Is it worth it?
On Steam the reviews are Mixed: 64% of 1,989 are positive. On the App Store it averages 4.9 out of 5 from 819 ratings. Steam players praise the heroes, the towers and the art, and complain most about slow levelling, balance and launch bugs. Is it worth it? sets out both sides and which version suits you.
Heroes, in the order they unlock
On Steam you unlock heroes with the stars you earn on stages. Gerald is yours from the first stage; Drakkan and Ashbite ask for the most stars. On iPhone and Android, 8 of the 12 are bought instead.
GeraldFrom the start
Zefira1
Bolin11
Connor20
Malik28
Rhodes40
Gemina54
Ignus58
Illiana66
Oni70
Drakkan76 or 80
Ashbite80 or 84
The grind, answered in numbers
Heroes and spells level separately from your towers, and how slowly they level is a complaint that comes up again and again in Steam reviews. The XP planner shows how much XP a hero or spell still needs, what that costs in gems, which mode pays the most XP per run, and which stars unlock what next.
One rule is Ironhide’s own: a hero or spell that is behind your highest-level one earns double XP, so a new pick catches up fast.
Towers: fifteen, five at a time
Every tower belongs to one of the four lines the series has always had: archers, barracks, mages and artillery. The first game’s own towers, with their original upgrade paths, are kept for Classic Rush.
Upgrades are global again, as in the original trilogy, and can be changed between stages. The tower list sorts all fifteen by line, star price and mobile price.
Stages, bosses and the rarest badges
The campaign runs 18 stages, and every stage can also be played in five other modes. Boss stages are 8, 10, 11, 13, 15 and 18. Most stages hide an achievement or two; the rarest one on Steam is Supreme War Leader, earned by 0.3% of players: complete the campaign on impossible difficulty. See all 53 achievements.
Where to play, and what it costs
On Steam the game is $19.99 for Windows and Mac, with every hero, tower and spell unlocked by stars. On the App Store and Google Play it is $6.99, and some heroes, towers and spells are sold separately. The price page lays out what each version includes; where you can play covers Mac, phones and consoles.