Ahead of the Game - Defend the Castle lets you shoot poison darts at chickens to defend your humble abode

• Deploy card-based weapons to defend your castle
• Strategise the best placement to survive the onslaught
• Unlock more cards and upgrades as you go along

Hello and welcome to Ahead of the Game, a series where we tell you all about an upcoming game that, despite not being out yet, is available for you to play at the time of publishing. Through this series, you can grab a chance to play games well ahead of their release date, be that through Soft Launch, Open Beta, Demos, or more.

What is it with angry avians and furious fowl on mobile these days? We've got them taking vengeance on farmers for stealing eggs, and this time, they're storming my castle in relentless waves - and there's nothing I can do but watch.

Thankfully, the aptly titled Defend the Castle is exactly what it says on the tin - I get to defend my humble abode using all kinds of weapons, which will hopefully repel any other hordes of farm animals coming my way. 

Now, I'm not quite sure what I did for them to attack me like this, but I suppose I can't blame them for going all aggro on me, as they're not the only ones. There are goblins, bats, ice monsters, and giant golems too, so I really have to up my game if I want to survive this tower defence extravaganza.

In Defend the Castle, you'll place towers onto the field in hopes of warding off waves of enemies charging your way, with each new card-based tower you deploy offering different skills that may or may not help you survive the onslaught.

Each card placed consumes mana, which recharges over time and quickens each time you kill an enemy. The screen will freeze to give you a bit of a breather before you deploy a card, but once it's all in motion, all you can do is watch the chaos unfold.

All these are presented with adorable visuals and an incredibly catchy medieval-themed background score, and as you progress, you'll collect coins and currencies you can use to unlock new cards, upgrade your existing ones, and challenge boss raids for a limited time.

It all makes for a jolly good time, and since the visuals are so darn cute, I do feel sorry for the peeved poultry hurtling towards me with no rhyme or reason.

So, how do you play Defend the Castle?

Be ready to spend a good chunk of your time obsessing over poison boomerangs and fiery buzzsaws, though - and then spiralling into an existential crisis as to why you're hurling poison darts at innocent chickens in the first place.