When comparing Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows vs Desktop TD Pro, the Slant community recommends Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows for most people. In the question“What are the best tower defense games playable in a browser?” Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows is ranked 3rd while Desktop TD Pro is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows is:
The main mechanic of the game is using gems that provide properties like splash damage, poison, chain lightning, etc to your towers in different combinations. Add to that the fact that there are 7 levels for each gem, you have to manage your mana, there are multiple difficulty levels that change the amount of experience you gain, there are multiple kinds of spells, 25 passive skills and talisman fragments among other variables that you have to balance and you end up with an impressive amount of choice and depth.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Addictive, in-depth gameplay based on combining gems that provide different traits to your towers
The main mechanic of the game is using gems that provide properties like splash damage, poison, chain lightning, etc to your towers in different combinations. Add to that the fact that there are 7 levels for each gem, you have to manage your mana, there are multiple difficulty levels that change the amount of experience you gain, there are multiple kinds of spells, 25 passive skills and talisman fragments among other variables that you have to balance and you end up with an impressive amount of choice and depth.
Pro More than 140 levels
With so many levels to play in the game will last a good while. Each map is varied and with that makes for an experience that does not get tiring either.
Pro Unique look
The game is designed to take place on an office work desk with the elements of the game being hand drawn cannons and such. It makes for an original look that stands out from the many tower defense games out there.
Pro Twist on normal Tower Defense
There is no predefined path for the enemies on the playing field, it is up to the user to build pre set mazes for the enemies to walk through that have towers placed in strategic points. basically it is up to the player to figure out how to best build a path for the enemies to be forced through. This creates a strategic element that is not often found in tower defense games.
Cons
Con Can seem too heavily luck based
Hit damage is luck based meaning that it is up to the game at points as to how much damage is given making for a bit of an imbalance when winning in just a few strikes in one game and then having to do many hits in another.
Con May be difficult to find players for multiplayer
Depending on the time of day or day of the week it may be difficult to find players for the multiplayer part of the game. When it works it is fun but often there is no one to match with.