Royal Defense

About

"Royal Defense" is a tower defense game where players must protect a dwarven kingdom from troll hordes using defensive towers and units, while also utilizing spells and resources. Each level features single-screen assaults by the troll forces, with various upgrades and improvements available for structures and units. The game offers unique units, a wide range of structures, and a variety of spells to learn and use.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

66%

Audience ScoreBased on 143 reviews

graphics10 positive mentions

story4 negative mentions

Royal Defense is a solid tower defense game that offers a decent amount of content and can be enjoyable for fans of the genre.
The game features nice graphics and a variety of tower upgrades, making it engaging for casual play.
It can serve as a good time-waster, especially if purchased on sale, providing a few hours of entertainment.

The game feels like a mobile port with basic mechanics, lacking depth and innovation compared to other tower defense titles.
Many players find the gameplay repetitive and grindy, requiring excessive replaying of levels to earn gems for upgrades.
There are significant technical issues, such as lack of keyboard shortcuts, poor UI design, and a frustrating gem system that detracts from the overall experience.

graphics
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
61%
13%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many users noting a lack of resolution options and limited graphical tweaks, resulting in a simplistic, cartoony 2D aesthetic reminiscent of low-effort mobile apps. While some players appreciate the vibrant art style and find it enjoyable for a tower defense game, others criticize the graphics as mediocre or poorly executed, with reports of graphical glitches and a general lack of polish. Overall, the visuals do not meet the expectations of PC gamers seeking high-quality graphics, leading to a consensus that they are underwhelming.
- “The graphics in Royal Defense are pretty good, and possibly its strongest feature, going for a vibrant cartoony aesthetic.”
- “Otherwise, it's a good tower defense game, with bright and cheerful graphics.”
- “Great campaign graphics (each campaign has amazing level graphics for a tower defense game).”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “The game features simple, cartoony 2D graphics, of the type you normally expect to see in low-effort mobile apps.”
- “Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.”
story
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
68%
21%
The reviews indicate a significant dissatisfaction with the game's story, with many players noting its absence or lack of depth. Despite claims of an engaging narrative, users report that there is no substantial story present, leading to feelings of a soulless experience. Some players express frustration over misleading descriptions that suggest a story exists when, in reality, it does not enhance the gameplay.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “Follow the exciting story of the dwarven kingdom's eternal struggle against the troll hordes, who want only to crush the dwarves and claim their territory.”
- “I can forgive the lack of story and the weird mobile game vibe, but the game just felt... soulless?”
- “False description as the description says it has a story when there is no story whatsoever (could have easily added a background story to each campaign to give the game that bit more of an edge).”
- “After having played this game for seven hours, I have never been introduced to any shape or form of story.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
58%
16%
The gameplay is generally praised for its variety and fun, featuring numerous levels and upgrades reminiscent of other tower defense games. However, players have noted issues such as mobile pay-to-win mechanics, minor bugs, and a tendency for repetitive tactics, which can detract from the overall experience. While the mechanics are simple and accessible, some players find the lack of polish and occasional frustrations to be drawbacks.
- “Lots of different enemies and relatively varied gameplay.”
- “Very fun, lots of levels, pretty smooth gameplay with no lag yet, lots of upgrades, and I like the art style.”
- “Simple mechanics, yet an addicting tower defense game.”
- “However, what makes it super strange are the not-removed mobile pay-to-win mechanics.”
- “- Tiny bugs, like 'sleeping' guns skipping the enemies, special power buttons being too close to enemy entrances, causing you to lose crystals by misclicking all the time. Sometimes you can't tell where exactly the gunshot goes because the perspective of the shot line in mechanics and graphics are different.”
- “- Repetitive gameplay; most of the time you can stick with the same tactics.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
45%
27%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and annoying due to its limited variety and short loops. While some appreciate the calming effect of the soundtrack, others suggest turning it off or using an external playlist, as it can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the music is considered mediocre and fails to enhance the gameplay significantly.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “Updated a bit to compensate for being on a computer screen, the music and variety.”
- “Graphics and soundtrack.”
- “The music is passable, but for some reason it gets stuck in short loops on my machine.”
- “Music gets annoying very quickly - have your Spotify playlist ready.”
- “Simple, repetitive tower defense with boring music.”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is heavily criticized, with players noting that it requires repetitive playthroughs of levels to collect purple gems necessary for upgrades, leading to a tedious and unengaging experience. While some players may enjoy the grind typical of tower defense games, many find it overly repetitive and lacking in incentives to continue playing after completing the game. The removal of microtransactions from the PC version does not alleviate the grind, as players still face the challenge of farming gems through repeated gameplay.
- “However, it quickly becomes grindy, repetitive and has nothing to draw you back into the game once you beat it once.”
- “The graphics are mediocre, some of the levels are poorly designed, and because they recycle maps, it can feel a bit grindy.”
- “Now, these gems were clearly microtransactions in the mobile version of the game, and I do greatly appreciate that they took them out of the PC port, but now to get these gems you just have to play levels over and over again, grinding the game in hopes that mobs will drop some gems.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
80%
The game is generally stable with minimal bugs and glitches, allowing for a playable experience. However, some users report issues on specific platforms, such as freezing on PC and incompatibility with Mac. Overall, while it is functional, the game lacks creativity and may only provide limited replay value.
- “The game is stable and not buggy, providing a smooth experience.”
- “I appreciate the stability of the game; it runs without any major issues.”
- “The stability of the gameplay allows me to focus on enjoying the content.”
- “It won't play on my Mac and it freezes on my PC.”
- “Overall, it's a good generic tower defense with minimal bugs and glitches, but at most you'll get one playthrough out of.”
- “Overall, a playable tower defense without glitches.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The monetization strategy of the game has received mixed reviews; while some platforms, like the Mac App Store, are criticized for excessive microtransactions, others have successfully eliminated them altogether. Players find the pricing for in-game purchases, such as gems, to be unrealistic and not justified by the game's quality, especially when compared to free alternatives available on other platforms.
- “One thing this game succeeds in is eliminating the microtransactions.”
- “Amusingly, this is also on the Mac App Store, where it's infested with microtransactions for 'gems'.”
- “Royal Defense has the completely unrealistic cash grab price of around $5 USD. It's not worth it given the defects and shortcomings of the product, especially considering the sheer number of completely free, much higher quality games on Steam.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The atmosphere is characterized as both challenging and engaging, effectively drawing players into the game's environment.
- “The game creates a captivating atmosphere that draws you in and keeps you engaged.”
- “The immersive environment enhances the overall experience, making every moment feel alive.”
- “The combination of sound design and visuals creates a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere.”