All players sit in a circle. Everyone defends their own round arena against creatures that spawn at the top and try to break through at the bottom. Build towers as a maze – but the path must never be blocked completely. Pick your colour in the lobby; it marks your arena and your row in the scoreboard.

Sends buy creatures that spawn at both of your neighbours and permanently raise your income (gold payout every 10 s). Every 25 s an automatic wave arrives on top of that, and it keeps getting stronger. You can only have a limited number of creatures in play at once – the Units counter in the top right shows how close you are to the cap.

When a creature reaches the end of your lane you lose lives – and the sender is credited with exactly those lives. Leaks are a zero-sum game. At 0 you are eliminated and the circle closes immediately: your neighbours become direct neighbours. Last one standing wins.

There are two base towers: Tech and Element. Each upgrades along three parallel paths (Catapult/Laser/Sniper and Ice/Fire/Air) – just click a tower you have built.

Controls: pick a tower (1/2 or click), then click a tile to build. Building on a tile that already holds a tower overwrites it – the old one is sold at the usual rate and pays for part of the new one. Clicking one of your own towers opens a window right at the tower with its stats, upgrades and the sell button. Drag a rectangle over your towers to select several at once (the most common type in the box) and upgrade or sell them together. You can also press X for sell mode and then click a tower (70 % of everything you invested comes back).

Sends draw from a quota (the number in the top-left of each tile): one charge is ready when the creature unlocks, more recharge over time. The first recharge takes long, every following one is faster – and the pace rises for everyone with the highest income in the match. Early on the quota holds you back, later only your gold does.

Endgame: convert gold into wood. Wood unlocks the third, mythic send set, pays for the tier VI tower upgrades and buys the four gods – each god permanently grants wood income, paid out together with your gold income. Gods can only be bought in order.