Rimehold

Hold the pass

Corrupted frost and void creatures pour out of two rifts in the north, run down twin valleys and try to break through the Gate in the south. Your towers are solid. Creeps have to walk around every one you build, so the longer and twistier your maze, the longer they spend under fire.

Rimehold is a mazing tower defense in the spirit of the classic custom-map TDs, made as a standalone 3D game that runs in your browser. Every tower, creature, effect, sound and piece of music is generated in code.

Features

• 40 waves, with boss fights at waves 10, 20, 30 and 40
• Cheap walls plus nine tower lines with four tiers each; most lines split into two specialisations at the top tier
• Five damage types against six armour types
• Flying, Warded, Shielded, Regenerating, Splitter, Swift and Swarm waves, each needing a different answer
• Interest on banked gold, and bonus gold for calling waves early
• Four difficulties, from Recruit to Rimebound
• Procedural music that follows the fight, and graphics settings from Low to Ultra

How to play

• Pick a tower with the number keys 1–0 or the build bar, then left-click open snow to place it.
• Creeps always find a way around your towers. You can't block the path completely; the game refuses any placement that would.
• Start with Rime Walls (10 gold) to shape a long route. Later, select a wall and convert it into a real tower in the same spot.
• Click a tower to upgrade it (U or Y), change its targeting (T) or sell it (X).
• Press N to send the next wave early, or let the timer run.
• Every creep that reaches the Gate costs a life, and a boss costs many.

Tips

• Hold Shift to keep building. Keep it held while you click and you can lay a whole line of walls without picking the wall again each time.
• Shift + a number converts a wall. Select a wall and press Shift + 1–9 to turn it into a tower without breaking the maze. The panel shows which number is which tower.
• Check the preview. While you hover a spot, the creeps' new route and the total maze length appear before you commit.
• Flyers skip the maze. In build mode, violet ribbons mark their flight lanes. Have Skybreaker anti-air (9) beside them before the first air wave.
• Match damage to armour. Stonemaw mortars (3) crack heavy and fortified creeps, Hawkwatch bolts (2) shred light ones, and Aetherlight (5) can't hurt Warded creeps.
• Experiment between waves. Selling refunds 100% of anything you built or upgraded since the last wave started.
• Call waves early for gold, but give Swift waves some room.
• Put a Beaconlight (0) in the middle of a cluster to boost every tower around it.
• Read the strip at the top of the screen to see the next few waves and their traits.

Controls

• Pan: WASD, arrow keys, screen edge or right-drag
• Rotate: Q / E
• Zoom: mouse wheel
• Reset camera: H
• Build: 1–0 (hold Shift to keep placing)
• Place or select: left click
• Cancel: right click or Esc
• Upgrade: U / Y
• Convert a wall: Shift + 1–9
• Sell: X or Delete
• Targeting mode: T
• Next wave: N
• Game speed 1×, 2×, 3×: G
• Pause: Space or P
• Full in-game guide: F1

Requirements

A desktop browser with WebGL 2 (a recent Chrome, Edge or Firefox), plus a mouse and keyboard. If it runs slowly, lower Quality in Settings.