ZRevolution is a free strategy video game wherein you must fight back against oppression. This 2D action-adventure indie game has you playing as a group of everyday heroes who rise to the challenge when the citizens are threatened by their own military.

Similar to Plants vs. Zombies, ZRevolution features tower defense mechanics wherein you must protect each of the five lanes you’re given—otherwise it’s game over if even one enemy breaches past your units. The game is easy to play but doesn’t provide a tutorial so players unfamiliar with tower defense games may struggle. 

Lead the revolution

Within 10 levels, ZRevolution displays the real-life events of Myanmar and its efforts to fight back against the military coup. This is why the characters are humans armed with weapons rather than cutesy caricatures. This is considered a “GameDev Strike” and you can help support the game by donating to the developer’s cause. You can easily do this via the menu's shopping cart icon.

The game's goal is simple: protect each lane by placing down different units to combat the oncoming enemies. Each unit costs varying amounts of energy—depending on how strong they are—so you need to either keep collecting the spawning red hand symbols on the map or just generate them yourself with the Keyboard Fighter unit. If a lane is compromised, there’s one last failsafe to clear all enemies on it.

Thankfully, unlike Plants vs. Zombies, the hordes of enemies don’t continuously come at you. There’s a meter at the top-right that displays the three instances wherein they attack so you have time to prepare. However, it can be hard to understand the gameplay if you’ve never played Plants vs. Zombies as the game has no tutorial whatsoever. This can make new players lose time preparing their units.

Lacks an important feature

All in all, ZRevolution is a nice little indie game you can try out if you miss this classic style of tower defense. Not only is it more serious in nature but you can also help out the developers by donating directly to the game. However, it could use more features to make it much more accessible to all players. The lack of a tutorial can hamper one’s experience.