Digimon Story Time Stranger
Digimon Story Time Stranger
Game
Game2021
Defend the Rook
Developer One Up Plus
A roguelike tactics board combat combined with tower defense elements. Defeat the invading hordes to stay alive and save the land! Enjoy more tactics than a normal TD game, combined with the added challenge of building towers and fighting off waves of enemies! From the Steam store page
121 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Jun 19, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
77
LovedLoved
88 positive · 27 negative
95% range 68–83%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 88 | 27 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
6 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
186 of 244 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 121 · most liked firstThis is what I would consider a solid 7/10 game. It's a simple concept, you get units and you get towers. Tower's don't move and use AI targeting, while units you have full control over. After each wave you'll be presented with one of three options to upgrade one hero. There's rarity involved so some runs can just be worn with an early high roll. After 4 waves you face a final boss wave which gives a high rarity upgrade. You have a small break to spend xp and gold on upgrading heroes or towers.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: IndieGems if you like and want to see more reviews like this one. Defend the Rook is a game combining turn-based strategy with tower defense genres, in addition to being a roguelite with run-to-run permanent upgrades and progression. If you enjoy both TBS and TD genres, this game will be a fun addition to your library. For people who like the idea of the TD genre but who may find the active and continuous…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While I have enjoyed my time with the game so far, there just isn't that much game. It lacks depth and is very easy. I have done 4 runs so far and haven't even come close to losing. In fact, I am usually able to obliterate all the enemies the turn they spawn. In terms of content, you get 3 heroes (from 4 eventually but each category plays basically the same), 3 towers (from 3), with very incremental upgrades between waves and the 5 levels. There are 2 variants of levels 2-4 where the scenery…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is a big "Meh" from me. It's enjoyable, but it clearly lacks balance and depth, and is extremely easy, even with the new "experienced mode". I've done 8 runs, always in the hardest difficulty available, and never came close to even losing a hero, let alone the game. Your heroes quickly skyrocket in power and rollstomp anything, I don't think I've ever let the last 2 boss play a turn in any of my games. The "Alternate heroes and tower" offer a bit of welcome diversity, but the heroes…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Go through the 5 same levels 20 times because they didn't want to want to hire a decent story writer. I beat the first round in a few hours and let down to find that I was going to go through the same content 20 more times as it gradually added more handicaps to me. Not to mention the story line on those 5 levels is written by a 5 year old. It doesn't flow or follow logic and/or reasoning. For $18 I expected more, save your money.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unless you're itching for more roguelike strategy games, I would skip this one. It's ok at best but suffers from huge balancing issues, basically making it impossible to run multiple styles of builds. The gameplay loop is fine at first glance (I played on the new experienced mode, which was still easy). Good strategy, good leveling mechanics, and boss battles are generally interesting enough. It's just you'll find the majority of hero options suck and they don't even each have their own unique…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, highly recommend trying it out. It might seem a little easy at first for this type of game where often you are meant to die a bunch and slowly become stronger with upgrades. You have 1-10 ascension levels, but the first 4 are super easy and then 7+ becomes pretty tough. I'm not super excited about how it scales at 7+ because it feels like artificial difficulty, everything starts to cost twice as much so you can't upgrade everything. I would prefer the enemies becoming more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good first impression, but as soon as you get deeper into the game it just gets you disappointed because this game is not about your tactical skill, but about getting good RNG. Tactics. There is barely any: all enemies are able to cover half the map in one turn, so your only viable option is to kill them in one turn. While you can try to go for defensive play, defense upgrades scale poorly and higher difficulties will spawn new waves before you are able to clear the previous ones, so you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OMG this game is so fun. It's like a weird version of chess but with Tower Defense and turn based RPG elements. Incredibly hard to explain and the first night I got it I was up until 7:30 AM playing it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boring. Has nothing to do with Chess. You have a castle on a grid board and three pieces and a few traps and towers to defend it. The way the game gets more difficult is that they just increase the raw stats of the enemy units until you lose. This makes it sound more fun than it actually is. Whoever attacks first basically inflicts the most damage, and your ability to heal is extremely limited. The strategy in this game is lacking. The game is worth about $10.00 tops, and I would refund it if…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is alot of fun, but insanely easy. I really liked everything this game had to offer. The units are fun to play around with and you can build some truely insane setups if you play your cards right. However, even by easy game terms, this is one for the books. I cleared every single ascended difficulty in a row without ever losing a single time. I tend to suck at alot of games, and this level of 100% success never happens to me. But, fun. Worth a play to any fan of the tactical genre.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are too many things not done well enough to list, but in short, it combines a few genres and none of them are done that well. The main problem in my eyes is that the gear you bring to the map is not very customizable. Don't get me wrong, each unique slot has 4 different options, but you are always stuck with: 1 melee hero, 1 ranged, 1 mage, 1 tower of 3 catagories kind of like heroes, same with traps. Then the spells are a list of 3 spells from 3 lists and you pick one list, no mixing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I only played this for a while and I'm already hooked on it. Defend the Rook combines elements of rogue-like, turn-based strategy game and tower defense. It's like playing a juiced up version of chess where you are completely in control. You play as the Magister, a mage for hire and keeper of the strongest magical fortress in the world, the Rook. The Rook is a flying spire full of magic power that has the ability to shape the battlefield and summon fallen heroes fom the past. The Golden Queen…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall this game gets a 5/10 recommendation. A playable game that lacks story and depth. I really like that you get 3 different character classes, spells and towers to help defend the rook. The rook itself is not a helpless onlooker and will in fact be a very strong piece. As it is a rogue lite, you can upgrade your spells and unlock different towers and character classes with each play through. After each map within the scenario , everything carries over - even health damage! This…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Turn based roguelike that when you really get into the flow of the gameplay, plays almost as slick as realtime. Great artstyle of your team and the varied enemies/bosses and a good UI make this a joy to play and so addictive. Animations are well done and good music and sound effects throughout. Characters and the gameplay have loads of different attacks with perks and upgrades to unlock, together with procedurally generated battles makes for lots of replayability.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I made a video review with a quick introduction of the game mechanics here if you prefer a video - Text version below! https://youtu.be/lV53HRaGYJM Defend The Rook is a blend between a turn-based combat game, a wave type tower defense and some roguelite progression inbetween. The game is really easy to pick up, yet hard to master, due to a ton of different upgrades and interactions between heroes, turrets and traps. There's also a lot of unlockable content (new heroes, towers, spells and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really fun game. Battles are quick and smart and the progression is interesting. If you like micro tactics, try this game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've echoed this sentiment time and time again in previous reviews of Goblinz Studio published games. But I'll say it again for consistency. Goblinz Studio has a great eye for identifying interesting games, they're not necessarily well-polished games, nor are they big budget games, but they have a certain charm that always draws me in. Defend the Rook is in line with those expectations as well. I found myself intrigued by the theme of a powerful magician commanding his forces from a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Defender of the Rook is a turn-based mix of tower defend, chess and RPG-light game. Worked on Linux with Proton issue free. You play on a given chess board with different occupied fields on which you could position defensive long-range support units, while you try to defend your mobile 'tower' with 3 heroes, which could be upgraded and developed every now and then. The enemies spawn from the outside and your tactical skills make the difference between win and loose. For eliminating enemies…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid tactical game, nice use of roguelite elements to keep each playthrough fresh. Each play-through lasts as long as it should. unique enough playstyle my only issue is it needs difficulty options and a way to scale down wombo combos, i was able to beat the game first try. i was struggling till i picked up one key ability that let me chain kills with the sorceress (an ability where killing an enemy made them attack another enemy), shortly after that i had another playthrough where i was able…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A roguelite tactical rpg that's not very fun to play multiple times. The levels themes and bosses are the same every time, and layout barely varies. Towers hardly matter due to low health and random enemy spawn positions, they're good for one round and after that it's pure luck if they do anything at all. The variance in unit upgrades are extremely minor. You can only upgrade 1 unit per level with only 1 option for each unit. You are oppressively punished for taking any unit taking any damage…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is good fun, seems very simple at first but there are a decent number of alternate units, spells and traps you can unlock through meta progression. All of these also have a variety of upgrades which is actually randomized each game, so you will have a different build each time you play. You'll probably encounter most enemies and bosses in your first 3 play throughs but higher difficulties do add additional abilities and such to existing enemies and bosses so that does help keep them…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Defend the Rook Review **Spoiler Free** Quick Review: Defend the Rook is a fun turn-based strategy roguelike that has you defending a kingdom from waves of enemies with mere tokens on a game board. With tons of options at your disposal, your strategy can lean in the direction you choose. However, with its structure focused on replaying the same campaign repeatedly to unlock the harder challenges, be prepared to sail through your first 7 of 10 play-throughs before the challenge really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Those who say this game is too easy probably only completed it once. After each passage, a new level of ascent is unlocked, increasing the difficulty. But this game is not about planning or strategic thinking, it is more like a slot machine, it works with your desire to collect and accumulate. The game constantly rewards you with new abilities, skills and improvements, and you crave everything. But all this is apsalute by accident, if you are lucky you will dominate on the field destroying…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid little game. Really fun. It has a good balance of strategy, rogue-like progression, and seems pretty well-polished in term of production value. For a Turn-Based Tower Defense game, it works pretty well, but I will have to see how the difficulty scales. My first run was relatively easy, but reviewing the Ascension mode challenges, it could be quite difficult if the gemstone (between run progression) doesn't scale accordingly. For now, it's a good buy at a reasonable price. Update -…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun game is fun
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very fun game, lots of content for the price also. People bring up difficulty but, if your not a hardcore rougelike player this game will challenge you enough for a good time. Its fun to think of different builds and come up with a strategy for every wave. The only the game needs is more map/boss variety, currently I think there is enough hero/spell variety to keep things interesting for awhile. Hope the devs keep updating the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An interesting game that blends turn-based combat and tower defense gameplay with a unique chess-inspired atmosphere. There's a good range of abilities to use, and character advancement for units as well. The art direction is unique and fun, and there's a solid variety of different enemies to defeat. A very fun game worthy of checking out!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This has been one of the most fun Rogue-Lites I've played in a very long time. For the price, the amount of content and hours of play is so worth it. Rare I leave reviews, but I want to support where I can for such a lovely game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is OK but not good enough for me to want to continue after about an hour or so. There's a few issues with this game that makes me already bored of it after an hour. First, the map is really small and never really has any variables. There's just some randomly placed stones you can place towers on and that's it. Even aesthetically, the levels all look the same. The difference between stages are strictly the enemies you will encounter. You can place towers on the rocks around the map…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game runs such a good balance of tactical combat with roguelike variation and overpowered builds. You're only ever fielding three warriors on the field, each a variation on one of three archetypes, and as you clear waves of enemies you can upgrade those heroes to the build you want. Besides the heroes, you also have access to a few towers and magic spells, to be used at your disgression. With each wave, you'll need to adapt to the varied attacks of the new enemies and reconfigure your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice game, but it's a roguelike, and i don't like roguelikes, so I've "beat" it once and not planning spending any more time on it. I do recommend it if you enjoy the genre though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A hybrid of turn based tactics and tower defense with a healthy dose of randomized abilities to keep things fresh. You have 3 units plus the titular rook to get you through 5 stages of varying difficulties. In addition to those units you are given a set of 3 spells, 3 towers, and 2 objects/traps that you can use to cover the weaknesses of your team. The games not overly difficult if your used to turn based tactics games and can figure out combos to quickly overwhelm the enemy. That being said…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Neat roguelite strategy game. Beat it on the highest difficulty, enjoyed figuring it out. I had fun with it and recommend it, but I'll list stuff that bothered me: -Your core loadout before any towers/traps are your castle and three heroes (warrior/rogue/mage) by default. You unlock variants of these classes as you play. It quickly became apparent to me that the easiest way to win was "buff the ranged characters" and turtle in the corner with defensive buffs. It'd be nice if the upgrades…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's probably worth the money.... and the tactics themselves are great. what a shame that this is one of those 'its the same run every time' games, it's just 5 matches of 5 rounds each and that's the entire game. Do you really like your crew, and want to play longer with them? too bad, because just beat the boss and the game is over. if you like these types of games it's a good one, but I wish i hadnt bought it. I get more replay value out of the free Jupiter Moons demo than I did this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game presents you with really interesting power-up choices, often changing the play style of your heroes dramatically. It's good fun trying to build up OP combos - e.g. in my last run I managed to stack a chain lightning tower far enough that it could nuke everything out on its own lol Another thing I like is that your heroes' life feels precious - I find myself really trying to avoid having them lose any HP, which is an interesting puzzle a lot of the time. I'm looking forward to the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of those instances were I wish Steam had a middle ground between 'Yes' and 'No'. The first playthrough you do feels genuinely amazing and showcases a lot of different possibilities. The whole design of the game also feels like a very good case of low-poly retro-looking design. However, once you finish your first campaign, it falls. A lot. The subsequent runs feel incredibly repetitive and the variety it showcases in its character skills and variants falls real short when you have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"A Charming Blend of Strategy and Relaxation." Defend the Rook offers a refreshing take on the tower defense genre, infusing it with roguelike elements to create an engaging and relaxing gameplay experience. Set against a backdrop of charming artwork, this game succeeds in delivering short bursts of strategic fun that keep players coming back for more. One of the game's standout features is its art style, which exudes a whimsical charm that instantly draws players into its world. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent Game Not the kind you'll play hours on end day after day, but the type you do a match a day forever -like a game of chess in that yes you can finish but that doesn't mean you're not going to sit and it do all again The game sounds more complicated than it is. Between the tutorial (which is a match where all you need to know is introduced) and the Glossary found in settings you're good to go Everything is clearly explained and if you forget it just tells you FYI - I heard your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is a nice game, simple, not much to say, a little bit overpriced but I had a fun experience playing it for the achievements.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice simulator of unbalanced OP builds
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I paid $26 dollars for this game and got 26 hours out of it before "completing it". It's a good little TBS with a lot of roguelike style depth. Probably a little prone to dominant strategy (hero's banners are OP, always go for area of effect damage when available) but it's a fun perfect info TBS. I do kinda wish I had a little more control. There's an ability in the game which forces you to walk through enemies to deal damage to them, but you can't control how you move in order to do this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool concept. Interesting upgrades. But way too easy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Although I've only played around four hours, I'm really enjoying Defend the Rook. It's a great mix of strategy and Rogue-Lite tactical battles. I like the variety of units you are able to obtain as you progress through your runs, as well as the spells and customization available for all elements. I'm really hoping for DLC in the future, as this game has great potential to stay on my hard drive for a long while to come.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was able to play the demo of this game when it came out earlier this year, and ever since, I've been dying for the full game to come out. Where this game really shines is in the reward system-being able to stack some absolutely great combos to make overpowered boss heroes by the end. The flow of gameplay is pretty good, and the mechanics are super tight (even if things aren't explained super well) though the roguelite elements aren't constructed in a way to make each experience really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game mostly feels like a build a combo kind of game; assemble voltron and blow up each wave when they spawn. I like the systems but there isn't much diversity in play. If you play each ascension you will get an okay amount of play time. Overall i'd rate it average, not bad but not amazing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stick with the game. Difficulty increase a great deal after first victory.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Complex enough to be extremely engaging, but it's laid out in way that makes it easy to learn.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game design and gameplay loop in this game are freaking amazing. The difficulty is still light on ascension 3, I haven't lost a single run yet, but the game could get more challenging at higher ascensions I guess. Other than that this game is pure gold.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It break my heart to give this game negative review. But as it stands now thee is not much depth and replay value. I have won my first 4 runs out of 4. Challenge isn't present for now... More like casual mobile game :(((( Talent system made 100% great and heroes feels good. Design I like too... But gameplay is 90% of the game value for me...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Even after putting in for a refund on this game, I still find myself unable to actually give it a negative review. The concept is sound, and the gameplay follows suit. I see a lot of potential in this one, and will definitely be checking back in with it in the future. The problems I have with the game are more of the technical nature. Most critically, the game repeatedly crashes on me during the very next mission following available demo content. That's a huge red flag for me, and if this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game doesn't scale well at high resolutions (the sprites get blurry), runs overall quite poorly and lacks severely in difficulty.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=store.steampowered.com/curator/40096432/]Follow my curator page for more reviews and early access previews of the latest upcoming games! Overall Thoughts Defend The Rook is a fun and at times challenging roguelike tactics game. Similiar to Warriors of The Nile which I found to be harder at times. My first run I managed to get to the boss in battle 4 but ultimately met my end there. But I can see how some abilities could be very over powered if played right. The core gameplay loop is fun…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Defend the Rook is a chess-inspired tactical turn-based and tower defense-style game where players use all the pieces of the board to strategically achieve victory. Here's why we think it's an excting roguelike experience: www.stackup.org/post/review-...
unlabelledView post →Its a good game! Not a board game not a tower defense game. Its a strategy game. Plays a bit like a mobile phone game too. But its very very fun. Rating 7/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →**edit** Recommending again. *sigh* It's complicated... If you get lucky with ability draws and spell combinations to start a run with, it's pretty fun. Just don't be afraid to bail on doomed runs and roll again so to speak. Also, if something unexpected happens, you can save and quit and start your turn over, which has saved me from a few misclicks and misunderstandings. *edit* I no longer recommend this game as a whole. When it's on sale for a few dollars, it'd be worth picking up if you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun strategy game - not very chess like - played on a grid and the principal playable piece is a castle, otherwise a straight forward strat game. Level up your pieces rinse and repeat. Worth it, but better in a bundle |(how I got it) or on sale
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the game's idea is very interesting and the concept seems grasping, it falls short after a run or two. The difficulty is too low, meaning almost every run is a win without much thought behind it, which I assume is due to bad balancing (that also causes huge power creep where you don't even know what's happening in the later stages, but still kill everything). The story isn't a saving grace either as it's so bland and badly written that you can pretty much discard it. It's a shame that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Because this review reflects my opinion also, i will paste it : Boring. Has nothing to do with Chess. You have a castle on a grid board and three pieces and a few traps and towers to defend it. The way the game gets more difficult is that they just increase the raw stats of the enemy units until you lose. This makes it sound more fun than it actually is. Whoever attacks first basically inflicts the most damage, and your ability to heal is extremely limited. The strategy in this game is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just okay. I've put over 8 hours into it so far. Definitely not a game that will keep you playing for hours at a time. I usually just load up a run while eating, then do something else after. Not a lot of diversity to it. Even different heroes of the same class feel the same after some upgrades. It is a bit on the easier side, but there is an "experienced mode" which I tried and I lost a couple times using that. 6/10, would recommend getting on sale for less than $10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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