Bloom Defender (mobile)
Platform: Android
Your sacred grove is being desecrated! Evil spirits once again threaten the balance of a peaceful woods in Bloom Defender, and it's up to your green thumb to stop them. This charming tower defense title by Juicy Beast has sprouted up out of your browser and is now available on your mobile device!
Five varieties of tree-towers are at your disposal. Simply drag a seedling from on-screen flowers to plant them on the stage. In addition to the unique abilities of each tree, you are equipped with five spells that attack the evil spirits directly, inflicting them with debuffs. As spirits are defeated they provide water that can be used to plant more trees, or upgrade existing ones. Each stage has between 10 and 20 waves of enemies, complete with mini- and end-bosses.
While the gameplay does not differ from the browser edition, Bloom Defender translates well to mobile. The control scheme is perfect for touch interfaces, and, for some, will feel more natural than the mouse. All building, upgrading, and spell casting is done with simple drag, drop, and hold motions. The sound effects and music do lose some charm on such small speakers, but this is a minor setback on what is otherwise an excellent port.
The strategy elements in Bloom Defenders are simplified to a core level. There are no complex tech trees or special tower combos. However, most stages limit what varieties of trees are available, making placement very important. You can sell back poorly placed trees for nearly full price, allowing for a great deal of experimentation. Despite the lack of complexity, the 36 levels remain challenging to the end. Pair this simple strategy formula with delightfully cute graphics and you've got a winner for everybody.
Play Bloom Defender (free browser version)
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