What is a tower maul? Maze tower defence explained

A tower maul is a kind of tower defence where there is no fixed road. The creeps walk across open ground to a goal, and the towers you build are the walls that decide which way they go. You don't only defend the path: you build it.

Towers are the maze

In most tower defence games the enemies follow a lane the map draws for them, and you place towers beside it. In a maul the field is open. Creeps always take the shortest way to the goal, so every tower you place makes that way a little longer. A good maze turns a short walk into a long zig-zag past as many of your towers as possible.

There is one hard rule: you can't wall the creeps in. A tower that would close the last way through to the goal can't be placed. You can make the path as long and winding as you like, but it must stay open.

Cheap bricks, strong towers

Because towers double as walls, a maul needs cheap towers. In The Last Maul every race has a maze brick that costs 20–25 gold, so you can afford dozens of them. The expensive towers go where the maze folds back on itself, so the creeps pass them twice.

Shared lives, separate lanes

In The Last Maul up to 8 players defend together. Each player has a lane of their own to maze, and the lanes meet in a shared valley before the goal. Every creep that gets through costs lives from one pool the whole team shares, so one weak lane can end everyone's game. A ground boss that reaches the goal costs 3 lives.

That makes a maul a team game even though you each build alone: you watch each other's lanes, send gold to a teammate who needs it, and pick races that cover each other's weak spots.

Flyers break the rules

Flying creeps ignore the maze and head straight for the goal. Every race has towers that deal with them, and some lines target flyers first. A maze that only stops ground creeps will leak flyers.

Waves, acts and giants

The game is 120 waves long, split into 4 acts: Act I, “The Gathering Dark” (waves 1–30), Act II, “The Long Night” (waves 31–60), Act III, “The Broken Earth” (waves 61–90) and Act IV, “The Last Maul” (waves 91–120). Bosses come every few waves, and the later acts end with giants (the Abyssal Kraken at wave 60, the Deepmaw at wave 90 and the Furnace Colossus at wave 120). Before a new act or a giant, the game stops for a short briefing and waits for the team to be ready.

Try it

The Last Maul runs in your browser: no download, no account needed. Fire, Frost and Storm and the whole of Act I are free. Next, read how to maze.