High-Tempo Tax-Paying Tower Defense Marfusha is Out Now on Xbox

Marfusha is a short and sweet indie game made by Japanese developer hinyari9.

You control the titular main character Marfusha, who has been conscripted into the army to defend her country’s borders in a fictional, war-ravaged dystopian world. This is a high-speed tower defense shooter, where you have to shoot down all the enemy machines before they break through the gates.

After every successful day of defense, you get paid a salary, which can then be used to purchase cards. By using these cards, you can recruit coworkers to fight by your side, buy new weapons, upgrade your weapon, or keep a dog in your room.

You get to choose one card from a random pool of three every day… if you can afford them. War is expensive, after all. Your salary goes through a series of tax deductions before reaching your hands, and the taxes only get heavier as the days go on. You’ll have to spend wisely and adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of war if you want to survive until the very end.

This is a pretty short game; one run only takes an hour or so. However, it features multiple endings that change based on who you recruit and how well you defend your objective.

You could also play Challenge Mode, which is an endless survival mode where you can unlock different characters to play as and defend the gate for as long as you can while competing against other players from around the world to get your name on the high score ranking.

Beating the story also unlocks Gallery Mode, where you can look at the stunning artwork of the game (and some bonus illustrations too!) drawn by developer and illustrator hinyari9.

The world and story of Marfusha only fully reveal themselves with multiple playthroughs, and you won’t be able to put it down until you learn everything there is to know.

By the way, the Xbox release for this game includes a brand new animated opening cinematic featuring the specially written theme song “I’ll be there” by singer-songwriter Kokia, who has written music for various video games such as Tales of Innocence.

Can you survive and defend your country until the end?

Marfusha is now available on Xbox!

Marfusha

PLAYISM

☆☆☆☆☆ 3

★★★★★

Play as Marfusha, a gate guard in a dystopian world depicted in 2.5D pixel art, and protect the city gates from being destroyed by invading enemies. You are rewarded for surviving every day, but you will have to pay tax after tax until you have barely enough money to scrape by. You will have to use that meager income to buy upgrades, equipment, and hire coworkers. The enemies only grow stronger by each passing day, and you never know when they might eventually overpower you. Every morning, you can buy one card out of three choices. There are over 70 cards, including weapons, coworkers, upgrades, and random chance events. Choose what to spend what little money you have carefully, and strengthen Marfusha and her coworkers, while making sure you have the equipment necessary to deal with enemy attacks. As time passes, the taxes only grow heavier, but more equipment options become available, and you will meet new allies. Fight together with your coworkers and build up your trust, and you’ll unlock stories with each of them. Endure and survive the endless invasion, and find out what lies at the end of these girls’ gruelling battle. Test your limits with the difficult Challenge Mode!
– Play as characters you meet in Main Mode
– Use exciting new cards exclusive to Challenge Mode!
– Watch special events by finding the right character combinations
– Compete against other players around the world to see who can survive the longest Note: The console version comes with the artbook included.