Bloons TD6 (ft. Mednarodni denarni sklad, Monkey Wall Street)

Da, dejansko se bomo lotili tega.

Kljub rahlo absurdni premisi – oborožene opice proti vse bolj agresivnim balonom – je Bloons TD6 takoj razumljiv vsakomur, ki je kdaj igral kakšno igro iz žanra “tower defense”. Postavljati je treba stolpe (v tem primeru opice, oborožene z vsem, od pikado puščic do protiletalske artilerije za uničevanje MOAB-ov), da bi zaustavili valove nevarnih balonov, preden dosežejo svoj cilj. Različne vrste balonov zahtevajo različne odzive, vsak stolp pa ponuja več poti nadgradenj, kar spodbuja eksperimentiranje in prilagajanje. Na začetku Bloons ponuja zelo preprosto, preizkušeno zadoščenje ob pogledu na skrbno postavljeno obrambo, ki razcefra prihajajoče valove. Ko pa igralec napreduje na višje težavnostne stopnje in kompleksnejše mape, igra razkrije presenetljivo strateško globino. Upravljati je treba prihodke in celo dolgove (zahvaljujoč posojilom IMF), načrtovati natančen tajming nadgradenj, usklajevali sinergije med stolpi ter premišljeno žrtvovati opice za odklepanje močnejših možnosti v pozni fazi igre. Uspeh ni odvisen le od učinkovitega pokanja balonov, temveč od obvladovanja ustavljanja, upočasnjevanja, zamrzovanja, odrivanja, oslabitev (debuffov) in zapletenih interakcij med nadgradnjami.

Poleg preizkušanja igralčevega razumevanja mehanik, Bloons preizkuša tudi njeno/njegovo strojno opremo. V pozni fazi igre postane količina balonov in obrambnih elementov na zaslonu povsem nepregledna in katastrofalno zahtevna za procesor. Argumentirali bomo, da to ni napaka, temveč bistvena značilnost igre – celo del njene estetike – in odraz širšega teženja sodobnih iger k senzorični preobremenitvi in raziskovanju mejnih stanj. Ker je to prva igra žanra “tower defense”, ki jo obravnava LjGC, bomo razpravljali tudi o zgodovini žanra in oblikovanju tovrstnih iger nasploh, s posebnim poudarkom na evoluciji same serije Bloons.

Za pripravo na srečanje odigrajte nekaj map na težavnosti Hard, nato preizkusite Alternate Bloon Rounds (odklene se po uspešno končanem Hard) in zatem še način Impoppable (odklene se po končanem ABR). Srečanje bo potekalo v PLAC-u (Linhartova cesta 43, 1000 Ljubljana) v četrtek, 10. marca 2026, ob 18.00.

Priljubljeno in kritiško zelo dobro sprejeto igro Bloons TD6 najdete na Steamu po dostopni ceni 13,79 €: https://store.steampowered.com/app/960090/Bloons_TD_6/

Bloons TD6 (ft. the International Monetary Fund, Monkey Wall Street)

Yes, we’re doing this.

Despite its mildly absurd premise – weaponized monkeys versus increasingly aggressive balloons – Bloons TD6 (short for Bloons Tower Defense 6) is immediately accessible to anyone who has played a tower defense game before. You place towers (in this case, monkeys armed with everything from darts to anti-MOAB artillery) to stop waves of increasingly dangerous bloons (balloons) from reaching the exit. Different bloon types demand different responses, and each tower offers multiple upgrade paths, encouraging experimentation and adaptation. At first, Bloons delivers the simple, time-honored satisfaction of watching carefully placed defenses shred incoming waves. But as you climb into higher difficulties and more complex maps, the game reveals surprising strategic depth. You’ll manage income and even debt (thanks to IMF loans), plan precise upgrade timings, coordinate synergistic tower combinations, and make calculated sacrifices to unlock powerful late-game options. Success depends not just on popping bloons efficiently, but on mastering stuns, slows, freezes, knockbacks, debuffs, and intricate upgrade interactions.

Beyond increasingly testing your understanding of the games’ strange intricacies, Bloons will also stress-test your hardware. By the late game, the sheer scale of bloons and defenses on screen becomes gloriously illegible and catastrophically CPU-intensive. We will argue that this is not a flaw, but an integral feature of what the game is – a part of its aesthetic, even – and reflective of a broader trend in games toward sensory overload and the pursuit of limit-states. As this is the first tower defense game covered by LjGC, we will also discuss the history of the genre and tower defense design more broadly, with special attention to the evolution of Bloons itself.

To prepare for our session, play a few maps on Hard difficulty, then move on to Alternate Bloon Rounds (unlocked after beating Hard), and finally attempt Impoppable mode (unlocked after completing ABR). The session will take place at PLAC (Linhartova cesta 43, 1000 Ljubljana) on Thursday, 10 March 2026 at 18:00.

You can find the popular and critically acclaimed Bloons TD6 on Steam for the very affordable price of €13,79: https://store.steampowered.com/app/960090/Bloons_TD_6/