The map is partially inspired by the Andes mountains with a large central mountain, and many more off in the distance. The player is able to build towers anywhere in the grassy area (and some water-based towers as well). The player is free to structure their tower defenses however they see fit.
At the start of the game, the player has a choice of their companion. Pictured to the left is a guanaco, which is a close relative to the llama and lives in the Andes. Each companion will provide a different special ability or stat boost. The player can name their companion and they will follow the player around.
There are 9 towers types - the tower building mechanic is set on a grid with each tower taking up a 9 square chunk. There are a mix of attacking towers, resource generating, and healing towers.
The player can upgrade 4 main categories (as of now - this may develop into more attributes): health, damage, attack speed, and running speed. Each upgrade costs silver, and gets progressively more expensive as you upgrade.
I am creating TLM on the game engine Godot and using both C# and GDScript to handle the coding. I am doing all the artwork in Asesprite, and creating the sound effects and music in GarageBand. Luckily these tools allow me to keep my develop as a zero-cost project (except for the $20 Asesprite purchase, and this $14 domain).
Certain enemies are smart enough to surround the player and avoid towers. I have also added in randomization to the enemy decisions. Any given enemy will randomly select to attack towers, the player, or the home base.
The home base is modeled after some old Inca ruins. It will be up to the player on how they want to protect it. If the base is destroyed, then the game is over.
I'm developing multiple more tower types. Some of which are towers that do high close-range damage, towers that slow enemies down and redirect them, and towers that can repair or boost other local towers. Some towers do better againsr certain enemy types.
I am working on a bunch more enemy types. One exmaple is a water-based enemy which is a stationary ship which does heavy damage to the home base (and when the player is in range) but can only be taken out by towers. Another example is an enemy which will deactivate towers if they get within range. And many more to come.