The fruit have risen, and they are marching on your keep. Every one that reaches it costs you a life — the overripe monarchs cost far more. Build towers on open ground to juice them, and spend the gold you earn on more towers and upgrades.
You do not have to wait. Sending the next wave while one is still running pays 45% of its bonus immediately, and up to three waves can be on the field at once. It is the fastest way to get ahead — and the fastest way to lose.
Every tower has three upgrade paths of five tiers. You may take one path all the way, a second only as far as tier 2, and the third not at all — so a finished tower reads like 5-2-0. Choose deliberately: a Cub Slinger built 5-0-0 is a sniper, 0-5-0 is a machine gun, and 0-0-5 is a bomb.
From wave 20 some fruit arrives waxed — it shimmers, and most towers cannot even see it. The Falcon Scout spots camo from the start, several paths grant it, and the Falcon's Signal path lets it share detection with every tower nearby. Leave camo uncovered and it walks straight through your defence.
Armor subtracts flat damage from every hit, so lots of small hits fare badly against Pineapples and monarchs. Armor never blocks more than 75% of a hit. Magic Towers ignore armor entirely, and the Sniper's AP Rounds do the same.
Rinds are different — Watermelons and some monarchs carry a thick rind that absorbs damage and regrows after a few seconds untouched. Burst damage is wasted on them; sustained fire wins.
Each tower can target the enemy that is First, Last, Strongest, Weakest, or Closest. Put Ice Towers on First to chill leaders, and Snipers on Strongest to focus bosses.
Sixty waves per map, with a different overripe monarch every tenth. Clear all sixty and you can continue into Endless Mode, where the harvest never stops.