Adapting your plans to suit the environment is fundamental to many of the best RTS games, but in Axon TD: Uprising you're capable of shifting the very map itself to optimize your base. The mech-based tower defense game has earned itself a very positive Steam user score through its rewarding strategy and blend of modes, with 88% of player reviews recommending it. Now, developer Element Studios is introducing a much-requested new competitive multiplayer mode, allowing you to go head-to-head with real players or skirmish against bots in semi-randomized battles to prove your skills.
Axon TD: Uprising is a tower defense RTS game that's as much about map manipulation as it is about careful unit construction and placement. Faced with wave after wave of the eponymous Axons, you'll have to alter the layout of the environment to reroute the incoming enemies and offer yourself more places to lay down your defenses. With dozens of towers, each with three potential upgrade paths transforming their effects, there's a huge amount of strategy on the table.
Alongside the game's story-driven, 40-mission campaign, you can test your skills in its roguelite survival mode, and quickplay offers 21 standard maps and 18 co-op options. On top of that, there's a custom map editor with Steam Workshop support. Now, however, update 1.1 introduces yet another way to play - competitive PvP multiplayer. Along with putting your prowess to the test against other players, you can also queue into a match against a computer-controlled foe to practice before you head into a real game.
The much-requested 1v1 mode offers four map types, but each has an element of procedural generation to ensure that every match plays out slightly differently. You each start with three pre-selected defenses and two overloads, but can't see what the other player has chosen until things get underway. You can spend credits to send Axons towards your opponent, with higher-tier units and eventually bosses available as the game progresses.
Alongside this is the introduction of a profile page featuring a stats screen. It's also where you'll find the achievement tracker. For every two achievements you've completed, you'll now be given an unlock point to spend on new cosmetic skins for your units. Each point unlocks a full set of three alternate designs for a given tower or trap.
The 1.1 update also makes a wealth of balance changes across the whole game. The most notable among these is a nerf to the power of the EMP. Rather than completely disabling Axon abilities, it reduces their effects by 50%. In survival mode, you can also now remove a single defense from your loadout after reaching wave 30 to allow yourself a chance to restructure your plans slightly.
Axon TD: Uprising update 1.1 is out now. You can read through the full list of unit balance changes and bug fixes in the full patch notes courtesy of Element Studios. The patch includes a remastering of the game's original soundtrack from composer Nick DeJohn, which is now also available to buy separately on Steam if you wish.
Looking for more ways to prove yourself against real players? Here are the best multiplayer games on PC in 2025. We've rounded up the best strategy games to play right now, too.
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