# Really Interesting variation on a Tower Defense Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 10, 2008, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916 "2008-09-10T09:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/1 "2008-09-10T09:07:30Z")
Essentially you are trying to defend your cake from ants. Unlike most tower defense games, the ants follow no set path, but instead have a well written AI routine in which they learn to avoid your defenses (ant cannons). In the first rounds, they more or less swarm randomly, but as the levels increase they “learn” the best routes to get to the cake and bring a piece back to their anthill. Give it a try if you like these sort of things. So far, my best is Level 26. > **[Tower Defense games - ActionGame.com](https://www.actiongame.com/Tower+Defense)** > > Play the best free Tower Defense Games online with Bloons Defense, Gem Tower and other Defence games. Fight against monsters, soldiers and aliens, build your defenses and defend your tower and castle. Regards FML ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/2 "2008-09-10T10:09:36Z")
Thanks for the link, funny to see them doing a little dance at the higher levels when they break through. The rising costs of the towers is as much a factor in difficulty as the AI though to be fair. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/3 "2008-09-10T10:19:20Z")
Yes. I’ve got way past Level 26 in this game Think in terms of exterminating the nest, not defending the cakebut the incremental cost of the towers does you in, as does the freakin’ high health levels of the ants sooner or later. There comes a point where it’s not about artificial intelligence any more, but artificial stupidity - the ants have enough hit points to steamroller straight through your defensive line, and your only hope is that they don’t realize it. ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/4 "2008-09-10T10:59:06Z")
Level 53 now… it gets a bit easier if you learn to upgrade your cannons (duh)… (I only played about 10 games until I realized that) FML ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/5 "2008-09-10T11:08:08Z")
Yes, that is way more cost-effective than building more cannons, except at the very start. Later versions of the game allow more upgrades, but you still get stomped sooner or later, I’ve found. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/6 "2008-09-10T12:48:21Z")
I’ve managed to get up into the 70’s. Some weapons are flat out better than others, I generally wind up with 2-3 different turrets. I use mostly rocket launchers for the heavy lifting. Ice Cannons are nice to slow down the ants, giving you more shots from the RLs, but they have too short a range. I think the highest triple cannon is pretty good too. I used to have a cheat sheet reminding me of the exact upgrade path to each cannon type, that’s a nice thing to have around. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/7 "2008-09-10T12:59:22Z")
Level 50 on my first try. Because they can didge bullets, the key is to start building cannons near the nest where you know they have to be. Then upgrade and add cannons once they’ve established a route. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/8 "2008-09-10T17:25:11Z")
Fun for a while, but it becomes boring at some point because the cost of guns is so high that you don’t do anything apart from waiting until you can buy another gun. I don’t know about level, but I couldn’t score more than about 10 000 points (level 50-55, I think) ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/9 "2008-09-11T16:15:12Z")
I’ve played this one before. Got to around level 60. I put a couple poison sprayers around the hole, that worked early on but became useless later, so I changed them up. I like that you can change your guns at any time to suit your needs. I also found a version of this game that gave you a boatload of cash to start with. Still didn’t make it to the end though, heh. This is one of the more difficult Tower games I’ve played, the ants HP just grows beyond your ability to whittle it down. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/10 "2008-09-11T16:16:41Z")
Even using the money cheat to have the grid all but filled with fully upgraded weapons I think about level 78 was my best. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/11 "2008-09-11T16:32:50Z")
I got to around level 62, but eventually you get to the stage where even concentrating fire from every turret isn’t enough to stop a single ant waltzing straight through with the last piece of cake. Not a great game, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/12 "2008-09-11T20:11:17Z")
The ice turrets are crucial, and in combination with the missile launchers got me to about level 70. [Here’s](http://www.nonoba.com/ballerbryan4/ant-buster-money-hack) a money-hacked version if you want to experiment with different combinations of turrets. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/13 "2008-09-11T23:05:09Z")
Just died on level 69 with two ice cannons, one poison spray and seven or eight missile launchers, the last never really used as the ant carrying the last piece of cake was already past. For the player it peaks in the early forties when you are getting some good towers in play and making some money; after that, it’s so hard to kill ants that the money pretty much dries up. And seeing a nearly-dead ant pick up the cake and get nearly all its health back doesn’t help either. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/14 "2008-09-12T01:58:19Z")
> [@Dead\_Badger](#): > > The ice turrets are crucial, and in combination with the missile launchers got me to about level 70. [Here’s](http://www.nonoba.com/ballerbryan4/ant-buster-money-hack) a money-hacked version if you want to experiment with different combinations of turrets. Grrr that was just wrong now I have to play that awful game again 🙂 currently level 91 and defending those last two with all my weapons! I did learn aiming at them makes it more effective defense. [http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4997/antssg6.jpg](http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4997/antssg6.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/15 "2008-09-12T02:14:29Z")
I died on level 95, and that was with all that money. Unbelievable little buggers, won’t die for anything. Switched to some poison and that was a huge mistake getting rid of the ice right by the cake. The poison didn’t seem to hurt them at all, at least the ice slowed them down to allow the missiles to do the blowing up. [http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4971/9112008101016pmmq9.jpg](http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4971/9112008101016pmmq9.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/16 "2008-09-12T03:49:36Z")
That was fun. I got to level 49. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/17 "2008-09-12T05:07:46Z")
I had an interesting game. First try, was doing really well - level 40 with a full cake. Then - oh no! - I have to go to class. So I leave it running, unattended, for an hour. When I get back, it’s Cake Over. On level 55, with 4345 gold in the bank. Makes me wonder how far I could have got… ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/18 "2008-09-12T06:35:49Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > the ants have enough hit points to steamroller straight through your defensive line, and your only hope is that they don’t realize it. They do themselves what is a basic tactic - get the enemy going back and forth through your fire. If they just made a beeline (or is it antline?) to the nest it’d be over much quicker. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/19 "2008-09-12T07:01:50Z")
I get the impression the “A.I.” consists of “ouch! turn left!” ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916/20 "2008-09-14T05:13:25Z")
I’m currently on level 70. I have 10 rocket launchers and no money. What with the smoke and the shrapnel and the charred ant guts, I’m thinking that my remaining one slice of cake is less than appetizing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-interesting-variation-on-a-tower-defense-game/462916.md?page=2)