Bloons TD 6

Bloons TD 6 is the sixth entry in the comfortably familiar series of mobile tower defense games. The premise is as simple but adaptable as it's always been. Each level's map is presented from a bird's eye view that allows you to see the path that the titular bloons are going to follow on their way to your headquarters. Each bloon that hits your headquarters will chip away at its health until it's game over, and the only tools you have at your disposal are a variety of different towers that take the form of monkeys.

The goal is simple — use your limited resources to purchase and place your monkeys in a way that keeps your base safe. The trick is figuring out which tools to use for each job. There are a ton of different monkeys to choose from, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Success means being able to adapt to what types of enemies are entering the field and by understanding how to use the attacks of different towers in conjunction with one another to maximize their effectiveness. Attacks that slow down enemies right before they enter into the range of heavy but slow artillery fire is a popular choice, but it's just one of many.

Since you're slowly introduced to different towers at the beginning of the game, these puzzles can seem obvious at first. But as the monkeys available to you expands and enemies come in more complex and powerful configurations, you're given a lot more leverage to follow multiple paths to victory. In addition, some monkeys provide bonuses to other monkeys in their vicinity or generate income. The latter is gained every time you pop a bloon, but the steady flow of passive income from towers can be critical during some of the harder levels. It isn't exactly chess, but there's a decent amount of strategic depth here.

Persistent roleplaying elements appear in the form of heroes that can be upgraded over the course of an entire game and can turn the tide of battle all on their own. More traditional monkey towers get a boost over prior entries to, as players can merge them together to create exceedingly powerful attackers known as paragons. There are a ton of maps to work through in the main campaign, and Bloons TD 6 gives you a reasonable amount of flexibility to pick missions at your own pace. But there are a ton of other game modes to choose from as well. Many of these add new modifiers to existing levels that rewrite them in ways large or small, while others are limited time and seasonal events that can be used to unlock special cosmetics and costumes from the store. There's also a co-op mode that allows you to team up with friends.