The co-creator of magic puzzler Hidden Folks is making a sumptuous, spaced-out tower defender

Could tower defence be the ultimate "it's Friday and I am here in body only" genre? I haven't really thought about it before, but Rift Riff's effusively laidback crowd control has me pondering those optimal moments in any tower defender when the incoming horde hits the flamer-MG triangle just right, and you can settle back comfortably into the role of clockwatcher.

Rift Riff encourages this behaviour by being nice to look at. Created by a trio of developers including Hidden Folks designer Adriaan de Jongh, it's a world of spacey, sun-carved mountains, forests and monoliths. The towers resemble the sacred architecture of Monument Valley, and the colour scheme and general ambience remind me of Cocoon. There's a demo, if you fancy it.

Rift Riff's singleplayer offerings are split between several dimensions. In each dimension, you build a home base and surround it with synergistic fortifications to stave off waves of marauding inkblot creatures, using their spilled "juice" to fund additional structures. It's an "open field" tower defender, with attackers emerging from portals around the map rather than following strict lanes (you're told how many are coming from each portal before rounds, but not what kind), and construction permitted only on certain sites.

In the demo, you get rapidfire turrets, tall sniper's eyries, AOE-lobbing cannons, and thumpers which slow attackers nearby. There are more towers and upgrades to unlock between dimensions, while roaming an Eschery hive of obsidian staircases.

The full game is out in 2025. If I had a request, it would be more playfulness with the fundamentals. Give us some of the old Hidden Folks whimsy - what John Walker called "the feeling of a puzzle book that's magically come alive, a Where's Wally where you get to poke and prod the characters". Anyway, you can find Rift Riff on Steam.