Games worth discovering

CLOUD GAMING - CD 2 TRAP MASTER: CRAZY GOOD TOWER DEFENSE!

5K View2023-11-29

Game: CD 2 TRAP MASTER

Platform: PC

Genre: Roguelike, Tower Defense & Deck Building

Released: November 12th 2023

Price: $15

🔗Join the Playfest >>
https://www.taptap.io/events/playfest2023winter

📅 Schedule
Dates: December 23, 12 AM PT - January 7, 11:59 PM PT.
Playfest Winners & Player Rewards Announcement: January 8, 12 AM PT.

MY TAPTAP CLOUD GAMING EXPERIENCE
Great!

TapTaps' new service, enables users to transmit DEMOs directly to their devices from a virtual computer rather than directly installing them and taking up space, is very intuitive. The functionality works well here as the game is very slow and stationary.

After having a great time and concluding that the game was well-designed while playing it on a PC. The experience of attempting to play the game on a mobile device, can differ among individuals due to internet connectivity and desyncs.

The gameplay remained largely unaltered, and the addition of a user interface for this type of game seemed pointless, given that it is still possible to draw and manipulate cards by tapping the screen, or to draw new cards by tapping the IMP.

Beyond this issue, I did not encounter any significant delays or complications. It performed well and lagged a little, but it's a more idle and stationary game so that isn't all that bad since less input is required on your part and you can always pause the game. The only disadvantage is the need to have a direct internet connection to play through this new service, which will disconnect you fully if you lose it.

WHAT IS THE CLOUD GAMING EXPERIENCE?
TapTap will initiate this event following its launch on December 23, 2023 ending on January 7th 2024. Indie Developers have the opportunity to exhibit their work to the TapTap community where users are able to vote for the titles they enjoyed the most.

Those who are acquainted with the June-introduction of the Pocket Playfest should not find this particularly unexpected as it was a very well received event!

The unique aspect of this event is that these games have not been made available for mobile; therefore, you will have the exclusive opportunity to play them here first!

How it works
This format is a double tournament in which participants have the opportunity to play (2) games and vote on their preferred game daily for an entire week. The game that receives the most votes will advance to the championship round.

Rewards
You really do not want to pass up this opportunity due to the cumulative value of the prizes which include 5 grand totals of $1,000 each, in addition to a Steam Deck and 3 Elite Xbox controllers, are things that will be awarded. Absolutely insane!

Competing Games
While the complete list of games to be exhibited is unknown, specific games such as the one presented here will be among the limited number.

Global Event
Despite the fact that this is a global event, this service will only be accessible in the United States and Canada to guarantee that participants have an exceptionally seamless experience devoid of 400-500 latency.

Overview
CD 2 TRAP MASTER is exactly what it sounds like: a game in which traps are the primary gameplay feature. I'm a major fan of Tower Defense games, but the marketing behind this game didn't look all that interesting at first, but once I got my hands on it and physically started playing it on my own, it was pretty engaging and challengingly fun. Everything that should make up a superb tactical defensive game.

Graphics & Presentation
Some of these visuals, particularly those involving random events, are most likely generated by AI, yet everything still manages to fit in perfectly with the atmosphere of each section, especially the music, which can be an absolute banger at times. It doesn't feel odd or garish, and it doesn't detract from anything. It emulates well the mixture of components they've thrown in, as it represents you reading through chapters of the Necronomicon and taking on the challenges of hell itself.

Gameplay / Combat / Issues
Unlike other deck building and tower defense games where you have some downtime to consider what to lay down next, the waves just keep coming.

You have elements like cooldowns and the ability to redraw new cards with a timer that can be influenced by power cards and much more, so you have to manage your turns well to save up energy and to redraw in hopes of more powerful cards, and hope you managed to put down some decent defenses to survive the current waves.

Even if you didn't, you can accomplish something that most games do not permit, which is the ability to move traps to new positions, with a short cooldown so that you can try to take out anything that gets past your first defenses, which initially felt awkward or like cheating, but the challenges later on helped to balance it out.

The only genuine complaint I had was that the game was a little too loud by default.

Conclusion
I honestly didn't expect much from this game, but it turned out to bring some unique and novel ideas to an already wonderful genre. Displacement traps can be used to crush and squash enemies into walls, while knockback components can be used to force them into rivers or all the way back to the beginning of the arena to run through your first traps again. There are just so many different ways to approach each level, which is what is so satisfying about it, whereas many other games of this genre have always been in a way linear, with certain builds just being better than the rest and no real reason to do something different unless you want an unnecessary challenge.