Dota 2 workshop is open for everyone to submit their work. With that, many indie developers have tried to bring their ideas into one of the most popular gaming communities. Watcher of Samsara is a promising title for you to pick up after the recent success of Dota AutoChess.
From a new idea to a new genre
Dota 2 arcade is the place where many indie developers and fans can put their ideas into practice. In a friendly environment where many hundred thousand players grind daily, one innovative idea can attract lots of attention.
The prime example of an arcade game turning into a stand-alone game genre is AutoChess. The game started out as a custom mode game in Dota 2. The game quickly gained attention for its simplicity and interesting gameplay.
One selling point of the game is the “gacha” system where you spend the economy to get random utilities to build up your army. In the latest tower defense arcade game, Watcher of Samsara, the developers used the same mechanics to boost the excitement of the game.
Watcher of Samsara is fun
The game itself is a strategic tower defense game. You have to make the best use of your money to build your towers (or heroes in this case) in a most efficient way. Your objective is to deal with the marching army roaming around the whole map. Like any other tower defense titles, you have to exterminate the enemy before their number gets past a certain mark.
However, the game has one fun part to it. You can’t buy towers straight like other regular titles. Utilizing the gatcha mechanics, Watcher of Samsara gives you the option to spend money to get random cards. Each card can turn into a distinct tower. There are currently around 25-30 tower for you to draw, each with unique abilities and perks.
Power at your disposal
Like Autochess, the game gives you the freedom to build your own army. Each tower can activate a certain ability of another tower and benefit from another tower as well.
At the beginning of the game, you will have the choice to pick one out of three heroes to build. You can spend money on buying the random card with 500, getting normal cards with basic power. If you are lucky enough to get an R card or SR card, the game will start out easy.
To upgrade a tower, you need to “roll” out the card of the same type and drop it into the inventory of the tower. It will upgrade the tower's star and the power accordingly. The tower caps at 3 stars and gains enormous stats and abilities.
As the creep gets stronger, you need to power up your army. You can do it either by upgrading your towers or adding stronger or better-fit ones. You can also equip your towers with Dota items or even some game-exclusive items. With gacha mechanics, you may need your luck to build the army of your dream.
Sometimes, luck is the real fun part of the game. What is the point of the game where you play it the same way over and over? With Watcher of Samsara, you need to improvise and adapt to what you have at disposal. Make the best out of what you have and enjoy the fun, that is what a game meant to be.
The game currently has around 280,000 subscriptions with around 10,000 players in-game throughout the day. Though the game has yet to become as popular as AutoChess, it clearly has its impressive starting fanbase.