If you're a fan of challenging tower defense games that are a bit puzzling, Jarred Defense is one to stick onto that Steam wishlist you've got growing. With full Native Linux support built with Godot!
A cat is stuck in a jar. And it's your problem now.
Yuki is a cat trapped in a jar that, for reasons nobody quite understands, teleports her from one place to another. More precisely, from one jar to the next. Wherever Yuki appears, rogue robots are usually not far behind. Across the game's roughly 4-6 hour story campaign, you have to protect her while unlocking cut-scenes that gradually answer the obvious questions: Why is Yuki being teleported from one jar to another? What happened to the robots? And could any of this possibly be her fault?
Knowing cats - the answer is most likely yes, this is probably all Yuki's fault actually. I have two, I know how mischievous they can be. If you notice spelling errors in articles - blame the cats walking on the keyboard.
See the trailer below:
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Jarred Defense focuses on what made old-school tower defense games so satisfying: place towers directly into enemy paths, force waves through longer routes, create choke points, and make the maze itself part of the strategy. Towers are both weapons and walls, so placement matters as much as firepower.
Around that old-school foundation, Jarred Defense builds a more modern campaign with unlockable towers and items, branching upgrades, maps that change during play, optional challenges, AN Endless Mode, and a built-in level editor with community maps.
It is intentionally challenging, with countless ways to solve each map. Much of the fun comes from trying different strategies: reshaping the maze, swapping equipped items, choosing different upgrades, and finding a completely different solution to the same level.
There are no predefined tower locations and no single correct solution to a map.
- True maze building: Place towers directly into enemy paths with no predefined tower spots.
- Countless solutions: Experiment with different layouts, equipped items, towers, and branching upgrades.
- Changing handcrafted levels: Adapt as hazards, melting ice, new routes, and unusual enemies disrupt your maze.
- 4-6 hour story campaign: Protect Yuki and uncover why a cat in a teleporting jar is being pursued by rogue robots.
- Challenges and Endless Mode: Complete optional objectives and compete on leaderboards.
- Level Editor and Community Maps: Create, publish, play, and rate player-made levels.
“I’ve wanted to make my own game for years, and eventually realized I was in a slightly unusual position where I could program it, draw it, make the trailers, and even do the marketing myself. But the final push was much simpler: I really wanted to play a strategic tower defense with true maze building again. I couldn’t find the game I wanted, so two years ago I started making it,” said developer Mikolas Zuza.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Philadelphus 29 Sep 2026
If you notice spelling errors in articles - blame the cats walking on the keyboard.Noted, will do so from now on! 😆
The "Dr. Purrman" suit missed a chance to have the symbol on front be the Greek letter mu! (Often pronounced like "mew".) Looks pretty fun, though. The only tower defense game I've ever really gotten into was the Defense Grid series from back in the early teens, which had (on some maps) a lot of this sort of "maze building" as part of the strategy.
silverhikari 6 days ago
Last edited by silverhikari on 3 Oct 2026 at 3:57 am UTC
1) It would have been better if each play region was randomised. In this game you create an optimal setup for a specific region run, and that's it. Very little replayability once you have completed a level.
2) I wasn't impressed with the difficulty setting. Not only are you fighting against time to place your towers as soon as the funds are available, but the developer seems to think that everyone is gifted in games like this and gives no quarter for error.
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