Kingdom Rush

Lovely review as always, Dora! Just a little typo in the last paragraph "thing" should be "think". Now gonna play!

[Got it, thanks! :) -Jay]

The game is well-made, some complaints but well-made until it wanted me to befriend it on Facebook and Twitter for advantages.

You don't have to friend it to get the points. Just click both the links and it'll go to their pages, you'll get the points, but you don't have to like/follow them.

Thank you ProfPuppet.
What makes this game feel different is it's use of men and game modes with-in levels.
It would be great if incoming enemies would help fight instead of slipping through busy men.

I think this is my favorite tower defense game I've played. My interest level always wanes with other TDs at the point where you have to start mazing or combining gems, but this one hits the sweet spot for accessibility and depth. Of course, I could just be a sucker for great graphics and humor.

I love that the bosses actually have unique abilities. I don't know how many other TDs have done that, but I really appreciate that they aren't just larger versions of the other enemies. I mean, that's what they are, but they also do neat stuff.

Great TD game. Thanks for the review, Dora :)

I usually have little...defense...against the TD genre, but even so, Kingdom Rush easily...towers...over most of the competition.

First, obvious props to the production values. Artwork, music & SFX are all top-quality and cohere with a cartoony sense of humor. But what I really want to compliment the designers on here is their creative take on classic TD gameplay.

My favorite TD game up to now has been Bubble Tanks Tower Defense, which has a neat combinatorial upgrade mechanism, an excitingly frenetic pace, and makes the mazebuilding/enemyjuggling aspect a core part of gameplay by allowing you to sell un-upgraded towers at cost. But BTTD is a stripped-down experience: there's no plot, only challenge-and it's monstrously challenging, if you're trying to get perfect wins on every stage.

Kingdom Rush seemed at first like the exact opposite: unhurried gameplay, straightforward upgrades, fixed building locations & no juggling required. It was also surprisingly easy to get perfect wins in the early stages. But as I played on, the difficulty did increase-and I saw a number of creative twists that make KR stand on its own as a unique entry at the top of the TD genre.

In free-placement TD games, juggling lets you control the flow of enemies pretty specifically. In fixed-placement games, often the best you can do is drop a slowing tower and hope for the best. KR gives you the slowing ability (with enough upgrades), but also allows you to hinder enemies with your soldiers both at fixed locations (barracks) and anywhere you need to throw up a temporary roadblock (reinforcements). Between this and the Rain of Fire ability, KR provides just enough micromanagement that you never get bored watching your upgraded towers mulch the rest of the wave.

Speaking of upgrades, the paths do branch at the higher levels and provide a number of options for customizing your towers' strengths and special abilities. I like that each new specialization is unlocked in a plot-relevant way. It's no Lord of the Rings, but I'm not skipping the level descriptions, either.

Another twist I appreciated was the addition of a few choice interactive elements during certain stages. For instance, you can click on the sheep dotting the landscape in many levels to hear them "baa" (do it enough and you'll be rewarded with a surprise, and eventually an achievement). A few levels include NPC towers from which you can purchase unique mercenaries to help out your forces. And even better, I just passed one level where

It's the little touches like these that make KR feel like a living, breathing world rather than a series of lab-rat mazes dressed up to look like medieval towns.

Add to this two additional challenge modes for each level, global upgrades to towers & special abilities, and over 50 achievements to unlock-Kingdom Rush is doing something classic in the TD genre, doing it well, and doing it uniquely at the same time.

How do you free the sasquatch on level 8?

To release the Sasquatch.....

You free the sasquatch by dropping meteors on his cave entrance.

Kingdom Rush Tips and Tricks:

WOW - this is one of the BEST TD games ever. SO impressed. Well done.

Very fun game, plenty of challenge and strategy. I just wish the upgrade "tree" was more advanced/interesting like the one in Cursed Treasure or even a seamless upgrade system like Asgard Defense.

Wow, great game!

I agree with the tips and tricks, except for the last one. Heroic and Iron challenges have a "max global upgrade level allowed", which nullifies upgrades past the specified limit. So, if you maxed out the artillery tree and attempt the first iron challenge, only the first upgrade will count.
Basically, the challenges aren't going to get easier, and you might as well do them early to get stars for later levels.

Igyb, that 'max global upgrade allowed' refers to the in-game tower upgrades that you purchase with gold, not to the upgrades you purchase with upgrade points on-map.

@Joye - Decent tip section; one inconsistency I found is that you mention you "need the upgrade points" to complete the heroic and iron challenges, so you should do the regular campaign first. Since the upgrades are not actually implemented in the chellenges, there's really no reason to save them till last...

The "max global upgrade allowed" applies to both the tower level and the upgrade level. For example, if you have the 10% discount on artillery or mage towers, you'll only get it when the upgrade level is 3 or higher.

So strange as it sounds i have completed all the challenges except for the third and fourth levels. have almost all the upgrade points too. any suggestions on how to beat the last two?

Thanks for clearing up this "max global update" thing, confused me as well. So the early challenges might be harder than later ones because your abilities are capped.
I've been trying level 3 for about 20, 30 times at least, can't get either challenge.

I must be having a major "duh" moment, because I cannot figure out how to play levels 31-62 (after beating 30). Can anyone help?

I am finding the difficulty curve on this game to be frankly ridiculous.

@charlatan

I am finding it extremely hard to complete the challenges on level 3 as well.

I managed to complete the Iron Challenge with the following strategy: building only mage towers and archers. No barracks. Since there are no fast enemies, the reinforcements are enough to slow the down. After 20-30 failed attempts using the 3 types of available towers, I managed to win in 2 or 3 attempts using this strategy. Hope it helps.
No luck yet with Heroic Challenge yet!

Has anyone figured out all the secret towers in this game?

I'm trying to figure out if there is one on Forsaken Valley level with the center area. I've tried shooting meteors at it but only lava that does nothing appears.

"Duh" resolved. Those were stars achieved, not levels. Wow...

@Jessica, charlatan, Just A. Game
beat heroic challenge of lvl 3 after a bit of tinkering around.
that was my layout until the last wave:

barracks, barracks

artillery, artillery, (empty)

artillery

artillery, barracks, barracks

(empty) (empty)

so the last wave of ogres moved past that setup, but all shamans had died. i then sold upper towers and built artillery in the bottom 2 spots and with the help of a last rain of fire i killed the 5 or so ogres.
the upper 2 barracks relieve some of the ogre pressure on the lower barracks. i think you need all relevant upgrades/techs, especially for rain of fire.

Never seen such a unique twist to a TD. I usually dislike TD in general but this was a real eye opener.

As a side note, there seems to be a glitch with the Beam Me Up Scotty achievement, causing it to deactivate upon logging out.

Any hints for getting through level 8? I just can't seem to place my towers in the right spot, or maybe I should be concentrating on certain types of towers over others.

I really do love this game!

@Jessica, charlatan, Just A. Game
Beat Heroic Challenge of level 3 after a bit of tinkering around.

Another strategy for Heroic Challenge on level 3:

(empty), (empty)

Archers, Archers, Archers

Archers

Mages, Mages, Mages

Barracks, Barracks

... and upgrade everything when possible.

It helps having Rain of Fire powered up, but the main tactic is to keep the Shamans away from the Ogres whenever possible using reinforcements.

The last wave, which is the only really dangerous one, puts a swarm of Shamans on the lower path and a row of Ogres on the top. If you can pin down most of the Shamans in the gauntlet of Archers, then they can't ever meet up with the Ogres, and the Ogres are easy pickings for the Mages.

Thanks Evergreen, that really made it easy. Worked on first go. Only a couple more now...

I whant to know how to get to valadul wast frume stormcloud tempel. it says in the discripshon " they can open a portal stright to valadul"! i whant to learn the secret. i think it has sumething to do with fireing the sunray tower at the right spot.

I also whant to say that this is a rilly good game. one of the best td games of all time. but still, plants vs zombies is #1. you shuld try plants vs zombies. zombies are atacking your home and you can only defend it with plants comminly found on your yard. you can have 59 difrent plants and mushrooms like peashoters and cherrybombs, and you face 26 difrent zombies like snorkuler, bucket head and zombonis. try it out! its dageresly adictive and olmost imposible to stop playing!

let me know how you like plants vs zombies. you can play it on the computer, DS, PS3, i think also on the x box. enyway i holp you like plants vs zombies and can ancer my queshchon. thanks :)

PS: i have bad spelling, try to ignor it and plz dont coment about it thanks :)

Thanks evergreen, that worked great!

Does anyone know how to solve the achievement that "a single barbarian kills 10" ?

THis is for KJB he asked how to get a single barbarian to kill 10 men. i say place alot of meat houses in the first level you unlock them and fully upgrade the throuing axes and moor axes. then make moor barbarian building to increse the chance even moor. good luck :)

Anyone else notice all the save games vanished from the armor game site, or is it just me? I think there was an update.

How do you get the last 2 stars? I have beat all challenges on all levels, but have 60 of 62 stars.

My savegame is still there.

Any ideas for heroic on lvl 4?
Can't even reach wave 6, running out of ideas here.

@valet vet: at some point early in the game it asks you to go to their twitter/facebook page. going to each one nets you one star. If you didn't click the link I dont know; the front menu has similar links on the upper left corner but i'm not sure clicking on those will net you the stars if you refused them the first time.

@charlatan: tip for Heroic lvl 4

General tips

The easy way to do Heroic Level 4:

I eventually did heroic on lvl 4 the following
way:

i finished the game, but i don't have all the upgrades... Am I missing something?

Firstly, LOVE THIS GAME! Unfortunately, I'm having pretty severe technical difficulties in the Stormcloud Temple level - when the Yeti boss shows up and starts freezing my buildings, things go downhill quickly. Although the boss continues to walk at his normal speed, my clicks seem to register many seconds too late; basically, I may click on a building 50 times before it "unfreezes," but since only 20 clicks were required to unfreeze it (just an estimate), it will then act as if I'm repeatedly clicking on the building 30 more times. There is absolutely no way I can beat this level if there's no fix for this. Any suggestions?

My Heroic Level 4:

I've got 61/62 stars. The only level that I can't beat is Twin Rivers Iron Challenge. There are just too many wolves and goblins. Can anyone help me?

@Twinkie23 it only took around 4-5 clicks to remove the frozen effect on one tower when I played against the yeti boss.

@valet vet you can still get the facebook and twitter stars by pressing the tab (with the arrow pointing downwards) right on top of the map screen.

Mostly good advice so far, but I disagree with a couple of things:

1. As others have said, it's not best to wait on the Challenges. I didn't even realize the "max level" thing meant upgrades too (although I noticed some upgrades worked and some didn't) but if you are having trouble with a level, try going back and doing a Challenge or two so you can get more upgrades. Expect the Challenges to be very difficult, but the stars you can get from 'em are very handy!

2. I did find that for the same price, many archers and many barracks were typically better than fewer, upgraded ones - in particular, I rarely upgraded barracks dudes early on once I got the hang of things. But I think that magic and bombardment towers, the latter in particular, are much more effective upgraded. Ride the Lightning!!

3. I did find I wanted a fast-forward button, even in the later levels. Especially if you've got all your towers stacked near the end - although stacking them at the start helps get you money for finishing things off early and then calling the next wave. Speaking of which: call early waves as often as you can handle it! Not only do you get valuable gold, but your Special Abilities get time added to them. In a tight spot, it is sometimes effective to toss down your reinforcements and call the next wave so that you can immediately throw down more reinforcements and/or possibly get your Rain of Fire back. Of course that's a risky option but it does help sometimes, especially in the Challenges where even a single guy means defeat.

On another note - how'd you get 61 stars, nimbusdy? Obviously there are 62 but the last two seem hidden to me. 12 levels, 5 stars per level, and I've beaten the game and nothing opened up. Do they come from achievements?

PS. I believe I beat Twin Rivers by using all archer towers, especially on the wolf side. Probably interspersed barracks a little on the right, but not the left! Raise as many as possible of the archers to level 2, but hold off on 3 until you've got them all to 2. Don't raise your barracks until you seem like you're getting overrun too much - a little overrun is just fine, you should have more archers down the line.

Oh, I just found it. Follow us on Twitter, join us on Facebook (for the last stars). Lame.

Sorry for the triple-post, but I just re-beat Iron Twin Rivers. nimbusdy, here's what you do:

Good luck!

Thanks a lot, Parmeisan. Gonna try that soon.

Here's a tip: cluster units from multiple barracks by setting them to the same rallying point. Effective against wargs and wulvs especially once you have those units leveled up.

can't beat lvl 7 iron. coldstep mines ... any ideas???

Thanks to those who posted about the Twitter feed; I missed that, and I'd been wondering how I got stuck on 61, cheers!

Note that normally towers target the enemy nearest your exit, however there is an exception in that towers with poison arrows will try to keep several enemies poisoned (the exact number depends on how many times you upgraded).

so cool!

How do you beat JT that giant yeti thing?

Sorcerer Mages and Ranger Hideout Poison arrows are good for JT. Arcane Wizards are good for focused attacks, so those are good too.

I can't beat the Forsaken Valley :/

1. Upgrade the second spell full.
2. Play level 2
3. Don't build anything
4. Win by only using the second spell
5. ???
6. Profit

This is how to get the two missing stars!!!

I have beat most of the levels on iron but I cannot seem to beat the 4th! Twin rivers I believe is the name, and it is super hard. There seem to only be goblins and wulfs but they come in such vast numbers that it is overwhelming. I must have tried 10 times but I cant get it. Any help?

Do you know where the official site is for this game?

[Besides the sponsor, Armor Games, JIG is now an official site for this game! :) -Jay]

Lovely little game on so many levels.

Here's a tip: building/upgrading a barracks restores the garrison to full complement so delay upgrades until all the old guys have been wiped out. If really desperate just to slow something down you can even knock it down and rebuild from scratch.

I really love this game! I've completed it with all stars and achievements and I still want to keep playing it so I keep making up challenges for myself - doing levels with only warriors, cannons, only magic etc...
I tried to beat the last level with each kind of tower exclusively and this is what I discovered:

Another tip for maximum destruction:

I have 60/62 stars

I've completed every stage, every heroic and every iron on normal, also every achievement... what am I missing for the last two stars?

Does anyone know if the bonus level is any good?

Should I try sending them 99 cents for that last one?

The last level is worth 99 cents. Anyone know how to Free Fredo? It's the only achievement i have left.

I have gotten all the other achievements without a hitch except for Great/Herioc/Iron Defender. I don't have the "Great Defender" achievement ("Complete all campaign stages in Normal difficulty"), despite having, well, completed all the campaign stages in Normal difficulty. Do I also have to complete the premium content level to get this achievement?

To free Fredo, just click on him. but then what? he drops, and disappears. Maybe he shows up in the sequel...

Does anyone know how to help Fredo escape?

Wow, the walkthrough got something wrong, which is that it takes 80 seconds to recharge the rain of fire and not 90.

@Battle master: In the description about opening the portal, you can't do that in the level because it's part of the plot because AFTER YOU BEAT THE LEVEL the sorcerers open the portal but you can't do that in-game.

I'm having trouble with Stormcloud Temple. I just keep getting ran over. I saw that everyone recommends quantity over quality, how far should you take this?

I typically use a lot of Archer Towers and really utilize Barracks. I usually end up with 2-3 Mage Towers, but they don't get upgraded until later. I probably don't use cannons as much as I should, how many should you have on the average level?

Does anyone know how to beat the master at the very end of the game (once he turns into the devil)? I get so close to killing him but then fail. Any tips would be great. Thanks.

I've been playing on an I-pad and really love this game. I have run into a problem with moving to the next battle city. Normally the new battle area will be highlighted with a blue flag, but all I see is the areas I've already cleared with gray flags. Please help if you can.

Help! I can't seem to advance to the next level.

If you're playing the iPad version and having a problem with the next challenge opening up for you, please read my comment to Ken on our Kingdom Rush for iPad review and walkthrough page.

There will be an update in the next few days that will fix that bug. In the meantime, you'll have to start a new saved game.

I played the game through the link above using local save and have 3 stars on every level.

I wanted to sign in with my Armor username and pay for the Premium content but each time I click "login to use the AG save system", the dialog box comes up, acts as though it's loading and then closes.

Anyone know what's wrong?

*maybe I should have mentioned in my question that I've tried using Firefox 7.0.1 and IE 9.

About the AG Save System login issues:

It seems the AG login system is down for all games, but I'm sure they will solve it ASAP. Please be patient, it is a problem on their end.

AG Save System Update:

The Armor Games save system and premium content is now back online.

Also for me is impossible log in not only for this game but in all AG... I also send lost password, got a mail with a link, put password but after nothing! When i log-in THE PAGE SIMPLY REFRESH... Same for the premium content of the game, impossible to log... WHY?!?

I wanted to sign in with my Armor username and pay for the Premium content but each time I click "login to use the AG save system", the dialog box comes up, acts as though it's loading and then closes.

[The AG Save System has trouble sometimes, but it should be up and running. Give it a while, then try to log-in again. -Jay]

In 4 days I tried many times but no way (same if try to log in on AG) and also if I completed the game, 62 points (all regular challenges in normal but few heroic and some iron on "easy" setting) the Ruins Of Acaroth refuse to open... Should I complete ALL challenges on normal to open it? Do I have any hope to buy premium content if cannot log even in Armor Games? Plz don't delete this message like the second I sent, but please gimme an answer! Thanks!

[I don't know what the issue is you're seeing, but I'll try to contact someone over at AG to see if they're experiencing any issues like a week or two ago when the entire save system was down and no one could log in. -Jay]

Update: The reply from the AG guys is this: "We are not aware of any other reports of game save issues currently. If we can get this AG user name we can try and look into it further." -Jay]

AMAZING GAME!

how do you get the cannon fodder achievement?

Cannon fodder? Just open up barracks and don't upgrade them. Eventually the dead dudes will add up to 1000.

I've almost completed every achievement but I don't know what the sunray is. Please help me!

I'm at level 12 but find all the clicking really boring- is there another way to beat this level?

oh :)

First, awesome game. I've been playing it for a week (at least) and got my husband addicted too!

I have beat every level with 3 stars on easy, some on normal. I have completed all the challenges, and have all 62 stars. I have NOT upgraded to a premium/AG account.

What am I missing to unlock the Ruins of Acaroth level?

So, I've been playing Kingdom Rush on the JIG embed page. My husband has been playing it on the Armor Games site. His version says that both of the extra stages are for premium users/accounts only. The one on JIG says "Complete the game to unlock Ruins of Acaroth!".

For reference, the version on JIG is 1.072. The one on Armor Games right now is 1.073. Apparently there's a 0.001 difference...?

The expansions (Sarelgaz's Lairs and Ruins of Acaroth) are premium content in the browser version, but they're both included in the iPad version, which is still on sale for only $0.99.

I've updated the JIG hosted version to the latest, thanks for pointing that out.

So far, loving this game. Had some "I'm gonna smash the computer" moments; but the game's a winner. Loved the premium content and am hoping that at least the more areas will open up. "Rotten Wood", "Valardul Wastes" and "Hammerhold" look like good candidates for future Baddy-Guy whoopin'. Minor issue with the Premium content though. I've already max'd out the stars and have 25 left. Now what? Any chance a new upgrade chain will be added? Maybe something improving the "Lightning Bolt" spell?
My two-cents for the future: Chuthlu. I'd also like a PC downloadable version. I spend alot of time overseas with crappy or no internet and this game is a must.

How do you do level 9? Don't give me a video!!

[Which one is level 9? And Campaign, Heroic challenge, or Iron challenge? Jay]

Hola. I'm not sure if this is on my end or yours, but I reloaded a full game that was finished except for the boss level... and found that my local save was gone. I have a program which deletes flash cookies, but saw no reason why the cookie would be gone (it only goes automatic if I close the browser, which I didn't.) I'd earlier played a few levels of King's League, and that flash cookie is still there. Previously I've kept a local save since it was uploaded to JiG up to last week.

It's a great game but it is annoying how they aren't really upfront over what is premium content (aka paid parts) and what is not. Like the Hero Room it only says you need 15 stars to unlock a hero but then once you put in the 15 stars it says you need to be a premium member to use the hero :(

KR for Mac
Stormcloud pass, "Easy" sector
All available upgrades used, no stars left.
Sun Tower never activates, remains greyed out.
JK cannot be killed by Sorcerers, Muscateers or any combination.
In one effort I had 4 Sorcerers, 1 Muscateer, 2 Arcanes and loads of upgraded knights, no avail, JR just freezes all and is impervious to attack.
Driving me nuts! How do I open the Suntower?
How to kill JR?
Cheers
(Tears?)
HaM

AMENDMENT
I play on iPhone, not Mac
HaM