Guns 'n Goblins

Guns 'n Goblins looks like a straightforward horde shooter from its title, but it plays more like an incremental game wearing a shooter's skin, where surviving the current wave matters less than what you build back at your Bastion between fights.

The Bastion Is the Real Game in Guns 'n Goblins

Every run of Guns 'n Goblins circles back to the Bastion, a base you build up and defend between waves of monsters rather than a one-and-done battle structure. What you invest in the Bastion between fights carries forward, and those arsenal upgrades don't reset when a new wave starts, which is why Guns 'n Goblins rewards players who treat early waves as funding runs rather than treating every encounter like a final stand.

Leveling your character and upgrading your arsenal both draw from the same resources the Bastion needs, so Guns 'n Goblins constantly forces a choice between making yourself stronger right now or making your base more sustainable for the waves still to come. A weak Bastion can collapse a run just as easily as an undergunned character can, which is why experienced players tend to split resources between the two instead of dumping everything into one side.

Splitting Resources Early in Guns 'n Goblins

A common early approach in Guns 'n Goblins is dividing the first few waves of earnings between a couple of arsenal upgrades and the first layer of Bastion defenses, rather than committing everything to either side.

1. A basic weapon upgrade, to keep pace with the earliest waves
2. A first Bastion defense layer, so the base survives while you're out fighting
3. A character level-up, saved for once the first two are covered

Guns 'n Goblins is still a Bastion-and-arsenal game first, and the horde of monsters at your gate is really just the pressure that decides whether what you built back at the Bastion was enough.