The best tower-defense losses seem to tell you exactly which decision failed: a route leaked because the damage was committed too early, a support tower sat out of range, or the economy delayed a needed upgrade. A loss is much harder to learn from when the game hides its targeting, pathing, or why a wave suddenly overwhelmed your build.
Which game gives you the clearest explanation of why a defense failed, and what information does it show?
It’s not quite traditional tower defense, but Bad North is great, and scratches the tower defense itch for me.
It shows the map and enemies you will be up against each level, and if you lose it’s always clear why. (sometimes it’s because you got greedy or were stretched thin and didn’t send enough units, or because you didn’t choose to send the right ones, and often it’s because you made a tactical error while fighting. But it never feels like the game is being randomly unfair)