[Haeboni] Intense Strategic Battles and the Fun of 'Betting Royal'... 'Defense Derby'

MMORPG-Dominated Market, Fresh New Titles
Tower Defense Genre Protecting the Castle
'Scouting' System Intense Mind Games
Summon Units for Enjoyable Growth Fun

A new tower defense genre title has been released in the Korean game market, which is dominated by MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games). It is ‘Defense Derby,’ developed by Rising Wings, an independent studio under Krafton. The strategic battle to defend the castle offers a refreshing experience to users tired of daily repetitive hunting.

Intense Tactical Battles Within a Simple Format

‘Defense Derby’ leverages the tower defense genre’s advantage of being easy for anyone to play. The game proceeds in a simple way where players place units in 8 slots to block enemies rushing toward the castle. However, the simplicity that is a strength of tower defense games can sometimes become their biggest weakness, as players may easily get bored. To prevent this, ‘Defense Derby’ completely overturns the conventional game formula by enhancing strategic and tactical elements. Typical tower defense games are single-player and aim to reach the highest stage possible. But in ‘Defense Derby,’ four players compete until only one remains. This process demands significant tactical maneuvering.

Defense derby 'scouting' system view. (Photo by game screen capture)

What makes this possible is the ‘Scouting’ system. At the end of each turn, players acquire unit cards for the next turn through an auction process. This means not everyone can place units in the next turn. Players must secretly submit the in-game currency called ‘Derby Chips.’ The player who bids the highest amount of Derby Chips obtains the unit card, leading to intense mind games. Players may end up overbidding on unnecessary units due to their opponents’ strategies or fail to acquire units and have their castle captured by enemies.

The race and unique traits of each unit are also important strategic factors. Placing units of the same race increases their stats. Units are also categorized as melee or ranged, and they can inflict status effects on enemies to slow their advance toward the castle, among other considerations. Efficiency varies drastically depending on how these traits are taken into account when positioning units. Additionally, players must adjust unit placement according to where enemies attack; if they do not act quickly, they will face a castle already under siege.

Defense Derby unit growth system view. (Photo by game screen capture)

Diverse Content and Growth Enjoyment

Besides the competitive ‘Derby Mode’ against other players, ‘Defense Derby’ offers various content. These include ‘Breakthrough Mode (PvE),’ ‘Trial Canyon,’ where players can only use units of the same race as the dungeon, ‘Friendly Derby,’ where players can create rooms to play with friends, and ‘Theme Mode,’ available only during specific periods. Upcoming modes include ‘Ban Pick Mode,’ which prevents the use of certain units owned by opponents, and ‘Mission Completion Mode,’ where the player who survives until the end by completing given missions wins.

Summoning and upgrading units is also a fun element. Units can be synthesized and leveled up through summoning. Each unit has different values such as ‘Common,’ ‘Rare,’ and ‘Legendary,’ stimulating the desire to collect. Summoning units requires in-game currency, which can be accumulated to a certain extent simply by playing, so the cost burden is not significant.

‘Defense Derby’ was officially launched on the 3rd after about two years of development by Rising Wings. It is serviced in over 190 countries worldwide in nine languages, including Korean, English, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Portuguese, and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional).