Tower defense games have amused us for quite a while now. They have grown to become the intricate games we all now enjoy today - spanned across different platforms, they never fail to deliver brain numbing games introduced with various mechanics to deviate itself from the usual lot of strategy games. They fun, immersive, and simply are addictive.

With the collection of tower defense games that flourished through the years and playing through the lot of them, we have trimmed down some basic patterns that ultimately gives away the chance to successfully conquer their challenge. These games usually get pitched-in with the same mechanics that anyone could easily beat, for as long as they familiarize themselves with a persistent formula. We’d like to call that formula - the domino effect rule of thumb.

Why the name? Well, first and foremost it literally plays a domino effect over the game - meaning, every action you take gets a concluding reaction and repercussion/s. And this rule does not simply imply to your tower builds and upgrades, but with the compounded force of attacking opponents in every wave as well.

Let's first expand on the domino effect over your tower build and their combinations. Usually with these games, you are primarily given two options as you are thrown into a level. Primarily, you may want to focus a rapid firing tower on a prime location (usually y’s and intersections not too far from your base) with the maximum number of upgrade you could readily purchase. If this does not work, the other option is to scatter towers over their route, planning where and which trims down their number best. With all veteran strategy gamers, this is almost the immediate course of action.

The domino effect you’ll see here is when you get to punish the incoming enemy waves at a single concentrated point of attack. If the level happens to have multiple points of entry, setting the tower on the last intersection closest to the base will ultimately funnel their numbers, to avoid wasting resources on scattering less powerful towers. To add up to the effectiveness of this strategy, you may situate a de-buffing tower (the ones that usually slows down enemy movement, or rip-off their defenses) adjacent to your attack tower to get the most out each tower. As you progress deeper in the waves of a level, creating a series of this similar tactic will produce the domino effect -- strategically trimming down the enemy numbers.

It also adds up if you’ll be able to start almost immediately in every level as it rewards you with additional credits to be used in every concluding wave. With several tower defense titles under our belt, believe us, it is almost certain that you’d encounter a level with such a dire need for that extra resource (from clicking that start button as fast as you can in every wave) to conquer and resolve a given challenge.

As we’ve stated above, the domino effect also applies as a reminder to the devastation the enemy could induce to your lineup of defense. Like a house of cards (card stacked on top of each other), if one tower fails to cover its required task to trim down the surge of incoming enemies, it could easily overwhelm the follow-up towers ahead. For a precautionary measure, see to it that the most powerful lineup of defense you have are situated near your base, and that you have them secured first (meaning they could handle the surge of enemies) prior to adding-up scattered extra towers in the battlefield.

With these and few more experiments on your own, you'll be on your way conquering every tower defense game that comes your way. Until then, happy strategizing and base-defending!