Tower defense games have been growing in popularity lately. We have a number of new games out recently like Rogue Tower, Orx, Craft Hero, and more. I’m excited to see the genre still getting attention. Tower defense games have always been a great fallback genre for me. Lumencraft from 2Dynamic Games recently came out in early access and is shaping up to be a great addition to the genre.
Fight & Mine for Resources
The entire world of Lumencraft is destructible and usable for building, upgrading you & your weapons and base, and defending your underground mining operation. Light and shadow play a big role in this game with enemies hiding in the darkness and building placement is limited to lighted areas.
Currently, in its early access launch game types are limited to a couple of different scenarios. More game scenarios are planned throughout early access. There is also a level editor that should bring some interesting runs through Steam Workshop.
Gameplay
The gameplay consists of mining for resources like lumen and metal. These will allow you to build turrets, walls, and machines. Both of these resources can be used to upgrade things such as your drill speed and strength or personal stats of your avatar like speed and health. As you explore this planet that humanity has been fighting for you will stumble upon things humanity left behind. Chests and abandoned facilities await your discovery.
Don’t get too far behind while digging though. As nice as it is to collect and explore this game is wave-based like a tower defense game. You start out each level with a countdown to the first wave. This generally is a longer first session which gives you time to set up your base. After the first wave though time is less between each wave and the enemies grow in number and size. Each map is its own “game” so your objectives change depending on your map/scenario.
Lumencraft has multiple enemies (with more to come) and each has its strengths and weaknesses. If you’re not careful you can be overrun and your main reactor will be destroyed and the game is over.
What is coming
Lumencraft has a solid foundation already created and I am excited to see this game grow. The developer has released a roadmap showing things that will be coming in future updates. While some of the plans are vague there are some things I’m definitely looking to see come to the game. Robot helpers and dynamic water have me very excited. I’m all for automation and I think slight automation would be good for this game. Water is just another obstacle to work with that adds complexity and I would love to see some way of utilizing it for your base too.
What I really love seeing on this list is “other community-driven changes.” This is what early access is for. Especially for games like this. I love seeing developers that want active community input and take it to heart and grow their game with their community of players. I’ve been enjoying my time with Lumencraft and I truly am excited to see how this game changes over its early access period. You can expect a review come release in 2023.
Grab Lumencraft on Steam and check out the roadmap for the game below!
*Disclaimer: Game key provided by 2Dynamic Games*
