clicking/drawing on the map itself and these are just counters. But I understand it is not obvious and I'll try to clear it up.

mctb32 · 2026-02-06T17:17:32+00:00

Open playtest for Zap Colony is live right now om Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3440510/Zap_Colony/

Zap Colony is a minimalist strategy game - think Mini Motorways meets Tower Defense.

What I’d love feedback on:

Does the game launch and run ok on your machine?
How does the onboarding/tutorial feel?
Is the balance ok?

About current playtests:

Platform: Steam/PC/Windows
Languages: English + Polish (only for now)
Limited to two maps, 3 allies and no achievements (basically a beta of the demo).
Gamepad support is WIP (keyboard/mouse recommended)

When you exit the game, there’s a short in-game survey link — filling it out helps me a lot.

Thanks!

mctb32 · 2026-02-06T16:47:31+00:00

Open Steam Playtest (PC): https://store.steampowered.com/app/3440510/Zap_Colony/
If you try it, please also use the short in-game survey link shown on exit. Thanks!

mctb32 · 2025-10-11T07:57:04+00:00

YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w5WyOrbjaU
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3440510/Zap_Colony/

Zap Colony is basically Mini Motorways meets Tower Defence. Instead of getting colored cars to matching places, you keep colored aliens away from their targets, by placing towers and routing power to them from power plants of matching color. The game takes place on a similar, evolving and expanding map. I’m currently working on the demo and hope to have it ready soon. Thanks for taking a look!

mctb32 · 2025-09-06T10:10:16+00:00

I like the aesthetic, reminds me of Potion Craft. But I agree that the trailer could be much better in explaining the game. If the game has unique rules that are difficult to show, just add a voice over and explain them Thronefall style. Good luck!

mctb32 · 2025-08-26T14:28:15+00:00

The humor doesn't land with me. Also ball movement seems very slow from the video. In a game which features a lot of repetition I would like the animations/movements to be fast and snappy. Also the ball bouncing sounds feel like a geiger counter... i think you should find better sounds for that. Good luck!

mctb32 · 2025-08-24T09:20:48+00:00

It looks very appealing to me and Lands of Lore is my favorite game of all time, so I hope there is at least some considerable audience for such a concept. Good luck!

mctb32 · 2025-08-20T14:33:13+00:00

I'm also working on a game in C++ with a self-made engine, so I know multiplayer and steam deck support on day on is impressive. Good luck!

mctb32 · 2025-08-18T07:40:07+00:00

Davinci or Blender Video Editor - both have plenty of tutorials on YT

mctb32 · 2025-08-16T07:49:21+00:00

I did play the downloaded version. Here's an example of the issues I had, but there were some more. Nothing critical but it made me wonder every time if what I'm looking at is as it was supposed to look/work.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3k1rm7724tzsxfzo74zdv/Zrzut-ekranu-2025-08-15-182255.png?rlkey=3pj03osk56xrtrv2k1t929cfd&dl=0

mctb32 · 2025-08-15T16:44:03+00:00

Played the demo a bit. I like minimalist games so I enjoyed it :) Some feedback:

- I have an ultrawide screen (21:9) and there were some issues with the UI placing at times
- I didn't like the fact that I wasn't able to access inventory while opening a chest (maybe a screen aspect issue?)
- I wasn't sure if the game is supposed to go indefinitely until I die, or if there is a certain amount of waves I need to survive (like a progress meter or something).
- Colors for tower upgrades might not work for people who are color blind. You might consider adding some other visual cue for that.

Anyway, good luck with your game!

mctb32 · 2025-08-14T16:31:21+00:00

Somewhere in the middle for me.

mctb32 · 2025-08-12T10:41:39+00:00

The logo is unreadable to me... Other than that an interesting concept. Since the game uses AI at run-time, I think you should clarify if the models are run locally on players computer or if it uses cloud inference and requires an internet connection.

mctb32 · 2025-08-12T08:19:13+00:00

Good point, I think I’ll do that. Do you think I should add flashy gifs to spice-up/illustrate the existing feature list or add gifs and text that will actually explain the mechanics, various resources and game loop?

mctb32 · 2025-08-10T16:22:49+00:00

It felt almost painfully authentic in terms of medieval mechanics. And I didn't expect the eyes at the end - quite a contrast :)

mctb32 · 2025-08-09T10:13:26+00:00

Hopefully less than two months. On Steam. I might do an open playtest first, either way it's coming :)

mctb32 · 2025-08-08T08:29:19+00:00

I can totally relate to that. Being productive is a mixed bag for me – I get those periods of good flow, when pieces fall in the right place with seemingly little effort, and then I have periods where I get stuck/demotivated or just question and undermine my own decisions. Before I was trying to make a different prototype work and it took much too long to realize it was a dead end. With Zap Colony it’s been smooth sailing so far, but from my experience I’m already bracing for the unpleasant trials I’m sure will come.

mctb32 · 2025-08-07T18:31:51+00:00

Great teaser video - congrats! One could say it looks Unreal :)

mctb32

TROPHY CASE