In Refactor, Aliens are invading Earth, and you have to defend the planet by building elemental turrets. That's basically the background story. Now that's out of the way, the main focus here is the hardcore-style tower defense combat with innovative building elements, where you are also in charge of constructing the pathway of the enemies. Originally released for PC last year, I was able to try out the Android demo version of the game.
At the core of Refactor lies its dynamic block building system, reminiscent of the popular puzzle game Tetris. Players are tasked with strategically arranging levels and pathways to create an effective defense against the invading forces. The enemy will automatically take the shortest path from start to end, and the game disallows you to block off the path entirely.
However, you can extend this route by using the blocks to create new pathways and turrets to block shortcuts. This system adds a layer of puzzle-solving to the gameplay, requiring players to think tactically and make careful decisions about placement and structure. With the randomized Tetris-shapes used for building, and using turrets to block off pathways, coming up with an optimal layout suddenly becomes a challenging task, especially for harder attack waves.
The highlight of Refactor is undoubtedly the innovative Refactor mechanic, which dynamically gives you a random selection of Refactor recipes every wave that you can follow to fuse turrets into a more powerful version. With a staggering 35 elemental combinations available, the possibilities for experimentation and strategic thinking are vast — especially that you can stock turrets on top of each other for increased power at the cost of losing quantity. Trying out new refactor recipes and unlocking powerful turret combinations becomes an exciting pursuit, encouraging players to constantly adapt and evolve their defense strategy.