Artisan TD is a puzzle-oriented Tower Defense game where you must survive by building mazes.
Players praise the core gameplay loop that revolves around building intricate mazes for enemies to traverse. To succeed, players must carefully plan the path that enemies will take through each level, using the terrain and placement of towers to create an optimal maze. This maze-building aspect is the standout feature, harking back to classic tower defense mods like those found in Warcraft 3.
In addition to the maze-building, the game offers strategic depth. Players highlight the need to carefully consider tower placements, upgrades, and the timing of building/selling towers in response to each wave of enemies. The challenging gameplay rewards thoughtful planning and adaptation, rather than relying on brute force.
Enemies come in a variety of types, including walkers, burrowers, and flyers. Each type requires a different approach, with burrowers and flyers able to bypass or disable certain towers. Dealing with this enemy variety and adjusting strategies accordingly is a key part of the challenge.
Players have access to a wide range of towers, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Choosing the right combination of towers and upgrading them effectively is crucial to success, especially on higher difficulty levels. As new tower types unlock, players experience a satisfying sense of progression.
The game's wave-based structure allows players to retry individual waves, rather than restarting the entire level. This helpful feature reduces frustration and encourages experimentation.
The game's difficulty is a significant factor in its appeal. While lower difficulty settings provide a more accessible experience, the higher "Master" difficulty is extremely challenging, requiring near-perfect execution and optimization to achieve the best scores. This difficulty, combined with the game's maze-building focus, gives the title a high degree of replayability as players strive to perfect their strategies.