Kingdom Rush Origins

Kingdom Rush Origins is a standalone tower defence game by Ironhide Game Studio. Although it is the third released part of the series, its story takes place three decades before the start of Kingdom Rush. The elven army defends forests, magical regions and ancient ruins.

Players build their installations on fixed build spots along set paths. Heroes, reinforcement troops and spells help stop enemy waves. The towers can be developed into different specialisations, so placement and upgrades have to fit together. Origins is not add-on content to its predecessor Frontiers.

Ironhide gives Nov 20, 2014 as the original release date for the mobile versions. According to Steam, the PC version was released on Oct 17, 2018; GOG lists Oct 18 for its store. We therefore set the cross-platform PC launch to the earlier confirmed date. After several PC content expansions, the standalone Nintendo Switch version was released on Sep 17, 2020.

Microsoft dates the Xbox Play Anywhere store product for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S to May 24, 2023. The case is different for Switch 2: Nintendo's store only lists compatibility with Switch software. A new Switch 2 edition or its own release date cannot be inferred from this note.

Kingdom Rush Origins is available on iOS, Android, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Windows, macOS and Linux belong to the shared PC product family. The mobile versions are offered through Apple and Google respectively.

The Nintendo Switch version supports touchscreen, TV, tabletop and handheld modes. Its Switch 2 compatibility is not a separate Switch 2 release. On the Xbox store, Xbox One and Series X|S are listed in a shared Play Anywhere product.

In Kingdom Rush Origins, enemies come in waves along set routes. The player builds towers on limited build spots and invests earned gold in new defences and upgrades. At chokepoints, infantry can hold enemies back while they are attacked from range.

The defence is supplemented by mobile heroes, summoned troops and spells. That is why not only tower type and position decide, but also the timing of individual actions. The maps are hand-crafted and the battles run in real time.

After launch, Ironhide expanded the Steam version with larger content updates. The developers call the campaigns Hulking Rage, Bittering Rancor and Forgotten Treasures. The last-named expansion was released on March 7, 2019 and added the heroes Wilbur and Phoenix, among others.

These expansions are part of the longer-term PC content history. Whether other store and platform versions offer the same content and unlock conditions must be checked separately in each case. Standalone DLC products are not invented from this.

The Steam version lists as minimum requirements a dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM, an OpenGL 3.0 graphics solution with 512 MB video memory and 500 MB free storage. The recommendation is 2 GB RAM and 1 GB graphics memory. The details come from the product sheet, not our own measurements.

Steam historically lists Windows 7, but notes that the current Steam client requires Windows 10 or newer. The store lists separate system requirements for macOS and Linux. The PC details do not describe guaranteed performance on mobile devices or consoles.

The official website lists 16 different heroes with their own powers. These characters can be repositioned on the battlefield and add attacks and abilities to the towers. You can also summon reinforcements and cast spells against critical enemy waves.

The product versions differ in hero availability. Ironhide described the PC version on Steam as a package with all the heroes planned there. The App Store, by contrast, offers optional hero purchases for the iOS version.

Kingdom Rush Origins has several difficulty levels and the permanent game variants Classic, Heroic and Iron. Once you have beaten a map, you can take on further challenges with changed conditions. An encyclopedia contains information about towers and enemies.

Steam lists single-player, cloud saves and achievements. Nintendo lists one player per console. An online co-operative mode is not shown in the checked official store features.

The game world leads through magical elven forests, fairy areas and ruins of a floating metropolis. Enemies include gnolls, giant spiders, sea serpents and the Twilight Army, among others. Larger enemies and bosses require different defence combinations than ordinary waves.

The story takes place around thirty years before the first Kingdom Rush. Origins therefore shows an earlier state of the world and its conflicts. The plot is self-contained and does not require direct continuation from Frontiers.

According to Steam, the PC version supports German, English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese, among others, as interface languages. Nintendo also lists German and touchscreen support for the Switch version.

Cloud saves and achievements are available depending on the platform through the store features. There is no blanket promise of full accessibility, identical controls or universal controller support from this.

Four basic types shape the defence: Elven archers, mages, stone druids and elven infantry. The towers can be upgraded into eight specialised variants with more than 18 special abilities in total. Ironhide mentions rune bears, specialised marksmen and magic trees, for example.

These abilities perform differently depending on the build spot and the enemy units. Choosing the right upgrade at a chokepoint lets you hold off several waves at once. The choice is therefore a lasting core element of tactical planning.