If Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is the heroin of gameplay, the SMAC(k) if you will, then tower defense is the crystal meth. How appropriate then that some of the best games in the genre involve crystalline gems whose interrelated properties weave together in pyramidal symmetry just like the molecular structure of a jewel.
Gem TD has been out for a while; Gemcraft is just released. They both gripped me with euphoric insomnia, coupled with vitamin C depletion, grinding of teeth, and paranoid hallucinations of creeps, endlessly marching. Like all tower defense games, they evoke a superb linearity of thought, a simplified psychology of marching enemies, marching resources, marching upgrades, ever forward, ever higher. I can't belabor this meth analogy enough.
What's interesting is that, while the two games seem very similar, in terms of their actual formal structure, they're almost orthogonal. Gem TD involves an optimization of a closed area, the way you carve the spatial path and the high-level combinations of already high-level gems defines the winnable strategy. Gem TD is the numerical equivalent of building a tower; every move not only affects your continual survival, but builds the foundation for your long-term victory. Gemcraft, on the other hand, is practically horizontal. The combinations of gems carry a trade-off between conservation of space and efficacy of each color's particular effects, but because this stacking mechanic is local to a single instance of a single battle, it doesn't make as much difference in the long run compared to the experience points you gain. Like the game's scrolling map, Gemcraft is mathematically horizontal, and to that extent, much more casual (it even comes with a save feature).
So you could say Gem TD is like injecting meth, and Gemcraft is like even mixing it with water. I recommend you do both this weekend.
I enjoyed Gemcraft for a
I enjoyed Gemcraft for a while -- until I ran into the first epic battle, which completely trounced me. Spent a long time replaying the earlier levels and building up stats, but even leveling up a bunch of times wasn't enough to get me through the epic stage, and finally I reached a point where it was more boring than fun. Maybe I'm just missing some obvious trick, but I'm more inclined to blame the design.
This is a real pity, because there are some neat things going on in the game, and I really like the gem combination idea.
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Emily Short
Off-balance
Yeah, the balancing is a bit off in the first act, because you really have to tweak out to beat that first epic battle - then later in the game you start pwning levels rapidly.
Aha -- well, with this
Aha -- well, with this encouragement, I went back and played through the first epic level, and it did indeed get better from there. From the comments over at Jay Is Games, I think they also may have modified some of the internal code, because it started acknowledging my journey-wide amulets, which it hadn't been doing before.
Wickedly addictive game, but I'm done now. I particularly like the way the abilities they give you inspire you to try out new strategies every few levels -- having dual gem mastery but not pure gem mastery (yet) definitely encourages some experimentation I wouldn't have done otherwise.
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Emily Short
What a Game
So, I have tried out both of the games and while Gem TD is very odd Gemcraft is kind of interesting. Gem TD is not for me there seems to be no real point to the game. Gemcraft had be a little hooked. I liked having to build things and combine different gems together. After a while you get a strategy going and it is a blast.
Narconon Vista Bay
Gemcraft: Compelling, but flawed
I enjoyed Gemcraft for a while, and then the WoW glaze fell over my eyes and I continued playing it for far longer than I was having fun.
There are a couple of really major problems with it:
Firstly, all the subtleties of the game are completely irrelevant when you work out a good strategy. You'd LIKE to be using all the different colored gems in different, clever ways, but really they may as well all be the same color. I was dissapointed in much the same way as I was dissapointed with Pokemon: I wanted to play some kind of Magic:The Gathering-like game, but was served up a bog standard RPG instead.
Secondly, the game actively rewards arsing about over thinking. Often you do much better by simply creating a bunch of random gems and throwing them into the play area as fast as possible than you do by making considered moves. Worse, you are awarded bonus points for arsing about: doing random, repetitive stuff well above and beyond what you actually need to do to complete the level, and these bonus points are often necessary for unlocking hidden levels.
In the end, this is a game with one problem to solve: how to defeat the first Epic boss. Everything else is just grind.
Gem TD: Strategy AND tactics.
Gem Tower Defense was the first TD game I ever played: almost immediately I quit and went and played something simpler. I found it completely impenetrable at first. After cutting my teeth on Desktop Tower Defense (a fantastic TD beginners game!) and Gemcraft, I returned and found it really engaging. Until I finally cracked it I was never quite sure whether it was my strategy or tactics that were flawed. Love it.