Review - Defend the Rook

Roberto Nieves
2 hours ago
5 min read

Publisher: Klabater

Developer: One Up Plus

Available on: PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5

You cannot win a battle if you do not have a good strategy. Strategy is everything, and using your mind is oftentimes the most powerful weapon one has. On the board are the warriors and fighters. The King. The Queen. The pawns. In Defend The Rook, the most powerful and most important piece is the Rook. When a kingdom falls under siege by malevolent forces, a Magistrar with mysterious abilities stands to help a Queen and her besieged kingdom.

Defend the Rook is a chess-inspired tactical turn-based and tower-defense-style game where players use all the pieces of the board to fight and achieve victory. Colorful, engaging, and filled with tactical depth, Defend The Rook is a solid game. However, expect a grind and toughness from the enemy.

Fight Battles You Know You Can Win

A kingdom is under siege by the gods and their armies. A queen summons a Magistrar in a lonely inn. From the board on the table, the battles of the present can be fought and won. There is a powerful piece on the board, known as The Rook. A flying castle, it contains the three spirits of the most powerful heroes in history. As powerful as it is, The Rook can be brought down, and the enemy is tenacious. Each battle makes The Rook stronger. However, if the Rook is destroyed, all is lost.

Defend the Rook portrays its world through an interesting, colorful cartoon-like aesthetic. While the game squarely focuses on the board for its duration, there is a strong visual fantasy impression. It strikes a fairly strong impression, but the impression helps in creating a tactical approach and focusing on the action.

The Battleplan

The board is also illustrated. The grid presents itself, but it cannot be rotated, which might be a challenge for some folks in specifically placing friendly units. I found myself finding some difficulty with this, but the different color variations helped identify friends and foes, as well as wisely place enemies.

Defend the Rook is a tactical turn-based and chess-inspired game, but it's also a rogue-like. Players battle across five biomes. Each biome has five waves of enemies to fight and battle through. These range from Orcs to elves to sentient plants. At the end of each biome is a boss fight. These bossfights challenge everything regarding tactics and planning, making them formidable foes to fight.

Waves Upon Waves

Each wave plays like a traditional turn-based game. Players have a turn to move and attack. The enemy has a turn to move and attack. The unique aspect is that the Rook can move around and also attack enemies. However, it must be defended. If it is destroyed, the run is over. From this foundation, Defend the Rook builds its options for players to create the tactical planning they wish.

Between waves, players can upgrade their heroes with different abilities. This includes abilities such as power for attack, armor plating for defense, and special abilities that allow for magical and special powers. The three heroes start out with a knight, a rogue, and a sorceress, but they can be customized as players unlock more abilities in each run. For example, after a few runs, the knight can become a Samurai, bringing with it unique abilities for combat, such as dodging an initial attack. More heroes and their abilities are unlocked over time.

Practice Makes Better

Additional upgrades during a run include other abilities. The Sorceress, for example, can use chain lightning after a successful attack on additional enemies, and even use the spirits of deceased enemies to be summoned and attack during a turn. There's a variety of options, but choose wisely as the choice can affect a run.

In addition to heroes, Defend the Rook has items and towers to access. Strategically placed, these towers can turn the tide of battle, such as the crystal tower, which can form walls of highly damaging crystals. There are also lightning turrets, cannon turrets, and others that can help turn the tide of battle. Being that The Rook can go anywhere on the grid, these towers can go anywhere, but their placement has to be precise. The moment they are deployed, enemies go after them. Once they are destroyed, they are gone for the remainder of the battle.

Whimsical Magic

There are other magical abilities. Traps can freeze enemies in their tracks. Barricades can block enemies. Special spells can be either defensive or offensive. One spell can grant armor defense for all heroes. Another spell can cause an earthquake, causing damage and bypassing armor. Spells can be customized for each run for whichever a player feels is best for combat.

Finally, between biomes, there are more substantial upgrades that can be made for heroes, the rook, and the towers. These beefier upgrades allow The Rook to become a formidable piece on the board with special attacks and buffs for the existing heroes. The same can be applied to heroes through the use of currency gained on the battlefield from engaging enemies.

Running the Runs

When a run is over, and the run will end quite a bit, diamonds earned from slain bosses can be used to unlock heroes and spells. These permanent upgrades allow for more customization and capability when facing the later biomes in the game. The last half of Defend the Rook is difficult, and every upgrade will be needed to stand a chance.

Playing Defend the Rook is a satisfying play that instills that feeling of "one more game" into each run. That is the hallmark of solid game design. Every battle and every victory feels earned, and even when a run is over, there is a satisfaction in the experience, dealing damage to foes and slaying god-like enemies. This is highlighted by the special abilities players utilize.

Hammer of the Gods

One run got me far, and I was able to perform feats such as a stomp, slaying, and damaging surrounding enemies. One attack I made with the sorceress brought the hammer down, slaying multiple enemies in a turn through magic powers and lightning. Moments like that are tremendous fun and endlessly satisfying. However, there is a catch.

Defend the Rook is a grind, especially in the early run. Most of the time, players may not be able to pass the third biome, meaning they will revisit the first two bosses over and over again. This makes upgrades slow and plodding, subsequently making progress slow as well. With rogue-likes, there needs to be a feedback of meaningful progression with each run. If the grind is too great, it's easy to burn out on the game and not continue.

Defend the Rook

Fortunately, Defend the Rook isn't that slow of a grind. There is meaningful progression after each run, especially if bosses are slain. However, it's slower than I would've liked, especially with such engaging combat and tactical abilities. If there were a faster progression system, Defend the Rook would have been a better game. As it stands, it's a solid game that just needed some tweaking.

Defend the Rook is a different rogue-like experience that is exciting, action-packed, and heavy on strategy. The progression is slower than desired, but if you stick with it, you are in for a unique and entertaining tactical experience that will have you feeling rewarded. Grab your heroes and prepare to Defend the Rook.