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Swarmbreaker is an uncommonly mesmerising tower defence game in which enemies “cluster, collide and flow like a fluid”
Swarmbreaker is a tower defence game in which players protect a rocketship from waves of insect-like enemies, using turrets, barricades, troops and upgrades. Its main appeal is the way the swarms move across the map, colliding and flowing around terrain, which the article describes as mesmerising.
The game launches on Steam the day after the article was written, and a demo is available. Players earn money by killing enemies and can save oil derricks for extra income between waves, but guarding them may leave the ship vulnerable. An unlimited click-fired cannon offers a fallback, though it cannot stop a large swarm reaching the ship.
In short
- Defend a rocketship from flowing insect swarms.
- Swarms reshape terrain and can erode structures.
- A demo is available ahead of the Steam launch.
Explained simply
Tower defence games ask players to protect a fixed point by placing weapons and other defences along routes used by incoming enemies. Players usually have to manage limited money and choose where to strengthen their defences as successive waves become harder to stop.
Here, the protected point is a rocketship, and the attackers are insect-like creatures that move in large swarms. Players can build turrets and barricades, send in troops and buy upgrades; the enemies’ movement around the map’s terrain is a central part of the game.
The choices involve balancing the ship’s safety against ways to earn more money between attacks. Oil derricks provide extra income if they are left standing, while an unlimited hand-fired cannon offers help but may not hold back a large swarm on its own.