Bloons Tower Defense (game)

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"Bloons TD (game)" redirects here. For the series in general, see Bloons TD (series). For other uses, see Bloons TD (disambiguation).
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Developer(s) Ninja Kiwi
Publisher(s) Ninja Kiwi
Platform(s) Adobe Flash
Release dates
Ninja Kiwi Unknown
MochiGames 16 August 2007[1]
Newgrounds 16 August 2007
Kongregate 19 August 2007
Armor Games 7 February 2008
Language(s) supported
English

Bloons Tower Defense (also referred to with the retronyms Bloons TD and BTD1) is an Adobe Flash game in the Bloons franchise developed by Ninja Kiwi released in 2007. It is a spin-off of Bloons and the first game in the Bloons TD series. It is the basis of Bloons Tower Defense 2, which shares many assets and mostly the same gameplay.

Gameplay

Further information: Bloons TD (series)#Gameplay
Gameplay of Bloons Tower Defense

Bloons Tower Defense is a tower defense game in which the player places towers on a map to defend against waves of Bloons that move along a path. There are five tower types: the Dart Tower, Tack Tower, Ice Tower, Bomb Tower, and Super Monkey. Each tower type has two upgrades, except the Super Monkey, which only has one. The player can purchase upgrades on a tower in any order. There are six Bloon types: the Red Bloon, Blue Bloon, Green Bloon, Yellow Bloon, Black Bloon, and White Bloon, in order from weakest to strongest. There are a total of 50 rounds.

The map

The map (or "maze", as some flavor text calls it) is a grassy field with a stone path. The path starts on the left, rounds 13 bends, and exits at the top. The user interface normally blocks the right side of the map, though the player can place towers there with glitches.

Towers

Sprites Text Cost Stats Projectile(s)

Dart Tower
Shoots a single dart. Can upgrade to piercing darts and long range darts
$250 Template:G1 tower stats

Tack Tower
Shoots volley of tacks in 8 directions. Can upgrade its shoot speed and its range.[sic]
$400 Template:G1 tower stats

Ice Tower
Freezes nearby bloons. Frozen bloons are immune to darts and tacks, but bombs will destroy them. Can upgrade to increased freeze time, and larger freeze radius.
$850 Template:G1 tower stats

Bomb Tower
Launches a bomb that explodes on impact. Can upgrade to bigger bombs and longer range.
$900 Template:G1 tower stats

Super Monkey
Super monkey shoots a continuous stream of darts and can mow down even the fastest and most stubborn bloons.
$4,000 Template:G1 tower stats

Upgrades

Icon Name Tower Cost Effect
Piercing Darts Dart Tower $210 +1 pierce
Long Range Darts $100 +25 range
Faster Shooting Tack Tower $250 -15 cooldown
Extra Range Tacks $150 +10 range, +30% projectile size
Long Freeze Time Ice Tower $450 +20 freeze duration
Wide Freeze Radius $300 +15 range, +20% projectile size
Bigger Bombs Bomb Tower $650 +50% projectile size (affects both the initial bomb and the explosion)
Extra Range Bombs $250 +20 range
Epic Range Super Monkey $2400 +100 range

Total costs and sell values

Tower Tiers Total cost Sell value
Dart Tower 0-0 $250 $200
1-0 $460 $368
0-1 $350 $280
1-1 $560 $448
Tack Tower 0-0 $400 $320
1-0 $650 $520
0-1 $550 $440
1-1 $800 $640
Ice Tower 0-0 $850 $680
1-0 $1,300 $1,040
0-1 $1,150 $920
1-1 $1,600 $1,280
Bomb Tower 0-0 $900 $720
1-0 $1,550 $1,240
0-1 $1,150 $920
1-1 $1,800 $1,440
Super Monkey 0 $4,000 $3,200
1 $6,400 $5,120

Bloons

Sprite Name RBE Children Time to reach exit
Red Bloon 1 930 frames (23.25s)
Blue Bloon 2 Red Bloon ×1 779 frames (19.47s)
Green Bloon 3 Blue Bloon ×1 544 frames (13.60s)
Yellow Bloon 4 Green Bloon ×1 300 frames (7.50s)
Black Bloon 9 Yellow Bloon ×2 524 frames (13.10s)
White Bloon 9 Yellow Bloon ×2 407 frames (10.17s)

Rounds

# Bloon groups RBE / cash Hint
1 Red ×12 12 That was too easy, press 'Start Round' to play the next round.
2 Red ×25 25 Still super easy, you didn't miss any did you?
3 Red ×12
Blue ×2
Red ×12
Blue ×3
34 Blue bloons move faster and have red bloons inside them.
4 Red ×5
Blue ×12
Red ×5
Blue ×12
58 Remember to spend your money.
5 Red ×15
Blue ×10
Red ×15
Blue ×15
80 Green bloons move even faster and have blue bloons inside them!
6 Green ×10
Green ×5
45 Lots of blue ones coming up. Hope you're ready...
7 Blue ×75 150 The dart tower piercing upgrade allows darts to pop up to 2 bloons each.
8 Red ×20
Blue ×30
Red ×30
Blue ×20
Red ×20
Blue ×20
210 Ice towers work best with bomb towers nearby.
9 Blue ×25
Green ×15
Blue ×25
145 Are you ready for a whole bunch of greens?
10 Green ×35 105 Yellow bloons are - you guessed it, even bigger and even faster and have greens inside them.
11 Yellow ×15 60 Tower upgrades are usually a better option than just adding more towers.
12 Blue ×25
Green ×25
Yellow ×3
137 Tower defense is about what towers you use and where you put them.
13 Blue ×40
Red ×40
Green ×28
Blue ×35
274 The super monkey tower is not a joke, he really kicks ass!
14 Yellow ×28 112 You lose one life for every bloon that escapes. So a blue bloon costs you two lives, a green three lives etc.
15 Green ×30
Blue ×30
Green ×30
240 I've tried and you can't pass the game using only tack towers. You can slow the game down a lot though.
16 Blue ×20
Green ×30
Blue ×30
Green ×20
Blue ×20
Green ×25
365 Relax a bit, there are no yellow bloons in the next level.
17 Blue ×70
Green ×45
Blue ×70
415 Have you played Bloons?
18 Blue ×30
Yellow ×27
Green ×25
243 A whole bunch of greens coming up.
19 Green ×90 270 Too easy. Let's step this up a bit.
20 Yellow ×16
Green ×12
Yellow ×15
Green ×12
Yellow ×17
264 Place your towers so that they can be shooting at something for a long time, corners are good.
21 Yellow ×15
Blue ×10
Yellow ×20
Green ×15
Green ×70
415 Ready for 45 straight yellows?
22 Yellow ×45 180 Yellows, greens, then more yellows - that should take care of you...
23 Yellow ×30
Green ×35
Yellow ×34
361 Did you know that the Greek national anthem has 136 verses?
24 Green ×30
Yellow ×42
Green ×20
Blue ×30
378 93% of American teenage girls say shopping is their favourite activity.
25 Yellow ×25
Green ×30
Yellow ×28
Green ×40
422 Tack towers are really useful for thinning out the crowds - get the speed upgrade for extra effectiveness.
26 Yellow ×85 340 Black bloons are nasty - they are small but contain 2 yellows inside them. Oh did I mention they are IMMUNE TO BOMBS?!
27 Black ×20 180 When you sell a tower, you get 80% of what you paid for it, including all the upgrade money you spent.
28 Yellow ×55
Green ×45
355 Lots and lots of yellows - more than a hundred even, followed by a bunch of black bloons.
29 Yellow ×100
Yellow ×25
Black ×19
671 Next is a cash round - pop hundreds and hundreds of greens to top up your money. If you leak any I'll wince.
30 Green ×250 750 Monkeys aren't so good at shooting at things moving to their left. Something about being right handed I guess.
31 Black ×27
Green ×55
Blue ×10
428 The good thing about black bloons is that they move slower than yellows.
32 Yellow ×20
Green ×25
Black ×23
362 A - lot of yellows.
33 Yellow ×150 600 10% of people lose their temper every day. If they play counterstrike its more like 90% I think...
34 Black ×25
Green ×35
Yellow ×35
470 You will probably need to use every tower type to finish the game.
35 Yellow ×25
Green ×85
Yellow ×85
695 You can improve frame rate a bit by having no towers selected during the round.
36 Black ×17
Yellow ×115
Black ×18
775 Just black bloons coming up. Lots of 'em
37 Black ×59 531 Just around the corner there are a throng of yellow bloons waiting to have a go...
38 Yellow ×220 880 Just for fun, there are some of each colour bloon in the next level. Enjoy popping those easy reds for a change.
39 Red ×50
Blue ×50
Green ×50
Yellow ×50
Black ×40
860 80 blacks bloons. Enjoy.[sic]
40 Black ×80 720 Its important to not lose early lives, because the levels are only getting harder.
41 White ×20
Black ×20
White ×20
540 White bloons are IMMUNE TO FREEZING - and they also have 2 yellows inside them.
42 Yellow ×50
Black ×30
White ×30
740 How many monkeys does it take to make a super monkey? That stuff will keep you up at night.
43 Yellow ×150
Black ×60
White ×40
1,500 Lots and lots and lots of black bloons. More than ever.
44 Black ×120 1,080 Lots and lots and lots of WHITE bloons. More than ever.
45 White ×120 1,080 Lots of white, then black, then yellow bloons. The next level is going to hurt.
46 White ×60
Black ×60
Yellow ×59
1,316 You still playing? I'm impressed, I couldn't get this far without cheating.
47 Black ×70
Yellow ×79
White ×40
1,306 You got any super monkeys yet? Are they really worth all that money?
48 Yellow ×70
White ×80
Black ×80
1,720 Its ok if you don't pass this level. Really it is. Just hit 'try again'. Its the effort that counts.
49 White ×70
Yellow ×99
Black ×80
1,746 This is the last level. There are TONS AND TONS of black AND white bloons coming. Hope you have lots of lives left...
50 White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×10
White ×10
Black ×9
1,791

Despite the claims on round 15, the game is difficult to beat with only a Tack Tower on non-Newgrounds versions.

Strategy

  • Place towers inside corners and turns on the track so their range covers as much of the track as possible.
  • Selling should be avoided as much as possible, since income is very limited.
  • In general, Dart Towers and Tack Towers are the only towers worth using due to their low cost and the lack of any Bloon types that resist them.
    • The Dart tower is cheap compared to its affects and cost. The Piercing Darts upgrade lets one Dart Tower pop 2 Bloons which is cheaper than another Dart tower. Long Range Darts are a poor choice since more towers will increase both damage and area coverage.
    • The Tack Tower is incredibly powerful at corners. You want to point as many tacks into the track as possible (highest on The Maze is 7). Early game the fixed projectile paths can leak Bloons but the more dense clusters can be cut through quickly due to its high damage. Place these as early in the track as possible to pop clusters before they break apart. New Tack Towers are more cost-effective than buying Faster Shooting as long as there are still ideal spots. Extra Range Tacks can be useful after your defense is stabilized to make hitting Bloons more consistent and reaching the opposite end of corners when several are packed into a small spot.
    • The Ice Tower is expensive, deals no damage, does nothing to White Bloons, and doesn't really help Dart Towers and Tack Towers since the freeze effect also makes Bloons immune to them. Both upgrades are bad since you should not be using this tower in the first place.
    • The Bomb Tower is expensive, has poor damage output due to its low attack speed, and does nothing to Black Bloons. If placed near the middle of the track, one or two can put in good damage. Bigger Bombs is a fine upgrade if you can afford it but is too expensive most of the time. Extra Range Bombs is pointless since the Bomb Tower already has a sizeable range and taking the upgrade increases the chance of missing bombs completely near the edge due to slow projectile speed.
    • The Super Monkey isn't worth saving up for. 9 Dart Towers and 8 Piercing Darts upgrades can be bought for about same cost and has roughly the same damage output. The Epic Range upgrade lets it hit most of the map from the middle but suffers from missing darts the further away the Bloons are from it, this can result in it getting distracted by a Bloon across the map and failing to hit it while the rest break through your defenses.

Releases

Kongregate

The Kongregate version has an unlockable badge.

Image Text Points
Balloon Fighter Badge
Level 50 completed with 40 lives
30

Newgrounds

The Tack Tower and its upgrades have different costs in the Newgrounds release.

Base costs
Tack Tower $325
Faster Shooting $200
Extra Range Tacks $110
Total costs and sell values
Tiers Total cost Sell value
0-0 $325 $260
1-0 $525 $420
0-1 $435 $348
1-1 $635 $508

Cool Math Games

The Cool Math Games release alters round 13's pre-round comment to "... he really is poptastic!" to remove a profanity. It is unknown if any other websites that licensed the game use this version.

Bugs and glitches

Upgrade stacking glitch

This glitch currently doesn't work on Ruffle because it doesn't support navigation keys. By pressing Tab until an upgrade button is highlighted then pressing Enter to purchase it, the player can purchase that upgrade multiple times on one tower. There's no limit to the number of times the upgrade can be bought, and it doesn't stop if the player can't afford it, which puts their money into the negatives. One application of this glitch is to use the Tack Tower's Faster Shooting upgrade to increase its attack speed to the cap of 40 shots per second; this is often called the "hypersonic Tack Tower glitch".

Technical information

Engine Adobe Flash (SWF version 8)
Resolution 640×480
Frame rate 40 fps

Development

Ninja Kiwi co-founder Stephen Harris and his brother, Chris Harris, created BTD1 in "late 2007" by working a tower defense game around Bloons's concept.[2]

Unused content

Spikey Ball Tower

Main article: Spikey Ball Tower

The Spikey Ball Tower is an unused type of tower. It shoots volleys of spiked balls in four directions, similar to the Tack Tower. It has no description or upgrades. The spiked balls use the same graphic as the Spikey Ball Bloon from Bloons.

Descriptions

Ninja Kiwi

Stop any bloons from escaping the maze by building and upgrading bloons popping towers. Towers can throw darts, tacks, bombs, and ice. Can you make it through all 50 levels?

MochiGames

Try to pop every bloon before it escapes the maze. Place different kinds of towers around the maze to pop them all.

Kongregate

Stop any Bloons from escaping the maze by building and upgrading bloons popping towers. Throw darts, tacks, bombs and ice. Can you make it through all 50 levels?

Newgrounds

I love tower defense games, and Bloons was fun to make, so I thought we'd try a mix of the two ideas in one game. Have fun!

Instructions

Click on the tower type you want to build on the right side of the screen, then once its selected, place the tower in the maze. Press escape to deselect or cancel your current action. You can sell towers for extra money for 80% of what you paid for them. Larger coloured bloons have smaller bloons inside them, so watch out!

Armor Games

I love tower defense games, and Bloons was fun to make, so I thought we'd try a mix of the two ideas in one game. Have fun!

Controls

Use your mouse.

Screenshots

Icons

References