How to start
- Open bigboard.games on one phone or tablet and tap Start a table.
- Pick the game; the players at this device are set before the match.
- Lay the device flat between you and play.
The whole map on your screen
Start a table on one device with just you on it and pick Tower Defense. The map is new each match: on a tablet the road spirals in from a red gatehouse on the edge to the lantern at the centre; on a phone it mostly walks a coarse lattice of the screen's cells. Tap ⟳ before the match to roll another map, or ↶ to go back to one of the last 8 you played.
Everything on the ground is yours. Tap an empty cell to build a Bolt for 40 gold, a Frost for 50 or a Mortar for 60, and your Hero for 120. A tap on a tower offers Level up; taking it to level 3 picks one of three branches, such as Reach, Rapid or Heavy for a Bolt, and levels 4 and 5 deepen it to Max.
Fifteen waves to the boss
A calm comes before every wave, its number rung round the screen as it ends. On Medium, Runners come every wave, slow Brutes from wave 3, flying Swarms from wave 4 and Shields from wave 5, whose armour takes every hit until it breaks; a Frost's pulse goes past it, and a Strike breaks it at once. The boss comes on the last of 15 waves, or on waves 10, 20 and 30 of a long match, and breaks the lantern whatever lives are left.
The Hero is your answer to a bad moment: its Strike blasts a spot within its range, its Net pins every bug under it for 3 seconds, and each is ready again 20 seconds after you use it. Tap the lantern any time to see how many lives it has left; it cracks as they fall.
Your difficulty, your pace
Difficulty runs from Easy, with 30 lives and 140 gold to start, to Impossible, with 10 lives, faster and tougher waves, Shields from wave 4 and less gold per kill, where what you build and where decides it. Speed runs the whole match Relaxed, Normal, Fast or Blitz, calms and cooldowns included.
Want company on the same screen? 2 player tower defense gives a second person a ground of their own, and a bot teammate can take it instead. With friends and their phones, the same tower defense runs across every screen at the table.
Solo: questions and answers
Can I play tower defense alone?
Yes, one device holds the whole map, and every tower on it is yours.
Can I make it easier?
Yes, Easy gives the lantern 30 lives, 140 gold to start and weaker, slower bugs.
Can I change the map?
Yes, roll a new one with ⟳ before the match, or go back to one of your last 8 with ↶.
Is there a boss?
Yes, on the last of 15 waves, or on waves 10, 20 and 30 of 30.