Strategy Defense Games are a sub-genre of strategy games. Things usually unfold in real time, calling for sharp reactions and the ability to make the right call under serious pressure. The player must react to the ever-changing circumstances of the battlefield, deploying the right troops and investing in the right upgrades. As is tradition in the genre in general, there are resources to be gathered and managed. Often, these resources are generated through killing enemies, borrowing this mechanic from tower defense games.
Titles like Siegius have units for resource-gathering, which is crucial for the outcome of the battle. Still, the game is a real treat as far as Defense Games go, but it is not a RTS. This is so, because one of the main characteristics of the sub-genre is the fact that the player has little to no control over the units once they are deployed. In this case, the player can choose the type of unit and where to deploy it, but after that the soldiers have to take care of themselves. The same can be seen in Strategic Defense 4, which is packed with action on three lanes. There is no resource-gathering there. Instead, each side is granted certain amount of gold over time and has to use it to deliver doom to the enemy. Alexander is another prominent title which uses strategic defense mechanisms. Similar to Siegius, the player can deploy troops in one of the six lanes available, trying to overpower the opposing army. Once the battle is over, the player goes to the world map where strategic decisions of great importance take place.
Adopting other elements of the RTS genre, upgrades are very important in practically all Strategy Defense Games. Since the troops cannot be commanded on the battlefield, the only way to give them the cutting edge is through upgrades which make them stronger. This can be seen in all titles discussed up to this point, but in games like Evil Nights enabling the right upgrades is even more crucial. There the player controls a single character who is bound to stop waves of attackers with his magical skills. Each wave is stronger. If the skills of the valiant defender are not developed properly, his efforts would be in vain.
Evil Nights is a representative of the other type of Defense Games where the player controls a single character and has to protect the base or just to stay alive. Other examples include Balloon in a Wasteland and Nuclear Plant where the character is armed with a gun and the possibility to upgrade his skills until they are an adequate match for the invading hordes. In this kind of Defense Games the player has full control over the things happening on the battlefield, but he cannot move too far away from his base. Eternal Red, for instance, incorporates masterfully elements of tower defense, even though it is a strategic defense to the core.
It is a diverse sub-genre which offers plenty of possibilities for improvisation with the gameplay.
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