Digital Distraction: Kingdom Rush Frontiers

Digital Distractions is an irregular series in which various ProfHacker writers introduce a little game or other pastime to divert your attention for a couple of minutes. Maybe you’re waiting for a bus, or for an appointment, or are on hold, and you would just like a little something to do.

From that point of view, it is perhaps a bit off-topic to include Kingdom Rush Frontiers as a a “digital distraction.” The original Kingdom Rush didn’t so much divert your attention briefly to help you pass the time as plunge you into a k-hole of intensely focused tapping as you build towers and deploy reinforcements in to prevent monsters and demons from overrunning the kingdom.

Fundamentally, Kingdom Rush is a tower defense game. What’s fun about Kingdom Rush is that choices and timing matter. You can build four different types of towers: mage guilds, barracks, artillery, and archer towers, each of which has a variety of specialized options. You can also periodically rain fire from the heavens or summon peasants freedom-loving men and women to your aid. The original combined simple goals (“keep the monsters from reaching their goal”) with a variety of engaging levels and with just enough tactics to stay fresh.

That was the old game–which, if you haven’t played, is absolutely worth it. The new game, Kingdom Rush Frontiers keeps the same basic structure–the same four generic tower types, but gives them new dress and slight variations on the powers. Here’s the trailer:

If you enjoyed the original, you will definitely waste hours and hours have a great time with Kingdom Rush Frontiers. You move from shipwreck-strewn beaches to deserts, jungles, underground caverns, and more. You face alien predators, shamans, pirates, lizard creatures, dragons, and angry gorillas, and you fight them with, among other things, mechanized walkers that deploy heat-seeking missiles. Is fun. In addition to the fresh towers, powers, monsters, and locales, there are some entertaining easter eggs sprinkled throughout. (You haven’t lived until a Tusken Raider shoots an enemy for you from a desert wasteland.)

Kingdom Rush Frontiers is $4.99 for the iPad version, $2.99 on the iPhone. Be sure to take breaks for food and sleep, though!

Do you have a game or other digital distraction you’re enjoying at the moment? Let us know in comments!

Photo is a screenshot of Kingdom Rush Frontiers.