Candy Defense
Help me guard the counter from candy thieves
How to play
Candy Defense is a free online tower defense game with a roguelike twist: monsters march down toward Mocha's dessert counter, her cannon and turrets fire by themselves, and each level-up lets you pick one of three skills. It plays with one thumb, no download, in any browser on phone or desktop and in Telegram via @MatsuriGamesBot. Play the daily stage, climb the ladder or challenge a friend.
Candy Defense is a cute vertical tower defense with a roguelike twist that you play with one thumb. Sweet-hungry gummy bears, ant trains, splitting jelly slimes and armoured cookie golems march down a candy-tiled path toward Mocha's dessert counter. Her cream cannon fires by itself at whatever comes closest; tap anywhere on the path to focus fire on that lane for a few seconds. Every popped monster gives candy, and every level up offers three skills to pick one: faster or stronger cream, a fan of shots, piercing and bouncing shots, lucky critical sprinkles, four turret seats for a chocolate cannon, a marshmallow carpet, popping-candy lightning, a candy-cane laser and cream frost, a sturdier counter, and combos such as frost and lightning that shatter frozen monsters. Further up, balloon jellies float over the bombs and must be shot down, and a caramel snail leaves a slick trail that speeds the monsters behind it; a lollipop mortar lobs onto the thickest crowd. Ten waves make a stage, with the Gummy King at wave 5 and the candy-thief raccoon at wave 10, and a cleared stage earns up to three stars. Climb the stage ladder, play the daily stage everyone shares, or challenge a friend to the same run.
- My cream cannon and the turrets on the counter fire by themselves at the monsters marching down.
- Popped monsters give candy: fill the bar to level up and pick one of three skills (keys 1–3). Click a monster to focus fire on it (my cream hits it faster and harder); ← → move the focus, ↑ locks on the boss. P or Esc pauses.
- Hold my counter through ten waves: the Gummy King comes at wave 5, the candy-thief raccoon at wave 10.
How to play Candy Defense
The counter across the bottom has 100 health. Monsters that reach it bite every second, and the run is lost when it breaks. The cream cannon fires on its own at the monster closest to the counter; tap or click a monster to turn the cannon, the Choco Cannon and the laser onto it for five seconds. Popped monsters give candy, and a full bar stops the clock while you choose one of three skills: cannon upgrades (Quick Piping, Rich Cream, Multi Tip, Sharp Sugar, Bouncy Gumball, Lucky Sprinkles), a turret for one of four seats (Choco Cannon, Marshmallow Carpet, Popping Candy, Candy-Cane Laser, Cream Frost, Lollipop Mortar), counter skills, or a combo once you own both halves.
A stage is ten waves: the Gummy King leads wave 5 and the candy-thief raccoon wave 10, and each boss wave starts with the counter mended a little. Clear the tenth wave for one star, two with 40% of the counter left, three with 80%. Score is points per monster, 100 a wave, and for a clear 1,500 plus up to 1,000 for the counter's health and 10 for each second under four minutes.
Candy Defense strategy and tips
- Combos are the strongest picks: Shatter (Cream Frost and Popping Candy), Fondue (Choco Cannon and Marshmallow Carpet), Sprinkle Burst (Multi Tip and Lucky Sprinkles), Lollipop Shower (Lollipop Mortar and Multi Tip), Syrup Beam (Candy-Cane Laser and Marshmallow Carpet).
- Six turrets compete for four seats, so plan the pairs you want before the seats fill. A turret you level is usually worth more than a fourth one that does not combine.
- Balloon jellies float over the carpet, bombs and puddles; only shots, lightning, the laser and frost reach them. Tap a bunch as it drifts in so the cannon handles it.
- From stage 7, the caramel snail leaves a slick trail that speeds up everything behind it. Focus it early, before a whole lane slides down its track.
- The counter matters twice: it decides the stars and up to 1,000 points. Thick Frosting, Fresh Batch and Caramel Spikes are worth a pick once monsters start nibbling.
Modes and difficulty
Practice, the daily and friend challenges play the open stage, as tough as stage 4 of the ladder. The daily stage is identical for everyone and changes at 00:00 UTC; only your first try counts on its leaderboard. Level mode is a ladder: clearing stage n opens stage n + 1, with tougher monsters and more of them. Balloon jellies join from stage 4 and caramel snails from stage 7, and every tenth stage cleared for the first time pays 100 candy.
Playing Candy Defense on Matsuri
Candy Defense was built for a phone held in one hand: nothing to aim, no towers to drag, just a tap to focus and a choice at each level-up. Runs are replayed on the server from your taps and picks, so the daily leaderboard is fair. In a Telegram group with @MatsuriGamesBot, every member's score lands on that group's own board, and Mocha cheers from behind the counter.
A little history
Tower defense grew out of custom maps for strategy games such as StarCraft and Warcraft III, then reached a wide audience through browser games like Desktop Tower Defense and later PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies. Recent mobile hits pared it down to a single line to hold and a pick of upgrades between waves, the roguelike shape Candy Defense follows.
In the same series: Action games
- Candy Survivors: Just keep moving, your weapons fire on their own
- Café Rush: Brew, top and serve before the regulars lose patience
- Mocha's Cake Tower: Tap on the beat, stack my cake to the sky
Update log
- · Your first practice run is a gentler stage, to learn the field.
- · A run survives a reload, a closed Telegram or a killed tab and carries on where you left it.
- · Gear comes only from gear points earned by playing this game; candy buys looks, never strength.
- · Pick any level you have already reached on the level ladder, not just the next one.
- · Tapping matters: your shots focus on the monster you tap.
Questions
- Is Candy Defense free, and does it work on a phone?
- Yes. It is free with no ads, no download and no sign-up, in any browser on a phone or a computer and inside Telegram through @MatsuriGamesBot. It is made for one thumb: everything fires by itself, and a tap focuses fire.
- How do I play Candy Defense?
- Monsters march down the path toward Mocha's dessert counter while her cream cannon and the turrets fire on their own. Popped monsters give candy, and each level up lets you pick one of three skills. Tap a monster to focus fire on it for five seconds. Keep the counter standing through ten waves to clear the stage.
- What are the stages and the level ladder?
- A stage is ten waves, with the Gummy King at wave 5 and the candy-thief raccoon at wave 10. Clearing stage n opens stage n + 1, where the monsters are tougher and come in bigger numbers, and every tenth stage cleared for the first time pays 100 candy. The daily stage is the same for everyone.
- How is the score counted?
- Every monster popped scores points (a gummy bear 10, a cookie golem 40, the Gummy King 600, the raccoon 1500) and every wave cleared 100; clearing the stage adds 1500, up to 1000 more for the counter's health left and 10 for every second under four minutes. The server replays every run from your taps to check the score.