Hello there tower defense lovers who didn’t want to wait another five years to see my review of the modern version of Tower Defense Simulator, WoodReviewer here with my 2025 review of Tower Defense Simulator by Paradoxum Games. I’m sure some of you are probably wondering why I am deciding to review Tower Defense Sim. I mean, it isn’t exactly uncommon for me to rereview games from my older reviews, but usually I have a reason if it is either tradition, some major update or some other major Roblox event. To be completely honest here, the entire reason I am making this review is because the Tower Defense Simulator hard badge in the recent The Winter Showcase event was super hard and it took me like 10 hours of in-game grinding and attempts to get. Only for the badge to be changed the next day to be much easier. This is a hate review fueled by anger even more than most of my other reviews, which says a lot when I’ve been hate posting for almost a decade now.

So, how is the wood grain in Tower Defense Simulator?

Well, it is terrible.

Let’s start out with a map that I featured in my last review, Forest Camp. Since my original 2019 review this map was basically entirely remade to the point to the fact that I actually went back to double check that it was really the same map. Just as a refresher, this was the the map in 2019. Looks a lot like 2010 Roblox than 2019 Roblox.

And this is the map in 2025. I know, almost unrecognizable. However while many people would consider this an upgrade, I consider it a massive downgrade because it has so much more bad wood grain. Take this tower, for example. The tower legs and diagonal struts all have proper wood grain, likely due to the fact they are a single mesh/union that has horizontal wood grain.

Unlike the 2019 map, this new Forest Camp has more than one example of bad wood grain, with much more on this military barracks in the map, mainly on the vertical wood grain holding up the roof in front.

But that’s not where it stops. These picnic benches also have a ton of bad wood grain, with the boards for the table top and the bench having bad wood grain. Additionally the supports for the entire table also have bad wood grain.

Also, the supports for the shooting range also have bad wood grain. That isn’t all of the bad wood grain in the map, but this review is on the entire game so I don’t want to spend an entire review going over a single map.

The next map from my original review that is making a comeback is Autumn Falling. Much like Forest Camp, this map was almost unrecognizable to me with the only real clue that they were the same map being the trees.

One way they were similar, however, was with bad wood grain on the bridge. On the plus side, the supports spanning between both sides of the bridge have been fixed.

Another reminder of the old map was on the lampposts scattered around the map. In the 2019 version they were one of the more detailed items in the game, with several unioned parts to make it appear weathered and slightly crooked.

The newer lamp is slightly larger than the old one, but also is made of mostly regular parts. But somehow the wood grain got worse, with the vertical support and the horizontal arm having bad wood grain. Oh, and also that curved support brace for the arm has bad wood grain. But that is a union so atleast it has a bit more of an excuse. Still looks terrible though.

The next map that is getting a revisit is Badlands. Or should I say Badlands II since the original Badlands was removed. Is it technically the same map? No. But as a reminder this is a hate review so I really don’t care. Anyway the big issue I had on Badlands was with the support trestles for the minecart tracks.

Thankfully those seem to have been fixed in Badlands II.

But remember this is a hate review, and other parts of the map new map still have bad wood grain so it still sucks. One of the most obvious examples is on the struts on the water tower in the map. They appear to have horizontal wood grain on the outer faces when the grain should be horizontal, connecting between the tower legs.

Additionally the walls of the main mine area also have bad wood grain on horizontal planks that have vertical wood grain.

The last map from my previous review that is making a return today is Medieval Times. Much like Forest Camp this map is almost unrecognizable from its previous version of… this.

However the bad wood grain is still here. One such example is the lamppost from Autumn Falling which makes a return, bad wood grain and all.

Other than the lamppost, the only other major example of bad wood grain was on the houses. This was a problem on the old houses also.

But on the new ones it is much more obvious as like with most of the other maps the assets are a scale or two larger than the old 2019 era maps. Also the fence posts in this image have bad wood grain as well.

And with that, my look and the maps from my old review that are still in the game is done. Normally this would be a good time to stop as this review is about as long as most of my normal reviews, but remember, this is a hate review, and the wood grain here sucks, so the review will continue on with some of the new maps.

EDITORS NOTE: These maps may have been in the game in 2019 but either I didn’t play them due to the RNG map selector or skipped them due to a lack of wood grain.

The first of these maps is Deserted Village. The first example of bad wood grain I saw was on these stalls which have bad wood grain on all of the vertical supports.

The piece of bad wood grain here was on these barrels and this door. The door is fairly easy to understand, the vertical planks on the door should have vertical wood grain. The barrel is more complicated. One day I will make a proper explanation, but the planks on a barrel should always be vertical and will not elaborate further at this time.

Moving on, the next map I am taking a look at is Wrecked Bridge. It is called Wrecked Bridge because the wood grain is wrecked on this bridge. Again, no I will not elaborate further.

Next up is Wrecked Battlefield. It is called that because the wood grain is wrecked. No I will not elaborate further.

EDITORS NOTE: The wood grain on the vertical trenches is bad. Additionally, the crates have bad wood grain on their vertical supports.

EDITORS NOTE: Wrecked Battlefield also has this pallet. The pieces deck boards that go across the pallet relative to the camera should have wood grain that goes the same way.

EDITORS NOTE: The top of the frame for the exit at Wrecked Bridge also have bad wood grain, but it is more funny to include it down here for the “I will not elaborate further bit.”

Next up is a map that is unique in that it makes heavy use of custom textures, Farm Lands. The first issue that I came across is a fairly common one that I’ve see, the railings on a ladder have improper wood grain. In this case it is a random ladder that is leaning on this tank of some kind because why not put a ladder here.

The next ample is a bit harder to see, but that little wooden brace at the corner of this roof has bad wood grain. It is fairly hard to see due the fact there isn’t a good angle to view it, its small size, and the fact it is a custom wooden texture that makes it harder, but it is there and the grain is wrong.

The last map in this review is a map that I actually played in 2019 but didn’t include because it didn’t have any bad wood grain back then, Toyboard. The most obvious thing that most people would think I would have some issue with is these toy blocks, but they seem ok. Much like with my Care Bear review, the thing with the toy blocks is they should only be an inch or two at their normal scale and when things are that small and don’t have any forces acting on them that would cause them to break wood grain doesn’t matter much. Yes, if an angry child throws them they will be more likely to break along the grain but overall it isn’t that big of an issue.

Actually nevermind I was just reviewing this image and the cylinder should have vertical wood grain and this is a hate review and the devs suck, disregard my previous statements. The wood grain here sucks.

Also this completely kills my final point of this review where even though those blocks are fine, this boarder around the toy board is bad so it still sucks regardless.

Anyway, this is my review of the 2025 version of Tower Defense Simulator. Is it an improvement over the 2019 version? No, the wood grain still sucks and every single one of the devs should feel bad about it. Hopefully when most of these maps get remade for the 11th time the wood grain will be fixed, but if not I will be back in another 6 years with part 3 of my review.