Crank Tower Defense – A Playdate Strategy Challenge!
A downloadable game
Defend your base and crank up the action in Crank Tower Defense, a retro-inspired tower defense game built exclusively for the Playdate console! Strategically deploy towers, battle relentless enemies, and spin your way to victory across dynamic paths and maps.
Key Features:
🌀 Crank to Boost – Use the Playdate crank to supercharge your towers’ attack speed!
🏰 Tower Mastery – Build and upgrade six unique towers, including:
❄️ Frost Beacon – Slows down incoming foes.
🔥 Armor Breaker – Pierces through tough enemy defenses.
👾 Diverse Enemies – Face 12 enemy types, from speedy Dashers to the regenerating Juggernaut boss!
⚙️ Upgrade & Dominate – Enhance your towers with increased damage, range, and special abilities.
Inspired by classic tower defense games, Crank Tower Defense brings 1-bit strategy with a Playdate twist!
🔗 Download now and crank your defenses to the max!
https://aicoding.itch.io/crank-tower-defense
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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📢 Tower Defense v3.3 is Live – Now with a Tutorial Mode!
Hey Playdate Defenders!
We’re excited to roll out Version 3.3 of our Tower Defense game for the Playdate console – and this one’s especially for new players (or anyone who wants a quick refresh)!
🆕 New in v3.3:
🎓 Tutorial Mode – Learn the ropes! We’ve added a guided tutorial to help you understand tower placement, crank power, upgrades, and more. Whether you’re new or just want a refresher, this will get you battle-ready in no time.
This update builds on the awesome improvements from v3.2 — like improved tower placement visibility, crank power variations, and faster firing — making your experience even smoother and more accessible.
🔁 Already a pro? You can skip the tutorial and jump straight into action!
As always, we appreciate your feedback and support. More updates coming soon!
🛠 Update now and try out the tutorial!
Little hints:
Remember to use the new Crank Power Abilities by selecting the crank power bar and press A
Enjoy the power of crank, may the force be with you.
🆕 What’s New in v3.2:
🎯 Improved Menu Positioning – We’ve adjusted the menu layout so you can place towers more precisely and plan your strategy without distractions.
⚡ Crank Power Variations – Introducing different crank powers to give your defenses a fresh twist!
🔥 Faster Firing Rate – Your towers now respond quicker, delivering rapid-fire action against incoming waves.
💰 Cash Boost – Earn more in-game currency to build and upgrade faster than ever.
💥 Damage Spike – Hit enemies even harder with enhanced damage effects!
🎥 Check out the new demo video on YouTube to see all the updates in action!
We’re always improving the game thanks to your awesome feedback—so keep it coming!
🛠 Update now and defend your base like never before!
Happy Cranking! 🏰🔧🎮
Update ahead.
- Fix the issue that the tower range cannot be seen when selected tile is at the right side (thanks for pixelsurfer for the great comment)
- Enhanced the crank power
Please stay tuned. Thanks
Another tweak suggestion from me, when selected tile is right side of screen should the tower menu then appear on the left? Reason I say it is you cant see the tower and range you're trying to place down
Thanks for the suggestion👍🏻, let me discuss and see how to make it better. Recently we are busy on another project, hopefully can provide some update to the public soon. 😬
Please stay tuned and thanks again 🙏🏻
Bug fixed, please kindly update your game to v3.1
- Corrected display the upgrade cost of each of the tower
** Thanks again for letting me know and continue improve the game.
🚨 Crank Tower Defense – Major Update is Live! 🚨
Get ready to defend like never before on your Playdate console!
We’ve been working hard to bring you a smoother, more action-packed experience, and it’s finally here:
🕹️ Complete Control Redesign
Button A = Select
Button B = Cancel
Enjoy a more intuitive and seamless gameplay experience!
♾️ New Endless Mode
Hit Wave 30? Keep going and test your ultimate defense strategy!
⚙️ Game Difficulty Selection
Choose your challenge level (and yes... remember to crank more!)
🔥 Fresh Animations
Crank power bar, enemy explosions, and more visual polish to bring the battlefield to life!
⚖️ Game Balance Tweaks
More Crank = More Fun = More Exercise 💪
✨ Smoother Mechanics
We’ve tightened up the gameplay for an even better feel all around.
Whether you're a tower defense pro or a first-time defender, there's never been a better time to crank it up. Thanks for all your support — go check out the update and let us know what you think!
#Playdate #Crank #IndieGame #TowerDefense #TowerDefense
Great update. I've spotted a bug with the upgrade cost showing the original price of the tower, so that could do with updating
Eg frost tower uparade shows as costing 90 when it's actually 120
Thanks! and this has been fixed.
Exciting Updates Coming to Our Tower Defense Game!
Hello TD gamer!
We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to bring you an improved Tower Defense experience! Based on your feedback, we’re rolling out a major update this week with better gameplay, smoother mechanics, improved animation and new game mode (Endless mode).
Please stay tuned for the rollout!
We appreciate all the comments and supports and can’t wait for you to try out the new version. Let us know what you think once the update is live!
I've been enjoying the demo of both versions. I think there could be some improvements to the controls to make it a bit more user friendly. I say this as a professional UX designer with 15 years experience.
B traditionally is back or cancel rather than select so I would rework the controls so A is select and B is cancel, I would also change it so you press A to select a tower and that then has options to upgrade or sell it, rather than having separate buttons
Id also suggest moving the level select screen to appear after you select to start game rather than having it separate
Also suggest hard mode with less health
Hi Pixelsurfer,
Yes, I read your comment about the A and B button. this is under my task list and indeed WIP. Please stay tuned.
Between all your comment are good and valuable to me. So I can continue to improve and enhance the experience to every game lover.
Cheers!!
Dear Tower Defense fans,
Some upcoming updates
- Add/Improve the ability of Bosses, and make a bigger different between bosses.
- Possibly add Endless Wave to the game (this is working in progress)
** if you really having problem with the update of the game file, Please kindly uninstall the game and reinstall it.
Hey, I tried to sideload the demo, but I get "The buildNumber value in pdxinfo must be an integer"
Sorry for the trouble, I have uploaded a new version to fix the build number issue. Could you try again?
That seemed to work, thanks!
that’s great! Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience caused. Please enjoy😉
🚀 Major Update! 🎮
Hey Tower Defense fans! I'm excited to share some updates to tower defense game for the Playdate console! 🔥
🆕 What's New?
✅ Clearer Map Path – Redesigned to improve visibility and strategy. 🗺️
✅ New UI Icons – Lives ❤️ and Bank 💰 now have intuitive icons for a sleeker interface.
✅ Dynamic Obstacles – Each game is more challenging with changing obstacles! 💥
Test your strategy, defend your base, and experience the thrill of tower defense with a retro twist! 🎯
📢 Try it out and let me know your feedback! Would love to hear what you think. 😊
#Playdate #TowerDefense #GameDev #IndieGame #RetroGaming #StrategyGames
Dear TD friends.
We have added a Game Demo for 4 stages, so you can feel it. And enjoy the fun with Crank Power!
Please enjoy and share your comment and advice with us. Very much appreciate!!
Looks interesting. Are there plans for updates? How replayable is it with only 3 levels?
Ps it should be life not live top left
Dear pixelsurfer,
Currently there are 3 maps in total with 30 waves per map, we definitely will consider updates, as we all TD game lover. But would consider the comment from all of the gamer first.
For your comment. Live or Life, I am using Live for arcade game. And in the future, might consider to use an icon instead. But right now, I will keep it as Live .
Again, thank you very much for your comment!!
Thanks. I've just tried the demo and it's fun. My suggestion would be to flip B and A on the select tower menu so that A is select tower.