Gemcraft Labyrinth Walkthrough

GameInABottle - these guys sure know how to create tower defense games, and they do it pretty well. Just look at the Gemcraft tower defense series and the addicted gem-smiths and a LOT of unproductive hours the series left in its trails! Delicately combining the strategy and elements from RPG and tower defense genres, Gemcraft is one of those TD games that never fail to offer deep game play (which is surprising for a tower defense game), which comes at a package that's so simple to unwrap. Nothing fancy or complicated - just pure tower defense fun! And now, to make sure you never run out of TD games to waste your time with, GameInABottle brings your Gemcraft Labyrinth, and this title promises to be just as engrossing as its older brothers.

The game play remains unadulterated: just like in other Gemcraft TD games, monsters of all sorts, sizes, and abilities will make a bee line for the orb on the map through the pathway. It's your job to keep the orb safe by placing gems that attack and slow down the monster's march. These gems are placed on towers and traps, which should be strategically stationed for maximum effect. One thing to note, your mana should be able to keep up with the action. To build these powerful gems and structures like shrines and amplifiers, you need A LOT of mana so be wise in spending them. Your mana is your 'dough'... your cash in this tower defense games. HOWEVER, don't forget to give simple traps and Gem bombs a shot. They are inexpensive and very simple to use.

Experiment with walls. While they cost very little mana to build, putting them carefully at strategic key points can turn an otherwise chaotic and unfavorable terrain around... giving you an advantage instead. Once an enemy reaches your orb, damage is dealt to your mana. Once your mana runs out, the enemy attacks become fatal... their attacks will ultimately destroy the orb and you have to start from square one. Again, you need to keep your mana reserves at a HIGH level. Do that and you should be on your way to surviving a barrage of attacks. HOWEVER, if you are not geared up and your mana level is low, a large army of monsters can ruin your day faster than you can say: "Gemcraft Labyrinth!"

For those who haven't played any game from the series, judging by the title, the core of things all boils down to your gems and how you use them. Different colors mean different abilities aside from the damage they deal. Cyan gems, for example, slow down enemy progress. Yellow gems, on the other hand, have a chance to deal multiplied damage... taking down even the toughest monsters without breaking a sweat. Initially, you will only have a couple of colors to choose form and use. HOWEVER, you can combine these gems to increase their power and cook up STRONGER abilities. You can stick with the basic gems the level gives you. BUT you need good strategic thinking to back this up and make the basic gems work. On the other hand, if you have A LOT of mana, you can spend some of them to unlock any color you like and use that gem for the duration of the level. Both ways work, it all boils down to your personal choice. If you want to sweat, go for the first one. If strategic thinking isn't your thing, go spend your mana instead.

For every battle you successfully finish, you will gain experience points and gain levels depending on how well you did. The level gain gives you skill points to spend. If you are just starting out and you are quite unsure and nervous, you can always adjust the battle settings before every level - increase the difficulty in various ways, tweak the bonus experience modifier, and those are just to name a few.

If you have never played any of the games from the series before, I would HIGHLY recommend that you get your feet wet and your hands dirty with the original game first. HOWEVER, that's not a requirement. I have played ALL of the Gemcraft TD games but despite being familiar with the ins and outs, the wrinkles of the game, and everything in between, I must say that Labyrinth scores heavily in the solidity category. While there is nothing surprising or breath-taking about it, it's still a very solid game. One that will surely keep you busy (and maybe unproductive ?) for quite a long time.