# Thornguard — A Tower Defense Roguelike > A Tower Defense Roguelike (iPhone/iPad app by NATHAN CARLISLE FOX.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thornguard/id6760564452 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [NATHAN CARLISLE FOX](https://appshunter.io/developer/1859062685) - Category: Games, Strategy - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 13.0 · 104 MB - Languages: English - Released: 2026-04-14 - Data updated: 2026-06-30 - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thornguard/id6760564452/reviews.md ## What is Thornguard? Thornguard is a tower defense roguelike where every run starts fresh. Choose a prophecy, build towers, draft abilities, collect relics, and see how far you can go. PROPHECIES Pick from 9 challenge tracks before each run. Four elemental prophecies throw themed enemy waves at you. Four tactical prophecies test specific strategies. One throws everything at you from wave one. Each prophecy has 6 difficulty levels with signature mechanics that intensify as you climb. Beat a level, earn a title. TOWERS Six tower types across four elements and two neutral. Fire beats Frost, Frost beats Lightning, Lightning beats Fire. Thorn plays by its own rules. Place your towers wisely — the element matchup matters. ABILITIES Over 20 abilities to collect during a run. They cycle through a queue system — draft them, wait for recharge, activate from your slots. Each ability has a branching upgrade tree from L1 through L3, so you can specialize your build as you go. RELICS After each wave, pick one of three relics. Over 60 relics across four rarities — Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Legendary. They stack and synergize to shape your strategy. No two runs build the same way. BOSS FIGHTS 10 bosses with unique mechanics — summoning minions, shifting lanes, shielding themselves, draining your towers. Beat them for extra gold. FEATURES - 9 prophecy tracks with 6 difficulty levels each - 6 tower types across 4 elements - 20+ abilities with branching upgrade trees - 60+ relics across 4 rarities - 10 bosses with unique mechanics - 40+ enemy types across elemental families - Fully offline — no internet, no accounts, no ads - All progress stored locally on your device Built for quick sessions. No internet required. No ads. No accounts. Just towers and bad decisions. ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Bronze Supporter | $0.99 | one-time | | Silver Supporter | $2.99 | one-time | | Champion | $9.99 | one-time | | Gold Supporter | $4.99 | one-time | ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 0.5.0 — 2026-04-27 What's new in 0.5.0 Build commitment is now a real choice between waves. Two caps reshape how you collect. Ability pool cap (6) • At the cap, picking a new ability opens a swap dialog. Choose which ability to replace. • The new ability comes in one level below what you sacrificed; branch is reset. • Sacrificing an L3 ability lands at L2 and immediately lets you re-pick the branch — re-specialize for the new ability. • Surge and Vortex don't count toward the cap. They're flagged "Free slot" in the codex. • Existing runs in progress are unaffected — oversize pools are grandfathered through to the next run. Inscription equip limit • Reduced from 8 to 6 to match the new ability cap and tighten loadout decisions. ### 0.4.3 — 2026-04-20 • Fixed a bug where ranged and magic enemies could get stuck just outside firing range when Warden Training or Closing Mist was active — they'll now close in and fire as intended. • Legendary relics are now pure RNG (pity system removed). Lucky runs stay lucky; unlucky streaks are no longer artificially corrected. ### 0.4.1 — 2026-04-18 What's new in 0.4.1 Voidmaw gets its bite. The splash hits on crowded slots now land with a teeth-clamping animation and a purple damage number on every enemy caught in the jaws — so you can finally see the maw doing its work. ### 0.4.0 — 2026-04-17 Release Notes — Thornguard 0.4.0 Elemental Identity Overhaul Enemy elemental affinity is now visible and strategic. What was previously a hidden "weakness" tag is now part of the enemy's identity — readable at a glance and exploitable through the triangle you already know. What changed: Every enemy now wears its element on its sleeve. Non-boss neutral enemies (goblins, orcs, trolls, dark elves, etc.) roll a random triangle element at spawn and display it with glowing element-colored eyes: fiery orange, frost blue, or lightning yellow. No more guessing. Elemental enemies keep their identity. Fire goblins, frost golems, ember spirits, and other fixed-element enemies retain their distinctive coloring untouched. Thorn enemies and truly-neutral bosses sit outside the triangle. They can't be exploited by elemental counters, making them the "hard targets" of each wave. Arcane Bolt & Prismatic Gem Rework These adaptive abilities now follow clear, visible rules: Arcane Bolt: +50% damage vs any enemy with a triangle element (fire / frost / lightning). No longer a black-box bonus — if you can see the eye color, you can predict the hit. Prismatic Gem (legendary relic): Hitting an elemental enemy with any ability applies the triangle counter status: Fire enemy → Stun (lightning counters fire) Frost enemy → Burn (fire counters frost) Lightning enemy → Freeze (frost counters lightning) Thorn and truly-neutral enemies are now immune to these effects — plan your drafts accordingly. Enemy Visual Polish Weapons and key details now recolor with the infused element: Shadow Assassin: eyes + dagger blade Orc Shaman: staff skull, flame aura, and shaft Berserker: axe blade Dark Elf: eyes and mouth Codex Updates Element Triangle section now explains rolled elements, adaptive abilities, and the thorn/truly-neutral exception Weakness badges removed from enemy and boss entries (the element badge tells the full story now) Ability and relic descriptions rewritten to match the new rules Under the Hood Save compatibility: runs saved on 0.3.x load cleanly — legacy weakness data is silently migrated 11 new tests covering element spawn rolls, triangle-counter proc logic, and save-compat decoding Full test suite: 2024 tests passing Upgrade note for players: If you loved using Arcane Bolt or Prismatic Gem, they're stronger and more predictable now. If you relied on them against thorn-heavy waves or Boss Spider Queen / Siege Colossus / Void Wyrm runs, you'll want to pair them with other tools — those enemies now sit outside the triangle by design. ### 0.3.1 — 2026-04-16 What's New in 0.3.1 (Build 191) Gameplay - Prophecy levels 4 and 5 now offer 2 mutator draft choices instead of 3, creating tougher decisions at higher difficulties - Master Tactician inscription now adds +1 choice at any level Bug Fixes - Fixed tower prices not reflecting active mutators, inscriptions, or relics - Fixed thorn element weakness being fixed to fire instead of randomized Removed redundant bonus bosses toggle from the Support screen ## More apps by NATHAN CARLISLE FOX - [DevHours](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/devhours/id6756197386) - [HayTracker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/haytracker/id6757104455) - [PropaneTracker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/propanetracker/id6757357644) - [Claw Command](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/claw-command/id6759220612) - [Mystery by Mystery](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mystery-by-mystery/id6759494975) All apps by NATHAN CARLISLE FOX: https://appshunter.io/developer/1859062685 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-30.*