Hold the Crown! Hack

The horn sounds. Raiders pour down the dirt roads toward your Town Hall, and the first rider out to meet them is the king: an archer on a white horse.

Hold the Crown is tower defense with a king who never waits behind the walls. Your thumb steers the horse and the king's bow does the aiming, even at full gallop. Each raider he brings down leaves gold behind, and what you build with it decides whether the Town Hall survives.

FROM THE FIRST HORN TO THE FINAL WAVE
• Put your thumb anywhere and drag: a joystick appears under it and the king rides where you point
• He shoots the closest raider by himself, moving or standing still
• Fallen raiders drop gold coins; ride close to pick them up
• Stop on a dashed build plot and your gold pours in until a building rises
• Each new building uncovers more plots, so an empty field grows into a small castle
• Get through every wave, two to four per level, with the Town Hall still standing, and the level is yours

WHAT YOU CAN RAISE ON A PLOT
Eighteen kinds of building, each with one clear job:
• To shoot: Ballista Tower, Archer Tower, Frost Tower (slows raiders), Mage Tower (chain lightning)
• To blast: Catapult and Bombard (a cannon) for crowded roads
• To block: the Palisade, a wooden wall with a gate that turns to stone when upgraded, plus Spike Trap, Fire Pit and Moat
• To fight beside you: Barracks for foot soldiers, Knight Hall for knights, Stable for riders
• To support: Market and Gold Mine (more gold), Chapel (heals, mends walls), War Banner (nearby towers shoot faster)
• For the king: the Fletcher, who adds a second arrow to the royal bow, then makes its arrows pierce
Even the Town Hall can be upgraded during a battle to shoot arrows of its own.

SIX KINDS OF RAIDER
They come in hordes, up to around 150 at once. Footmen fill the roads, Runners go after the king and Shieldbearers take only half damage from arrows. Raider Archers aim at your soldiers, your towers and you. Brutes break down walls, while Battering Rams make for the walls and the Town Hall.

ONE BOSS FOR EVERY LAND
Each of the 15 bosses winds up its special attack where you can see it, so a quick king can ride clear. The Iron Warlord plants a war banner that speeds up his raiders. The River Reaver jumps from road to road. The Hay Golem swallows arrows, then bursts into straw men. The Bog Troll hurls boulders at towers; the Boar Chieftain charges through walls. A siege tower from the Siege Master unloads raiders behind your defenses. The Fog Witch brings a fog that shortens tower range. The Frost Jarl roars and towers freeze. The Ice Serpent dives beneath the frozen lake, and the Dread Knight turns arrows back with his shield. The Copper Colossus, the Yeti Matriarch, the Horse Lord and the Thorn Sorcerer bring tricks of their own, and last comes the Usurper, fighting in three phases.

THE CAMPAIGN AND ITS SEASONS
Summer in Green Vale, Riverford, Harvest Fields and Willow Marsh. Autumn in Amber Woods, Autumn March, Misty Hollow and Copper Hills. Winter in Frostgate, Snowpeak Pass, Icebound Lake and Whitewind Steppe. Then mountain stone: Iron Keep, Thornspire and the Crown Citadel. That makes 300 levels, each one Normal, Hard or Super Hard, and each one building up to a final wave.

FOUR BOOSTERS FOR A CROWDED ROAD
• Arrow Volley: arrows pour down on the densest crowd
• Holdfast: a trio of knights blocks the road for 10 seconds
• Fire Pots: pots of fire leave a section of the road burning
• Gold Rush: raiders drop twice the coins for 15 seconds
You start with one of each. Buy more with the coins each victory pays out, or watch an optional video for one more.

STRAIGHT INTO THE NEXT BATTLE
Hold the Crown has no menus to wait in. Win a level and the next battle starts at once. Lose one and your coins can pay to continue the same battle. A battle takes about a minute, and the next horde is already on the road.

The Usurper waits on the throne, fifteen lands away. Ride out.