Bloons Tower Defense 6

"Bloons TD 6 will maintain the series' captivating balance of family friendly visual style and challenging, skill based strategic play."

- Ninja Kiwi Bloons TD 6 is a game that was announced on March 28, 2017 on PRLog for the iTunes App Store, Google Play Store, and Amazon App Store and released on June 13, 2018. PRLog - Ninja Kiwi Announces Bloons TD 6 in Development [https://ninjakiwi.com/blog/news/173252-what-s-up-at-ninja-kiwi-27-october-2017 What's Up At Ninja Kiwi? - 27 October, 2017] The game, like its predecessors, revolves around popping Bloons using monkey towers. Unlike the previous games, however, Bloons Tower Defense 6 utilizes 3D objects that can block the monkey's line of sight, which makes tower placement significantly more important. Certain vision-blocking objects can be removed for a fee, which will free up space for tower placement and sometimes can reveal hidden water.

Main gameplay
Gameplay in Bloons TD 6 is similar to previous games, with monkeys popping Bloons. Bloons TD 6 introduces many new game mechanics such as Purple Bloons, an all-new MOAB-Class Bloon, new hero towers, 5th tier upgrades, and a third upgrade path for each monkey. D.D.T.s, which first appeared in Bloons Monkey City, also return. The new Bloons have different properties, such as Purple Bloons being immune to fire, plasma, and energy weapons, and Fortified Bloons, which are stronger variations of their regular counterpart (the Fortified property will double the health of all bloons it is applied to except for leads, which quadruples its health). Each game progresses using rounds. These rounds gradually introduce more Bloon types, and get harder the later you progress. Before starting a game, you are prompted to choose a mode - Easy, Medium, or Hard - and select a sub-mode. The variety of modes in Bloons TD 6 allows players to play the same map in many different ways, making the game more diverse than previous installments in the Bloons TD series. Upon completing a game, you will get a certain amount of Monkey Money based on the difficulty of the map chosen, and the mode chosen. After a map's first completion on a difficulty, the amount of Monkey Money rewarded upon completion is significantly reduced. MOAB-Class bloons such as the M.O.A.B., B.F.B., Z.O.M.G., and D.D.T. return in BTD6, along with the new B.A.D bloon. These bloons only appear in rounds 40+, however, they all have a lot of health. M.O.A.B.s require 200 hits to pop, B.F.B.s require 700 hits to pop, Z.O.M.G.s require 4,000 hits to pop, D.D.T.s require 400 hits to pop and B.A.D.s require 20,000 hits to pop.

Tutorial
Upon playing the game for the first time, the Army Monkey gives a tutorial on how to play the game. At the track Town Center, he declares the aim of the game: "Stop the Bloons from getting through!" The player is then instructed to place a 0-0 Dart Monkey inside the designated circle. After placing a second 0-0 Dart Monkey in another part of the track, the first round can be played. The Army Monkey then points out the Play button, which is used to begin the next round.

After beating the second round, he points out that popping Bloons earns the monkeys experience: "Popping Bloons earns your Monkeys experience!" He then instructs the player to tap on the Dart Monkey icon to unlock an upgrade. He tells the player that "each Monkey type has 5 upgrades in 3 paths," after which the player is free to choose one of the Dart Monkey's Tier 1 upgrades to unlock.

After unlocking an upgrade, the Army Monkey tells the player that he needs to apply the upgrade to the Dart Monkeys in play in order for them to be able to use it.

After completing Round 3, Quincy, one of the four current heroes, arrives. The Army Monkey tells the player that Quincy is a Monkey Hero that upgrades himself throughout the course of the game.

After Round 4 is completed, the player levels up to Level 2, allowing the player to unlock a Primary Monkey. The choices for them are Boomerang Thrower, Tack Shooter, Bomb Shooter, Ice Monkey, and Glue Gunner. The same process occurs after Round 9 is completed, which is when the player levels up to Level 3, allowing the player to unlock another Primary Monkey.

After Round 10, the player wins the tutorial game and earns 100.

Monkeys
Bloons Tower Defense 6 currently features a roster of 19 monkeys (2 new monkeys and 17 returning from previous BTD games) and 4 heroes to help pop bloons. These monkeys are split into four classes: Primary, Military, Magic, and Support. The monkeys range from simple Boomerang Monkeys to the all-powerful Dart Monkey, each one with its own unique attacks, abilities and strengths. Monkey XP still exists, but this time around it functions a bit differently. You can save up Monkey XP to unlock upgrades in any order you wish, but the amount of monkey XP required increases the farther down the upgrade path you travel. XP can also be saved, allowing you to go down the path the player wishes rather than unlocking them in order. Each monkey has its own set of XP so you cannot use Dart Monkey XP to buy upgrades for the Bomb Shooter. Each monkey offers 15 total upgrades which are split into 3 paths of 5. The player may only have at most one path of 5 and one path of 2 used at any given time.

Maps
There are currently 20 maps in Bloons Tower Defense 6. There are 9 beginner maps, 5 intermediate maps, 4 advanced maps, and 2 expert maps. The payout for completing a map depends on both the map's predetermined difficulty and the chosen game difficulty. (E.g. An Expert Map played on Hard difficulty will give more money than a Intermediate Map played on Easy)

Beginner: Intermediate: Advanced: Expert:
 * Monkey Meadow: A grassy map. Similar to Monkey Lane from BTD5. This map contains no items blocking sight and no water, making it the simplest map in the game.
 * Tree Stump: A map around a tree stump. Bloons circle around the stump, then make a bigger circle before exiting. The tree stump will block the sight of towers, but towers on the stump have no restrictions. Similar to Park Path from BTD5.  The axe in the log can be tapped to make it wiggle.
 * Town Center: A grassy map with a Bloons Monkey City vibe. Water lines the top left of the map, but is often too small and too far from the track to be useful unless using the Advanced Intel upgrade for the Monkey Sub is procured. The buildings and the windmill are sight obstacles. This is the map featured in the tutorial of the game.
 * In the Loop: An autumn-themed map. Bloons follow a square that has loops on 3 of its corners. There is water in the upper right loop. The trees and tools on this map can block a monkey's line of sight.
 * Cubism: An abstract art map. Bloons go around the triangles and quadrilaterals. There is water in the lower right corner and in one of the triangles, allowing for water towers to be placed on this map. This map features 2 storm drains that do not affect gameplay.
 * Four Circles: A sprint track map. Bloons go around four circles. The top left and bottom right circles are each half water. This map uniquely features a timer near the bottom right that counts minutes and seconds.
 * Hedge: A grassy garden map. Bloons go around the hedges. There is a statue in the middle of a Dart Monkey.  Hedges along the track block monkeys' lines of sight, and cannot be removed. If the Dart Monkey statue is tapped, it rotates 90 degrees.
 * End of the Road: A desert road map. Bloons follow a horizontal road with two curves and then go back where they came from. There is water near the end of the road, allowing for water towers to be placed. The cacti on this map can also block monkeys' lines of sight although this doesn't practically affect gameplay
 * Logs: A swamp-like map. The bloons follow a vertical checkerboard path and then follow a horizontal one, going under numerous logs. The middle square of the checkerboard-like pattern is water instead of land, allowing water towers to be used on this map. Monkeys cannot see through the logs on this map.
 * Cracked: A ruined land map. This map features a rock that can be removed for $1,000, but otherwise blocks a monkey's vision. Underneath the rock is a small body of water. Oddly, this map features a sign that can block towers from being placed on it, but does not block monkey's vision.
 * Streambed: A mountain/sediment bay map with bones. There is a good sized body of water near the bottom of the map. A skull in the middle of the map blocks the sight of monkeys, but can be removed for $1,000.
 * Chutes: A temple map. Bloons come out starting on the left path, then alternating. There are two monkey statues in the middle, which you can remove for $350 each. Otherwise, they can block the sight of monkeys.
 * Rake: A cherry blossom/Japanese sand garden map. Bloons come out of two sides at once and leave in two places. This map contains a small body of water. There is also a statue which can be removed for $350, that will block monkey's sight if not removed. Oddly, the rake on the top left of the map does not block line of sight, but does not count as viable land for placing towers.
 * Spice Islands: An island/archipelago map, consisting mostly of water. The palm trees can block a monkey's line of sight, but can be removed for $1,000. This map was featered in a teaser to Bloons TD 6.
 * Anotherbrick: A brick wall map. Bloons go around a wall, which counts as a sight blocker. The entire left side is off limits for placing, but it is possible to remove each palette of bricks for $1,000 each to free up space for Banana Farms, Aces or Heli Pilots.  Small water puddles are present.
 * Off the Coast: A beach map. Bloons come from the water at the bottom to the beach and then go back to the water. This map features a wrecked ship in the water that blocks water towers from being placed on it, and cannot be removed. Land towers, however, can be placed on certain parts of the wreck, such as on the crows nest and the bow.
 * Cornfield: A corn field map. At the start, the only area where the player can place towers is a small square in the middle. The player may uncover more land by paying to remove the corn fields. The cost to remove a cornfield ranges from $350 to $1,500. It is possible to place towers within the dirt separating the cornfields if positioned correctly.
 * Underground: A cave-styled map.  The bloons go around two rounded interlocking rail roads.  There are no objects that block monkey's vision in a practical sense. (Rocks along the edges block vision, although this doesn't affect gameplay significantly.)
 * Muddy Puddles: A muddy field map. Bloons come out the four squiggling paths, alternating each round. Puddles are present between some of the paths allowing Buccaneers and Subs to be placed.
 * #Ouch: A city or road map. Bloons come out four ways and leave four ways, all at the same time. The water in the middle can be removed for $1,000, but cannot be removed if towers are placed in the water. This map is similar to the Extreme Map Main Street featured in BTD5, albeit with more accessible water and another set of paths.

Trivia

 * Ninja Kiwi said they would have Bloons Tower Defense 6 officially released on 14th June 2018, but it was instead released a day early, on 13th June 2018. This is probably because the mentioned date was the release date in New Zealand time.
 * As of 6/15/18, Bloons TD 6 is the number one paid app on the Appstore and Google Play Store. Similarly, Bloons TD 5 previously made it to the top few games on the Appstore and Google Play Store, and still holds a high rank on both stores.
 * On the main menu screen, the left palm tree, left house, windmill, town hall, and middle statue can be tapped. Upon being tapped, a different monkey reacts depending on which item was tapped.
 * Tapping the palm tree will cause a Boomerang Monkey to pop up and throw a boomerang.
 * Tapping the left hut will cause two Bomb Shooters to appear and fire bombs at each other.
 * Tapping the town hall will cause a Ninja Monkey to jump up and vanish in a puff of smoke.
 * Tapping the windmill will cause a Monkey Ace to fly across the screen.
 * Tapping the statue will cause a Dart Monkey to peek out from behind.
 * In BTD6, the pop count also includes damage to MOAB-class, which wasn't a feature present in Bloons TD 5 or earlier.
 * Banana Farms also have a pop count that is equal to amount of money they have produced.
 * Towers in BTD6 have a total of 15 upgrades to choose from (3 Paths of 5).  BTD5 only had 8 upgrades to choose from per tower (2 Paths of 4).