Ad Astra: Sci-Fi Tower Defense
Release date: Dec 20, 2024
Developers: Azure Moon Games Ltd.
Publishers: Azure Moon Games Ltd.
Genres: Action, Casual, Indie, Strategy
Categories: Single-player, Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, Family Sharing
Supported languages: English

In the distant future, humanity scours alien worlds for valuable resources to fuel the ceaseless tide of human expansion. On their quest, they encounter a machine-race powered by a sentient artificial intelligence that spans the galaxy & competes with humanity for control across the stars. Commander, you are tasked with meeting this challenge & securing dominance for our people. Your mission: to protect vital outposts & build a foothold across alien worlds scattered across the cosmos, each containing precious resources that could turn the tides of war. Feature Highlights: Build & conquer:  Construct a slew of resource-gathering structures as you fight to defend them from the incoming horde. Balance structure deployment with defenses to best the incoming machine-hordes. High-Tech Towers: Deploy an array of futuristic towers equipped with destructive cannons, laser arrays, & missile salvos to obliterate the machine menace. Be warned, you're just as liable to destroy your own infrastructure if you're not careful; mind your line of fire, Commander. Tiers of destruction:  Advance through Tiers 1-3 of each tower to keep up with the strengthening tides of enemies. Can you balance the harvest of advanced metals, gases, composites & build more powerful tiers of defenses to protect your operations? Diverse Alien Enemies: Face off against a multitude of alien machine species, each with unique strengths & weaknesses. Adapt your strategies to counter armored mecha-beasts, swift infiltrators, shielded behemoths, & swarms of bio-mechanical inspired monstrosities. Dynamic Environments: Defend outposts in varying terrains, from rocky hills to icy alien moons & the scorching deserts of distant planets. Each environment presents its own ambience & hurdles. Bumpin' Beats:  Enjoy the epic retro arcade sci-fi tunes by Ovani Sound. Use the Music Player to find your favorite beats and rock on to victory, or hop into the menu and adjust the independent sound sliders to your preference.  Steam Deck:  The game runs on Steam Deck with 'Low' graphical settings. I am awaiting official review & compatibility status designation from Valve. Steam Cloud:  Pick up where you left off on any PC or your Steam Deck thanks to Steam Cloud saves.  Will you withstand the challenges ahead & manage your resources wisely in defense of your bases across the galaxy or will you be yet another forgotten casualty in the war against the Zephyr Horde? Suit up, Commander— Ad astra! Gameplay Highlights: Ad Astra was built to be an engaging and challenging Tower Defense experience that offers 3 game modes - Quick, Standard, and Infinite. Manage your base while you juggle keeping your defenses afloat against an ever strengthening foe. Can you balance your base-building & defense infrastructure to keep up? Alien worlds: Fight tactically through 3 biomes & 9 levels to try & conquer each with your best high score. The different biomes will provide a range of suitable terrain to build on, starting easy and becoming more limited.  Weapons of war: Turrets range from Tier 1 to Tier 3 but require more advanced resources to build. Be careful, your turrets can & will damage your own infrastructure, so keep your lines of sight in mind when placing your defenses & utilize vertical & thoughtful placement to maximize time-on-target & limit damage to your own! Achievements: Earn Achievements and wear these badges of honour with pride as you conquer the challenges that others could not withstand!  About Azure Moon Games Ltd.: I am a solo-indie game developer & artist who has been invested in games for all my life. I grew up on Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Skyroads, One Must Fall & Commander Keen just to name a few. I've always wanted to develop my own games & with this title & Unreal Engine 5, I've finally made that dream a reality. I want to build experiences that will capture the same sense of wonder I had growing up on simple, honest-to-goodness games. Games for gamers, made by a gamer. The Azure Moon Games Promise: I will never sell micro-transactions. I will never nickel-and-dime players, cut out content just to cynically sell it for an additional premium. I want to provide complete experiences that are made with care & passion. I have so many ambitions & stories to tell, epic sagas that have lived in my imagination for far too many years that I'm dying to share with my fellow gamers. My games will always be about a fun, engaging gameplay experience that respects your time & money. I'm disgusted by the new $90 game standard price point, the endless 'editions' available at an up-sell and the dicing and price-locking of features and content. Lets take back gaming from the Corpo-suits and put the gamers back in charge of this epic hobby. Most of all, I want my newborn son to not only have these genuine gaming experiences as he grows up, I want to provide a successful company that I can hand-off to him, if he chooses to follow in my footsteps.  Thank you for taking the time to stop by & read all this rambling. I hope you enjoy this first offering from Azure Moon Games! There's plenty more to come. Ad Astra, Commander!