Jarred Defense

Jarred Defense is a tower defense game inspired by older maze-building titles, including Warcraft III custom maps and Flash-era tower defense games. The story centres on a cat stuck in a jar and a character named Yuki, who provides tactical support. The campaign takes roughly 4 to 6 hours to complete and includes cutscenes that explain why Yuki keeps appearing in jars and what happened to the robots.

Towers can be placed anywhere on the map, and there are no predefined tower locations. Players use them to redirect enemies along longer routes, lead them over level hazards such as lava, and create choke points for splash damage. The game does not include spells, first-person shooting or random card modifiers. Instead it relies on planning, placement, items and upgrades. Towers have upgrade trees with branching specialisations, and equippable items can be swapped to change strategy. Players can also send the next wave early to receive a bonus. Levels are handcrafted and change during play, for example when ice blocks melt near heat sources.

Enemies have their own mechanics. Some stop to heal, some fly over defences, some split into more enemies when defeated, and some speed up the further they travel in a straight line. The game also includes bosses and mini-bosses. Optional challenges unlock new towers and items, and cosmetics can be unlocked for Yuki. Endless Mode has leaderboards. A full level editor lets players create maps, publish them to Community Maps, and play and rate maps made by others. The developer describes the game as difficult. It was made by one person, Mikolas, over roughly two years in his spare time, using the open-source Godot engine.