Defend the Rook

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3.5/5

( 9 Reviews )

3.5

9 Reviews

English & 7 more

Overall most helpful review

Posted on: March 2, 2023

AltinGavranovic

Verified owner

Games: 140 Reviews: 17

Neat little tactics rougelite

Got this on sale and it was much better than I expected - a really elegant little strategy game. The basic gameplay is typical for turn-based tactical RPGs - move your dudes on a tiled board, take out enemies while avoiding damage (think Regalia, Fell Seal, etc.) but with a tower defense flavor. Enemies come onto the board in waves, you can place a few automated towers or cast some spells to help your guys, and the objective is to survive five waves, so you can move on to the next level. There is a strategic overlay, however, in that between each wave and each level you choose upgrades for one of your three characters (they 'level up,' basically.) The powers you get in these upgrades are essential to dealing with the escalating difficulty of waves and levels, so there is a nice interplay between the strategic (how-you-level) and the tactical (how-you-survive-this-particular-wave) aspects. Beat all five levels and you've won the game! But this is where the rouge-lite thing comes in - beating the first few runs is fairly easy but every time you win a run, the game ratchets up the difficulty a little bit. Enemies get stronger, upgrades get more expensive, etc. You also unlock new characters and upgrades, however. Balance is a bit of an issue as certain upgrade combos are clearly better than others while some are outright broken. But the randomness of which upgrades you are offered and which specific enemies spawn in each wave keeps this from making the game too easy. Ultimately, like most rougelites, the basic loop gets a bit boring after a while. The game does mix it up a bit between runs (will you have to beat the ice level or the undead level this time?) but about five or six runs in you've seen everything it has to offer and the only motivation is to see if you can beat the higher difficulties, which wasn't enough for me (I stopped at about 7 of 10.) Graphics, sound and story are ok but pretty basic, so this is really one you play for the actual gameplay.

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Posted on: December 1, 2024

Blas_de_lezo

Games: 206 Reviews: 14

Interesting take on roguelike-cards

Isometric - chess like board with 3 main characters (and their variants), lots of monsters and turns and cards that add permanent bennefits to your main characters. It is a very interesting and unique approach to turn-based combat. Having played it all the way to max difficulty i can say that: - It isnt very finely tuned but it will do ok for the first difficulty levels. - It is too repetitive if played for a long time but really cool for the first 20 hours for sure. - It is really REALLY fun to play and 100% worth the price if you like turn based / grid based strategy. 100% worth it!

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Posted on: August 5, 2025

TurtleSTR

Games: 31 Reviews: 1

Love the tactical aspect

This game has an imaginative art style but most importantly the tactical gameplay feels new and rewarding.

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Posted on: January 20, 2025

Terry_MacLennan93

Verified owner

Games: 107 Reviews: 1

great little game

This game is a lot of fun, one of the best turn based games I've played in awhile. The simple interface and very manageable tower defense aspects leads to its' charm.

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Posted on: February 8, 2025

FlockeSchnee

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 26

Defend the Rook is one of my favorites

Since a reviewer compared this to Warriors of the Nile and I now played 23 games of Defend the Rook and 10 games of WotN1 I will point out the to me prominent differences. Characters: DtR: Rogue/Thief - melee, Mage - can attack after move; WotN1: Hunter - ranged, (can only attack enemy next to him, if he got the skill for it), Mage: cannot attack after move unless she got the skill for it. Meaning the way you approach battles is different. Arsenal (for build variety): DtR: Hero and group skills, 3 spells and towers/constructs (and randomized upgrades for those). WotN1: Skills (tablets), carvings (give bonuses, some only one time/temporary) and gear. In DtR everything feels meaningful, whereas in WotN1 I rarely find carvings useful. I would rather buy gear in most cases. But maybe I'm doing something wrong? Progress/Success: I have won 7 games of DtR so far and am currently trying to win ascension level 8. I only used 1 meta currency to unlock the ability to choose 1 of 3 spell combinations at start of a run. Otherwise I only unlocked stuff by beating the ascension levels, which ramp up difficulty nicely. I won a single game of WotN1 so far, but I also only have used 1 meta currency to build the pyramid to unlock carvings and gear. Which is giving me the impression that meta progression is necessary to win. Something I don't like in this type of game. All in all: DtR is a clear 5 star for me. It is challenging, but winable without spending meta currency. Choices of skills, spells and towers/constructs (and their upgrades) feel meaningful, also the choice of when and where you use spells and put towers/constructs, plus the latter makes the game more engaging whereas WotN1 feels more static since your only choice in combat is the use of your characters. WotN1 is different due to equipping gear, which I like, but also has less variety when it comes to arsenal and success might be gated behind meta progression, putting it at 4 stars for me.

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