About Lane Defense
A lane tower defense on six maps, from Switchback Canyon to Crossroads. Enemy bikes, buggies, armoured cars, trucks, planes and tanks drive fixed lanes toward your base; each one that gets through costs a life. Between waves you see what is coming next, then place and upgrade six kinds of defenders behind sandbags: autocannons, mortars, cryo emitters, lances, anti-air skyhooks and relay pylons. Each one counters a different enemy trait. Spend gold on unit levels or on weapon tech, call in airstrikes when a wave slips, and survive the three-phase boss waves. Clearing a map unlocks the next.
How to play
- Enemies enter on fixed lanes and drive toward your base. Every one that leaks through costs a life, and the run ends at zero lives.
- Between waves there is a build phase. Place defenders on empty cells beside the lanes. The next wave's enemy types and traits are shown while you build.
- Each defender counters something: mortars handle swarms, cryo emitters shielded enemies, lances armour, and skyhooks aircraft. Match your defence to the traits that are coming.
- Clear the last wave to win the map. Six maps run from Easy to Expert.
Tips
- Two ways to spend. Gold buys levels for a single unit, which also changes its model, or global weapon tech that improves every unit of a class. Mix both.
- Start early for gold. Starting a wave before the build timer ends (Space on a keyboard, START on a phone) pays bonus gold.
- Keep a call-in ready. Airstrike, Orbital, EMP and Repair recharge between uses. Save one for a boss wave or for a lane that is about to leak.
- Bosses have phases. Boss waves change at two thirds and one third health. Build up damage before the boss wave rather than during it.
Read the full Lane Defense guide (5 min read)
From the developer
Lane Defense began on 7 September as a maze tower defence, and I rebuilt it the same day as a lane defence: A* pathfinding and the rule against sealing the maze solved a problem a lane board does not have. It is built in a 3D engine and compiled to WebGL for this site.
The counters got the most care. A counter that is only slightly better looks identical frame by frame to one that works, and the player finds out three minutes later as a wave they cannot beat, so every weapon has a floor under its damage against every enemy. On 8 September I tuned the balance against 480 simulated games per pass. Before that, four different strategies won Ridgeline 24 times out of 24, including buying no counters at all; the Lance was the best weapon at everything and came down.
For this site I used one art pack for everything, POLYGON Battle Royale Pack by Synty Studios, so the board reads as one set: machine guns and launcher tubes behind sandbags against bikes, buggies, armoured cars, a plane and a tank. I tried a sci-fi vehicle pack first and dropped it, because its dark hulls clashed with the pale board. The reskin changed no numbers: the balance report came out byte-identical.
Son Hoang, who made Lane Defense
Update history
- Modern military look: every emplacement, vehicle and prop now comes from Synty's POLYGON Battle Royale Pack. On an upright phone the board turns a quarter turn to fill the screen, and you can drag a unit from its chip onto the board.
- Six maps and a map-select screen: Switchback Canyon, Confluence, Twin Forks and Crossroads join Ridgeline Pass and Delta Flats. New music: Tower Defense Theme by DST.
- Play Again now starts clean; bought tech and boost and shield timers used to carry over.
- A perspective camera and a daylight board, so the 3D board stops reading as a diagram.
- Balance retuned against 480 simulated games per pass, and each emplacement now has its own targeting mode.
- Units, tech, call-ins and bosses on the first two maps.
Questions
How many maps are there?
Six: Switchback Canyon (Easy), Ridgeline Pass and Delta Flats (Normal), Confluence and Twin Forks (Hard), and Crossroads. The first three are open from the start; Confluence, Twin Forks and Crossroads unlock one after another, and unlocks are kept in this browser.
Can I play Lane Defense on a phone?
Yes. On an upright phone the board turns sideways to fill the screen. Drag a unit card onto a cell, or tap the card and then the cell, and tap a placed unit to upgrade or sell it.
What happens if enemies get through?
Each leaked enemy costs lives. When lives reach zero the map is lost and you can start it again.
How big is the download?
About 18 MB the first time. The browser keeps it, so later visits start faster.
