Lock's Quest

Lock's Quest is a real-time strategy game, incorporating tower defense gameplay elements. The battlefield, viewed from an isometric perspective, is displayed on the DS's lower screen. The upper screen shows an overall map with locations of defences and enemies, as well as the remaining time in the battle.

Combat is divided into two phases, Build and Battle. During the Build phase, the player has a limited amount of time and resources to construct defences, which consist of walls, towers, cannons, machines, and traps. Gates also allow Lock to move through defensive walls. Constructing defences consumes Source, which Lock can regain by defeating enemies.

The game is set in the kingdom of Antonia, built using a mysterious substance known as Source. The builders of this kingdom, the Archineers, studied source in an attempt to better understand its properties. The greatest archineer was Agonius, who discovered a remarkable property of Source - that it can emulate life. Agonius started creating lifelike beings from the source, but the King, who understood the dangers of this, demanded that Agonius halt his work. Agonius refused, and so was banished from the kingdom.

Seeking vengeance upon the King, Agonius assumed the mantle of Lord Agony and created a clockwork army with the intent of destroying the kingdom. A war ensued, with heavy casualties on both sides. Eventually, two kingdom archineers, Kenan and Jacob, infiltrated Agony's fortress. The exact nature of the events that happened therein are not revealed until the end of the game - all that is known, at first, is that Agony was defeated, and Jacob was missing, presumed dead. Kenan, now a hero, took up the position of Chief Archineer.

THQ revealed the development of a tower defence game with the working title Construction Combat: Lock's Quest in April 2008 in a press release. In July, at San Diego Comic-Con, THQ debuted a promotional mini-comic based on the universe of the game entitled Lock's Quest: A Source of Hope - Volume 1 drawn by Edison Yan. IGN awarded Lock's Quest its "Best Strategy Game" award for the Nintendo DS at E3 2008 in July.

As promotion for the game's release, 5th Cell held a competition to win a custom DS Lite on their website. A similar competition was held by THQ Australia in October. Lock's Quest was released on September 9, 2008 in North America, with subsequent releases worldwide.

Lock's Quest was well-received by most critics. IGN praised most aspects of the game, and said that it was "one of the most original, inspired, and entertaining experiences" they played for DS, receiving an Editors' Choice Award and DS Game of the Month for September 2008. Nintendo World Report said Lock's Quest was "just a few design tweaks away from being a fantastic game", claiming that it is "definitely disappointing in light of all its great assets and originality". GameZone called it "unique" and "perfectly suited for the DS".

GameDaily praised the story, gameplay, graphics and music, and called it "an excellent game". GameSpot enjoyed the "lengthy" single-player campaign, "exciting" multiplayer, and "addictive" gameplay. Eurogamer criticized the battle phase of combat and the enemy artificial intelligence, while praising the "excellent graphics and repetitive but gripping gameplay".