Arcadópolis
Crystal Defense
Crystal Defense: a free musical tower defense game
Crystal Defense is a free tower defense game, in your browser with nothing to download. Waves of the Static, noise creatures like the snow on a TV with no signal, move along a path toward a singing crystal, and you place instruments beside it to stop them.
The twist is that the board is also a sequencer: a bar sweeps the 16 columns on the beat and each instrument fires when it passes its column, with a note that depends on its row. So while you defend the crystal, your defense composes the music.
It’s one of the 51 games in the Arcadópolis Games folder.
Free, no ads, nothing to install.
Install Crystal Defense on its own on your home screen
What it has
- Four instruments with three levels: laser harp, bell, drum and organ.
- A board that’s a 16-step sequencer: each row is a note of the scale.
- Five static enemies, from fast sparks to the storm every five waves.
- Three landscapes of 15 waves: the Quartz Garden, the Copper Dunes and the Amethyst Cavern.
- Up to three stars per landscape, depending on how much shine the crystal has left.
- Mouse, finger or keyboard, a speed-up button and your game saved between waves.
How to play
- Open the Games folder, tap Crystal Defense and pick a landscape.
- Pick an instrument and tap a free square next to the path; it costs shine.
- Call the wave: the instruments fire when the bar passes their column.
- Upgrade or sell instruments between waves and hold out through all 15 to win the landscape.
The four instruments
The laser harp fires a beam at one enemy every two beats and, at level 3, on every beat. The bell rings every four beats and slows everything it reaches. The drum hits everything around it every eight beats. The organ fires a chord every four beats that pierces everything in a line, from far away. Against blocks, which have armor, the heavy hit of the drum or the organ works best; against echoes, which split into two sparks, the bell and the harp.
Tips for defending the crystal
Place instruments at the path’s bends, where the Static passes close twice. A bell before a group of harps makes them far more effective. Save shine for the storms in waves 5, 10 and 15, and call waves early when you’re comfortable: you earn extra shine. And try different rows: the strongest defense can also be the one that sounds best.
Common questions
Does it really sound like music?
Yes. The instruments only fire on the beat, at 112 beats per minute, and each row of the board is a note of a pentatonic scale, so any defense sounds in tune. Moving an instrument to another row changes the melody.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes: tap an instrument below and then a square on the board. On a computer there are shortcuts too: 1 to 4 to pick, U to upgrade, V to sell and N to call the wave.
How do I open the other landscapes?
Win the 15 waves of the Quartz Garden to open the Copper Dunes, and win the Dunes to open the Amethyst Cavern. Each landscape is harder and has its own scale.
Also in Arcadópolis
Meteor ShowerDefend the Moon base from twelve real meteor showers with beams of light that burst in chains.
Eight NotesThe daily music challenge: everyone gets the same eight notes to compose a 16-step melody and share it.
Singing GemsA match-3 game of singing crystals: each one is a note and the phrase at the top builds a melody. With specials and two modes.
Arcadópolis has 66 more apps on the same desktop: games, music, a 3D museum and a 3D library.