Village Defenders

There's no way someone had played this game before trying to release. Found multiple bugs including unlimited money bug within first 10min of gameplay. Some are frustrating more than others but all in all, hey the game is £2 so not even going to bother with refund.

First of all this game is not an idler. It hardly can be called a game even.
the loop:
9 days your archer (crossbowmen) kills mobs, 10th day boss kills you. repeat
if you manage to kill the boss everything repeats but with stronger mobs.

No automation at all, skills are useless and unworthy of using (except for boss).
defensive stats / skills are useless (boss kills you with one hit) and other mobs wont reach you anyway.

Pro tip:
if you are very bored and see this so called game on a big sale - do self a big favor and go and watch as the gras grows instead.

This is a simple time-killer that's easy to pick up since most of the gameplay runs on auto-pilot. The premise is straightforward: defend a bridge using a lone crossbow archer stationed on a tower, who automatically fires at enemies crossing over. Your first attempt will likely end in swift defeat, but that’s part of the charm. Each run helps you improve bit by bit.

Every enemy you eliminate earns your archer money and experience, which eventually leads to leveling up. When you level up, you choose one new ability from a random set of three. You always start with Rapid Shot, which fires multiple arrows at once, but you can unlock others like Fire Arrows (which inflict burn damage), Rain of Arrows, Explosive Arrow, and more.

Some skills may appear more than once, and selecting them again increases their effectiveness. To use a skill, you simply click on it, and the archer will activate it on the nearest enemy. Each skill has a cooldown, which varies based on its power and utility. While basic ones recharge quickly, stronger ones take longer. A downside is that the game doesn’t explain how skills improve with upgrades, you’ll just see a larger number without any real detail.

Because your level and skills reset after every run, long-term progress comes from two sources. First, there’s gear, random equipment dropped by enemies and delivered to you by two animal companions: a frog and a bird. They differ in delivery speed and cooldown time between trips, but you don’t have to worry about them at all.

There are six gear types - like helmet, ring, or weapon—each dropping in one of three rarity levels. Rarity determines how many stat bonuses the item provides: common items have one, rare two, and epic three. You can hold up to 20 items, and common gear quickly becomes obsolete once you’re fully equipped with better items, so it’s often best to sell them for quick cash.

Alternatively, you can hold onto gear and wait for a merchant who offers random trade deals you can accept or decline. Gear stays with you permanently and isn’t lost between runs, but unfortunately, once you’ve equipped all six slots with epic items, there's no real reason to chase after more.

The second source of permanent upgrades comes from stat boosts, which you can purchase with money after a failed run. There are eight stats to upgrade—damage, critical hit rate, armor, etc.—and prices rise with each purchase. Some upgrades, like attack speed, are especially expensive. You can also gamble your money for a random gear piece, but it’s not worth the cost.

While the game provides quick and easy fun, it starts to feel grindy before long. That’s mainly due to the tenth day, which throws in a boss with massive health and one-hit-kill damage. The first nine days are easy, but the tenth acts as a harsh difficulty spike that forces you to farm upgrades through repeated runs.