How to Read a Tower Defence Map in the First Ten Seconds

The best tower defence players I know don't start by placing towers. They start by tracing the path. Before you spend a single coin, follow the route with your eyes and find the longest stretch where a tower can hit enemies for the most time. That's your prime real estate.

Corners are gold. Enemies slow their effective travel around bends, so a tower parked at a tight turn hits the same units two or three times. Overlapping coverage on corners beats scattering towers evenly across the map almost every time.

Don't overbuild early. It's tempting to fill every slot, but keeping some money in reserve lets you react to a nasty wave with a targeted upgrade or a well-placed slow tower. Flexibility usually wins over a pretty layout.

Finally, learn which enemy each map loves to throw at you. Once you know a level opens with fast swarms, you can pre-buy splash damage instead of scrambling. A few seconds of reading up front saves whole runs later.