Field guide
Meet all 15 tools and 17 creep types before they arrive.
Workbench manual
Build the maze with your tools
Every tool is both a tower and a wall. Shape a long route across the graph-paper bench, cover the flying lanes, and keep the traced pattern intact through the final wave.
The first five moves
- Choose a tool. On touch, tap its card; with a mouse, click the card or drag it onto the bench.
- Build a legal route. Ground creeps must always have a path. The bench refuses a placement that closes every route or lands on a creep.
- Read the arrows. Ground waves may enter from the west or north. Flyers ignore the maze and cross an air band or air lane.
- Reshape the maze. Standard tool sales return the full amount invested, including upgrades, so a wall can become a new firing line.
- Protect the pattern. Every leak tears away pattern integrity. Survive the final wave before it reaches zero.
Touch, mouse, and keyboard controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Tap a tool, then the bench | Park its outline; use Place, Turn, or Cancel beside it. |
| Drag on the bench | Aim precisely while the placement preview stays above your fingertip. |
| Tap a placed tool | Open upgrade, sell, re-arm, and detailed statistics. |
| Two fingers | Pinch to zoom and pan the bench. |
| Mouse drag or card click | Place once by dragging, or arm a tool for repeated placement by clicking. |
| 1–9, 0, Q, W, E, T, Y | Select a tool from the palette. |
| R / W A S D / Enter | Rotate, nudge, and place an armed tool. |
| U / S | Upgrade or sell the selected tool. |
| Space | Send the next wave early for bonus gold. |
| F / P / M / H | Cycle speed, pause, toggle sound, or open help. |
Choose the right play mode
Standard
The unrestricted game. Rebuild freely, save and watch replays, ask Strategy Finder for a continuation, or follow a Strategy Runbook. Every saved run keeps its automatic provenance.
Ranked Challenge
A locked run with a server-chosen seed. Finder and guided builds are disabled. A completed replay earns CERT only after exact server re-simulation matches its result.
Study the bench
Difficulties
Compare the six campaigns, from 60 relaxed waves to a 200-wave gauntlet.
Strategy tools
Watch portable replays, search a paused board, and follow build guides in Standard.
Share the manual
Send this canonical guide, copy its address, or save the workbench card.