Tower defence on phones: the habits that make you better

Most tower defence losses on mobile come from the same handful of mistakes, and we've made all of them. The first is spending everything in wave one. Hold a little back — the flexibility to react is worth more than one extra tower early.

Read the path, not the pretty art. The best spots are almost always where enemies bunch up or turn a corner, because splash damage lands on more targets there. If a game shows a range circle, use it before you commit.

Learn which tower answers which enemy. Fast, weak swarms want rapid low-damage towers; armoured single targets want a slow, heavy hitter. Trying to make one tower do everything is how good runs fall apart on the late waves.

Finally, use the pause. Almost every phone tower defence lets you plan while stopped, and there's no shame in it. Some of our cleanest clears came from stepping back, reading the incoming wave, and moving two towers before it hit.