Play Lock's Quest (E)(XenoPhobia) Online

Lock's Quest came out on the Nintendo DS in 2008, developed by 5th Cell. It was part of that wave of DS games that really tried to use both screens and the stylus in a meaningful way, offering a mix of strategy and action that felt distinct from the usual RPG or puzzle titles on the system.

You control a young boy named Lock, tasked with defending his world from an invading army of mechanical enemies called the Clockwork. The core loop splits your time between a building phase, where you use the stylus to drag and place walls, traps, and turrets, and an attack phase, where you directly control Lock to repair damaged defenses and fight enemies with melee attacks. The pressure is constant; your carefully built fortifications can crumble in seconds if you don't actively maintain them during the assault. It creates a rhythm of frantic construction and desperate, real-time defense that feels both strategic and intensely hands-on.