The land needs saving – and that means travelling back in time to where Kingdom Rush began. Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis whisks you through classic locations from the beloved tower-defence series, pitting your army of familiar faces against all sorts of formidable foes. Here’s why this slick strategy game casts a spell on us:

The tactics start before the first baddie sets foot on the game’s winding paths: Choose five options from more than a dozen tower types. Maybe you’ll go with dependable archers and mages – or perhaps the map calls for more experimentation. Getting overrun by goblins? Pummel them to bits with the sturdy Ironbark Treant, which slams the ground with its huge fists to inflict serious area-of-effect damage.

Kingdom Rush 6 doesn’t just give you all sorts of mighty heroes to unleash, like the brave knight Gerald Lightseeker and the fierce dragon Ashbite. It also gives each hero a unique upgrade tree, so you can perfectly dial in your build for, say, the sneaky illusionist Gemina. Spells can be customised too. Want your Rain of Fire to hurl more meteors or scorch more earth? Your choice, my liege!

Beating levels unlocks inventive new ways to play. Try Hero Rush, where you lose access to all your spells but get to command a crew of four heroes. Or flip the script with Spell Rush, where you lose all your heroes but your spells replenish quickly. You can even go old-school in Classic mode – fighting for survival using only the original game’s eight towers, two spells and single hero.

Think carefully when you’re choosing which two heroes to bring into battle. It would be wise to back up an offensive juggernaut like Bolin with a more defensive-minded ally like Rhodes.