All “tower defense” games are evil, compulsive time-suckers, but some are more evil than others. My entire extended family has become addicted to PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies, which is quite possibly the most perfectly-refined TD game in existence.
I’ve had brief relationships with several other TDs in the past, from Desktop Tower Defense to several space-themed variants. The latest one I stumbled across is the nefarious GemCraft Chapter 0. (I provide these links solely for educational value, of course). I don’t know if its mechanics are a touch too subtle for me, or if its upper levels are fiendishly calculated to lie right on the razor’s edge of possible solvability, but I have very seldom been so frustrated by a computer game. I can get through 18 or 19 of 20 levels, only to fail on the last one. Replay after replay gets me a bit closer, Zeno’s Paradox style, but I’m walking away now. It’s not worth the frustration, or the waste of precious free time.
Be warned.
