There’s a new game that fans of defense games just can’t pass up. It’s Defense Derby, a new game developed by Rising Wings, a KRAFTON subsidiary. With its intense mind games and powerful synergy effects, Defense Derby offers a new level of fun to the genre. Four players obtain cards through scouting phases, build their decks and protect their castles from monsters until only one player remains! Two KRAFTON team members went out to experience the game for themselves. If you want to triumph over your opponents from the official release day, keep reading as we’ll discuss highlights, reviews, and various tips on the game. Let’s get started!
※ This review was conducted during Defense Derby’s early access testing period (April 27th – May 11th). As a result, there may be differences between the tested version and the actual release version.
※ The review incorporates the personal opinions of the reviewers, and it is written based on their concepts. It does not represent the official opinion of Rising Wings or the developers of Defense Derby.
#YH
Hello. I’m YH, KRAFTON’s internal writer.
Have you played many defense games before? I’ve played a lot of defense games in Starcraft using the use map setting mode since I was little. I think the beauty of defense games is the “battle of wits,” outplaying the opponents through better strategies. To win in most defense games, you either have to rely on the RNG factor to obtain good units or develop your own build orders. But this new game, Defense Derby, is very different from other games in the genre.
First of all, heroes and units have their own unique factions and types. Factions and types provide wiggle room for developing various strategies as they give synergy effects to units. Secondly, players can obtain units through bidding instead of buying units or getting them randomly. These systems encourage players to engage in mind games with each other and open the door to new strategies.
You can enjoy playing such a novel defense game conveniently on your mobile devices. For those who haven’t had the chance to experience the early access testing before the official release, I’d like to share my know-how with you so that you can be well-prepared and find it helpful when playing after the launch.
First, you need to bid more than the average even when you don’t need the unit during the scouting phase. This is because even if you don’t get the unit, different amounts of Derby Chips will be awarded based on your bidding amount. So remember to collect as many Derby Chips as possible by figuring out your opponent’s mind game tactics.
Second, if all players don’t have enough Derby Chips during the scouting phase, remember to bet at least six chips even if you don’t need the unit. That’s because all units can be sold for six Derby Chips, so you can hold a higher ground in the next scouting phase by selling the unnecessary units.
Thirdly, if you already have the units, it’s important to bid boldly during the scouting phase to merge them to get 2-star units. Units power up when merged, and the placement of each unit is also crucial in Defense Derby, as there are only eight squares for unit placement.
Fourth, place units with crowd control (slow, stun, knock back, etc.) at the front of the line so that they can slow down the waves. Because the slower the wave is, the more damage you can give to the monsters, and when your opponent’s castle falls during the same wave, the last castle standing is declared the winner.
Fifth, the same type of synergy effects does not duplicate. As you can see in the picture, the same type of synergy effect does not apply twice to increase the attack by 60%. Instead, the effect is applied only once.
All in all, I really enjoyed playing Defense Derby during the test period. I loved the fact that Defense Derby is a unique defense game where you can apply numerous strategies. It’s also great to get in-game currencies through various modes and events instead of purchasing them. And it was nice to get my mind off PvP by playing a variety of modes aside from Derby, like Blitz, Dungeon Run, and Rumble. One downside was that the game seemed to have too few units, but I believe that there will be more updates with a wider range of units after its official release.
Lastly, I recommend Defense Derby for these people!
- Those who have played and enjoyed defense genre games.
- Those who prefer playing mind games over mechanic-focused games.
- Those who find it fun to grind your character.
#Frankie
Hello. I’m Frankie, and I’m here to share my experience with Defense Derby. I have happy memories of playing defense games on websites as flash games when I was little. So I immediately downloaded the game when I heard about the early access testing.
I was able to learn about the game thanks to informative tutorials. I placed units one by one and discovered that monsters attacked some of the units I left unmoved during the first round. In the second round, I started to consider more on what synergy effect I’d need and where I’d need it rather than where units are placed. After carefully considering the best unit placements and compositions while playing, I got the first clear! At first, I didn’t know what was good about getting the first clear. But then I noticed that the opponent’s waves were moving faster. I continued to pressure opponents by changing unit placements to keep my lead.
I also want to talk about the scouting system, which is the highlight of Defense Derby. I didn’t know what it was at first, so I passed some of the phases without bidding anything and hoped I’d get the unit by bidding only the average. Of course, I never got the units that I wanted. I thought I had to do something, so I started messing with my opponents’ minds by bidding more Derby Chips on the units they might need.
And here’s my tip for this phase: You can’t play mind games when you don’t have enough Derby Chips. So don’t waste them, and remember to spend them strategically. And if you are the second highest bidder during the scouting phase, you can receive additional Derby Chips, so it’s a good idea to keep track of the opponent’s number of Derby Chips and their psychology to make the best choice. You’ll be able to create your own playing style as you continue to think about how to win the game.
Defense Derby also has the Blitz PvE Defense mode and the PvP Derby mode. You have to build your own deck to clear stages, and this mode does not have a scouting system. I usually play this mode when I want to grind my deck.
To build your deck, you need to obtain units and heroes from the gacha at the store and put them in the right place. I placed seemingly big and strong units on the front line and played Blitz mode, but I couldn’t clear stage 5 with this composition. Blitz mode also has a synergy effect system, just like Derby mode, which can help increase your deck’s combat power based on the unit placements. I cleared more stages in Blitz mode by switching between units and heroes.
In Defense Derby, I had a refreshing gaming experience as I competed against different opponents in each match. Unlike other games, the real-time gameplay got me deeply immersed in the game. As a fan of multi-player competition games, I am eagerly awaiting the official release of Defense Derby.