Desert Defense
Raiders cross the dunes on three paths, from the north, the west and the south, and all three converge on the road to your outpost. Snipers and cannons can hold them in daylight.
Then night falls. On night waves, towers lose 15% of their range, and sandstorms cut range by 30% and make enemies slightly faster. Radar Towers are the counter: towers inside a Radar's radius ignore both penalties and deal extra damage.
Play Desert Defense
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How to Play
- Choose a tower (1–4) and tap a highlighted tile.
- Start waves with N. The wave banner tells you when night or a sandstorm is coming.
- At night and in sandstorms, towers outside Radar coverage lose range. Radar coverage glows on the map.
- Upgrade, sell (70%) and retarget towers from the tower panel.
- Hold the outpost for 15 waves, including the Dune Colossus.
Controls
Every action works with touch, mouse or keyboard. Hover is never required.
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Tap / click a tower button, then a tile | Build a tower (highlighted tiles are buildable) |
| Tap / click a built tower | Open its panel: upgrade, sell, targeting |
| 1 – 6 | Select a tower type |
| Arrow keys + Enter | Move the map cursor and build or select on that tile |
| N | Start the next wave |
| Space or P | Pause / resume |
| F | Cycle speed: 1×, 2×, 3× |
| U / Delete | Upgrade / sell the selected tower |
| T | Change the selected tower's targeting mode |
| M | Sound on / off |
| Esc | Cancel building or close the tower panel |
Towers
- Sniper90 gold. Range 5; covers two paths from one spot. Ignores half of armor.
- Cannon80 gold. Splash damage where the paths merge.
- Rapid Fire60 gold. Four shots per second for Dune Runners.
- Radar Tower80 gold. +10% damage to nearby towers (up to +25%) and cancels night and sandstorm range loss.
Every tower sells for 70% of everything spent on it. Upgrade costs are shown on the upgrade button.
Enemies
- Nomad RaiderStandard enemy.
- Dune RunnerVery fast.
- Armored CrawlerArmor 6.
- Sand BehemothVery tough.
- Dune Colossus (boss)Wave 15. Charges forward after a red warning arrow; calls Runners at 66%.
Strategy Tips
- Night waves are 4–6 and 10–12; sandstorms hit on waves 7, 13 and 15. Have Radar coverage in place before wave 4.
- Place a Radar in the middle of your main tower cluster, not at the edge. Its radius is only 2.2 tiles at level 1.
- Snipers near where two paths run close together can shoot at both.
- Rapid Fire struggles against Armored Crawlers (armor 6). Snipers and Cannons do the heavy lifting there.
- The final wave is a sandstorm boss wave. Check every important tower is inside Radar coverage before starting it.
About Desert Defense
Desert Defense shows how environmental conditions change tower value. The engine applies a global range multiplier during night and sandstorm waves, and support towers can mark nearby towers as covered, which exempts them.
It is rated hard because the map has three entry points and conditions change between waves. The result is a planning puzzle: your layout has to work in daylight and in the dark.
