Tempest Tower Preview - Sweep thy enemies away

Fej (Danish for "sweep") is a janitor who keeps Trip Space - a bunch of floating islands between dimensions - neat and clean. However, the task is complicated when one day monsters start pouring in. You must now defend Trip Space by placing all kinds of traps and turrets, though it's unclear how the peaceful janitor has gained access to all this heavy weaponry. "We're not narrative designers!" exclaims Max Wrighton, the title's game designer, after having explained the premise of Half Past Yellow's upcoming game Tempest Tower.

I last spoke to Wrighton about a year ago at the Nordic Game conference in Malmö, Sweden. At the time, Half Past Yellow had just launched a demo of the puzzle game Spectacle. Unfortunately, the studio didn't manage to land the necessary investments to finish the project, and so they had to return to the drawing board, Wrighton explains.

"Puzzle games are always quite big, especially behind the scenes. There's a lot of iteration and development that goes into them, which you as a player never really see, because the game you end up with is maybe two or three hours long. It's just an expensive investment, and, at least for us, it doesn't seem that publishers want to invest in that right now. We even had a few publishers mention to us that smaller, systemic based, replayable games is what they are looking for."

When trying the demo of Tempest Tower I quickly learned that a systemic based game is exactly what Half Past Yellow has created. Essentially, it is a tower defence game with an action twist, as you don't just sit back and let your turrets do all the work, but also engage the enemies yourself.

Despite Fej not being your typical action hero with a belt full of weapons and explosives, they still pack quite a punch. With their trusty broom, Fej can push enemies towards turrets or traps. Alternatively, you can also deal direct damage by jumping on enemies in true Super Mario fashion, or you can throw the glowing (and exploding) rocks that are hidden around the large, desert-like map.

All Fej's frantic activity doesn't help much though if you haven't built solid defences beforehand. Like most tower defence games, enemies attack in waves, and between each wave you can place different traps and turrets. Initially, you'll only have access to Bug Blasters - an automated turret with an almost leisurely rate of fire - but later you'll gain access to more powerful weapons.

Tempest Tower also has a strong focus on traps. Mines require you to place them in a strategic way, while other traps, like the Spike Trap, must be activated with your broom. It's therefore important to familiarise yourself with the layout of the map, so you can dash between your traps and make sure they are triggered at just the right moment.

By defeating enemies, you'll collect their souls, which is used for buying more gadgets. You have to be careful not to stretch the resources too far though. At one point I accidentally placed a few too many turrets, only to realise I hadn't made a single windmill to power them. Fortunately, military hardware is apparently fully refundable and I was able to correct my mistake. If only reality was as forgiving.

The cancellation of Spectacle took a heavy toll on Half Past Yellow's meagre funds, so it was imperative to get a new game out in a short period of time. The fact that they have managed to do so in a little over a year (development of Tempest Tower started in early 2024) is quite impressive, though it's partly due to a heavy recycling of their previous projects.

"We've used as much as we could in terms of art, design and direction from our previous projects," Wrighton reveals. "We are using the camera and character control from Time on Frog Island, and we are using art and world building from Spectacle."

This clearly shows, but mostly in a positive way. Just as in the developer's previous game, Time on Frog Island, moving around is sheer joy. Fej has a satisfying momentum and the running animation is very charming as it seem like our troubled janitor is constantly running late, broom outstretched, head bumping up and down. Overall, the visual charm is one of the game's main draws, and the character and world design created for the 3D game Spectacle looks just as good viewed from a locked overhead perspective.

Tempest Tower is set to be released in Early Access on April 21. The demo I played is relatively short, but you can already sense the potential. The environments are fun to explore, the action is intense, and there are plenty of choices to make - even between rounds, where you can choose one of three random upgrades, giving the progression a roguelite structure. And while it's not part of the demo and I haven't tried it, Half Past Yellow has shown off some boss fights on social media that look quite promising. If you have even a passing interest in tower defence games, keep this one on your radar.