Firewall: Defend The Grid

Become a hacker building cyber defense systems in this retro-futuristic tower defense strategy game. Build your firewall using limited compute power and sector space, connect mods, fight along your defenses running ad-hoc programs and expand to new sectors to protect the Grid from ever-growing chaos.

They’re everywhere. Spyware, malware, viruses, spam, AI slop. In all shapes and sizes. Trying to steal. Fraud. Destroy. And they’re getting devious! Shielded, hidden, regenerating, manipulating memory lanes, fighting back - be prepared for anything. You can’t count on luck on this one. All you got is your skills and your Hacking Deck.

Choose your mission

You’ve been doing this job long enough to almost feel them coming. You’re known for it. That’s why you can be picky choosing your next gig. Most interesting one, most rewarding or prestigious one, so you could earn money and experience needed to upgrade and equip your Hacking Deck.

Follow the main path or do a side mission - it's up to you.

Prepare loadout

Check mission details and optimize your Hacking Deck loadout accordingly. You have a limited number of defenses and equipment that you can bring with you to each mission. You will have to decide between your bread and butter defenses and more situational gear to make the best use of available slots.

When you have everything you need, use your Hacking Deck to connect yourself to the Grid and start preparing your defenses.

Build defenses

Build defense chips in active sectors. Every sector has a limited number of sockets and compute power that your chips use to operate. You can build more defenses than the sector compute power can support, and turn on only the ones that are needed in a given moment.

When the sector runs out of compute, your defenses will go offline. 

Add support chips

Use support chips to tweak your economy by adding additional credits. compute power or M.A.N.A. They need compute power to operate and can be placed only in dedicated support sockets.

Expand to new sectors

When running out of places to build or compute power to run, check what sectors are available to connect. Every sector provides a unique tactical advantage - choose the right ones depending on your defense strategy.

Mod and tweak

Upgrade your defenses to unlock mod slots. Inserting mods can improve their performance or alter their operations. Remember that everything comes at a cost, and compute power is limited so choose your mods wisely.

Additionally, every defense has the option to set targeting priorities that allow for further fine tuning its individual role in the system.

Deploy programs

Use your Memory Allocated Neural Arrays (M.A.N.A.) to deploy ad-hoc programs helping repel the attack. Depending on your decisions during loadout, you can fight along your defenses or focus on controlling the digital battlefield and boosting your defenses.

Balance resources

Defending Cyberspace is not an easy job - requires strategic planning of defense while maintaining a delicate balance between multiple resources.

You need credits to build and compute power to run your defenses. On top of that there is M.A.N.A. for your ad-hoc program deployments. Support chips can help you gain one while spending others. Balancing these three resources is key for building a solid defense.

Shop

Between missions you can visit the shop to buy upgrades and equipment for your Hacking Deck.

Fail. Learn. Adapt.

You will probably fail some missions - it’s not easy to find the best strategy right away. Maybe you should place your defenses differently? Or use different mods? Different combos? Or buy some support chips in the shop? It's up to you!

Key Features

• Build your firewall using multiple upgradable defense chips.

• Add mods to defense chips to improve their performance or alter mechanics.

• Use support chips to improve and tweak your economy.

• Prepare a unique loadout that can be optimized for every mission.

• Handcrafted levels with unlockable sectors provide multiple approaches for building defenses.

• Unique resource management system where you need to maintain a delicate balance between allocating compute to defenses, helper systems, upgrades, and acquiring additional funds.

• Play challenge modes to test your strategy in various variants of previously beaten levels.

• Rank up and earn money in story and challenge modes to upgrade your hacking deck, obtain new defense types, mods, programs and gear and tailor your character to your preferred play style.

• Semi-procedural enemy waves generation to keep levels replayable and engaging.

• No AI was used in any of the game art, sound or text.