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Subway Invasion
Game
Game2026
The Gate Must Stand
Developer Senmu Studio
Fend off brutal waves of demonic hordes in this epic fantasy tower defense survivors like! Hack and slash among the action or zoom to strategically control the battlefield. You are the city’s last line of defense, build your base, defend the gate! From the Steam store page
47 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 24, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
64
Fresh
23 positive · 13 negative
95% range 48–78%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 23 | 13 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
26 of 38 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
65% recommend · 22 yes, 12 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 34 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (201 of 259 positive).
Players praise the game's unique blend of tower defense and roguelite mechanics. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note bugs and balance issues, but appreciate the developer's responsiveness. [4][5][6] A few players find the game repetitive or lacking depth after several hours. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [14]
Deeply amateurish and jank, the gameplay is slow, the controls are frustrating and unresponsive and I have literally seen better UI from undergrads. This is not a $10 game. I would hesitate to buy this at $5.
- [16]
I like most of this game. Great units and upgrades. It's fun until the boss fights, most of which make no sense and turn the game into a boring, tedious slog. Waited too long to refund but not sure the game will improve?
- [4]
Just wanted to drop a review as the team behind the game fixed a bug literally hours after it was reported by me. They fixed and changed the issues I was having almost instantly. If you have a bug please feel free to report it to them! The base game is quite fun and l look forward to playing more of this title! Originally I left a review for the game and it feels like it got an entire overhaul now. Plays, looks, and …
- [2]
I wasn't expecting much from a game that costs (way) less than a pint of lager, but after trying the demo and enjoying it, I pulled the trigger on this when it launched. I'm only about 8 hours in, but this already an easy recommend. It's a lovely mix of tower defence and horde-survival, as if Vampire Survivors had a baby with Kingdom Rush. The split is well balanced at around 65/35 (depending on how you play, of …
- [8]
This is one of those situations where I wish there was a neutral button. Not bad enough to thumbs down, but not good enough to thumbs up. There is a great idea behind this game, but it's executed poorly. You'll see a lot of the same critisim, it gets very samey and grindy quickly. The upgrades aren't game changing enough, nothing really new happens as you progress and while the maps change, they don't really. My …
Summarised from 34 of the 46 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
65% of the 34 Steam reviewers we collected recommend The Gate Must Stand. The complaint that keeps coming up: game can become repetitive and grindy. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
47 of 47 · most liked firstDeeply amateurish and jank, the gameplay is slow, the controls are frustrating and unresponsive and I have literally seen better UI from undergrads. This is not a $10 game. I would hesitate to buy this at $5.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just wanted to drop a review as the team behind the game fixed a bug literally hours after it was reported by me. They fixed and changed the issues I was having almost instantly. If you have a bug please feel free to report it to them! The base game is quite fun and l look forward to playing more of this title! Originally I left a review for the game and it feels like it got an entire overhaul now. Plays, looks, and works better than before!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Quality of the Game is just bad. On the bottom left is a Text with "Trail Version"... i bought it, why should i have a trail version... The "Active" Image for the second speed increase is missing or wrong, so i it just a white Icon. The First hero can have an ability that if he dies, he is 10 Seconds in a Demon form... naaa he is in there forever... And that just for my short playtime. Enemies get sometimes stuck on things and never move, but in other sitations they break the barricade...…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blending Vampire Survivors and tower defense, 'The Gate Must Stand' is total chaos https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/blending-vampire-survivors-and-tower-defense-the-gate-must-stand-is-total-chaos/ #IndieGames #TheGateMustStand
neutral · AI labelView post →Very repetitive game loop, and incredibly difficult at higher difficulties with no good strategies to get around it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a fun game and the idea behind it is good. The gameplay itself is rather enjoyable as well. But that's where the praise stops. It's buggy, unbalanced, and undeveloped. - The first two levels are kind of a cakewalk. As long as you place down units at all you seem to be able to win, but the third level suddenly picks up, but only in the last five minutes for the most part. - The meta progression is there just for the sake of meta progression since you can essentially unlock everything…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So, was a bit wishy/washy on whether to buy it or not. Watched 1 streamer, read reviews, but gave it a go anyway since the sale put it under a snack run's price ^_^. First game: I got a Fire Amulet relic, which converts burn damage by my hero/followers into healing. Then, my second relic, I saw Pillar of Symbiosis, which shares healing received, but all minions gain 3 burn stacks every 10s. I wondered if this would combo with the fire relic, but I was confused at first by the phrase…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Gate Must Stand is a medieval fantasy roguelike tower defense game that puts you in the thick of the action! Choose your valiant warrior to hold the last three lines of defense. 🔑 Key requests on #PressEngine 🔗 https://pressengine.games/the-gate-must-stand #gamedev #indiegames #games
neutral · AI labelView post →Comin up on @yogscast.com Stream today we’ve got our next GAME LAUNCH followed by a next fest demo double bill. Join Lewis and special guests as they protect cities in The Gate Must Stand, launch into outer space in Glory on Pluto, and sniff out crime in Dupery. LIVE NOW! #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →Heya folks, here's a final post featuring The Gate Must Stand. This game is honestly pretty fun. Kinda wish you could control the attacks because it'd make it a lot more fun if you could, would also make it controller friendly. #thegatemuststand #videogames #indiegames #demo #screenshots
neutral · AI labelView post →Roguelite/Tower Defense/Deck builder. This game is great because there are so many things to upgrade including unlockable objectives (much more than your usual roguelite/deck builder). Keep your upgrades to utilize with different characters you unlock. I wish the game had full controller support though. Otherwise, dopamine filled. Plays well on my mini PC. There is so much to explore in The Gate Must Stand. The exploration with upgrades is what makes this game great.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had fun playing a round. Will play more
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Gate Must Stand, developed by Senmu Studio and published by Gamersky Games and Yogscast Games, presents an intriguing combination of tower defense, roguelike progression, and action combat that seeks to merge several popular genres into a single battlefield experience. Set in the ruined city of Belrak after a devastating demonic invasion, the game places players in the role of one of the last defenders standing between humanity and total annihilation. The central objective is simple yet…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let's Try: The Gate Must Stand playtest - a action #roguelite tower defe... youtu.be/uix7BOz3Llo?... #gaming #gameplay
neutral · AI labelView post →www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeOG... Heya folks, here's a full gameplay video featuring the playtest demo for The Gate Must Stand. The vid showcases some late level gameplay, where I'm pretty powerful and have nearly finished it. #thegatemuststand #videogames #indiegames #demo #gameplay
neutral · AI labelView post →The Gate Must Stand (2026) Playtest Short Heya folks, here's a bonus feature for today! In this one, I'm showcasing an early playtest for an upcoming hero-based tower defense game called The Gate Must Stand by Senmu Studio and Yogscast Games. The game releases in Q1 2026. #indiegames #shorts
neutral · AI labelView post →Simple Tower defense with a simple game loop, so far I've unlocked the entire base upgrades and been stuck on the final difficulty for now only because I was still trying to level up Rodrick, the tank class who needed to take 1 million damage to get his 2nd level which took multiple runs at the 2nd highest difficulty while face tanking everything. The game is very under developed with many things not told at all to the player such as bonds, the only way you can figure out what each follower…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun game, if a little bare bones. I see some of the complaints about it being unbalanced, but its not that bad in my opinion. Not game breaking by any means. If anything the game is too easy, though i'm still working my way up the difficulty levels. I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is so much fun, and worth every piece of currency you pay too buy this! The main highlight are the defenders you place on the map to defend the gate. You can throw a few on the map and hope you survive, but if you read them carefully and know what they do, the debuffs they apply and the upgrades they can get when you level them up, you will see that all defenders will start to cooperate which each other. And very powerful combinations are possible that will win you the round. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wasn't expecting much from a game that costs (way) less than a pint of lager, but after trying the demo and enjoying it, I pulled the trigger on this when it launched. I'm only about 8 hours in, but this already an easy recommend. It's a lovely mix of tower defence and horde-survival, as if Vampire Survivors had a baby with Kingdom Rush. The split is well balanced at around 65/35 (depending on how you play, of course) between the hero you control, and the towers (followers) you place. Fences…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting tower defense variation. has some awesome mechanics. Quite a few bugs though. Including, that the maps collision mechanics are ♥♥♥♥.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's great! I don't really understand the negative comments. It's better than 90% of other roguelikes/roguelites out there.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a REALLY good and unique take on the Roguelite formula. Absolutely love the idea of mixing upgrading heroes with upgrading army/units under your command. And keeping a castle safe as you do. And the character designs actually look good. Eagerly awaiting more characters and just more stuff in general :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Gate Must Stand surprised me with how much fun it was. It’s been a while since I played a tower-defense game. Incorporating that gameplay into an auto-shooter survival game is a smart idea. If this is the first, I suspect others will follow with their own take. If this isn’t the first, then I need to go out and find those out and see how they compare. All I need now is for the devs to optimize the game for a controller so the Steam Deck experience improves.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like most of this game. Great units and upgrades. It's fun until the boss fights, most of which make no sense and turn the game into a boring, tedious slog. Waited too long to refund but not sure the game will improve?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall simple tower defense with simple graphics and so-so rogue-lite aspects. An arcade rogue-lite with follower placement and extremely limited build mechanics. Limited progression and more just understanding the mechanics. If you don’t like reading long reviews skip to the total score. Art Style – 1 point total – .5/1 This game has very simplistic Newgrounds ish design. I would equate it to the style someone has when first trying to learn to draw anime in their first month.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Highly recommend this game, I like this game so much. With great design and gameplay, this game make so better than some previous game I played. Although having a few issues now, they fix it ASAP that many games cannot do nowadays. I want more achievements to complete it, more difficult levels, more upgrades and more heroes to continue my journey in this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really good fun for maybe 10-15 hours, then starts to get samey. I would say, price accordingly~
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a competently made, glorified flash game, the developer ticked almost all the boxes, the artstyle is great, but they forgot the most important thing, fun gameplay, its just not fun. All the boxes ticked, except audio, which got insanely repetitive and just annoying after awhile. It's a steam deck game for children.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has potential!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TY for joining us for the Gate Must Stand + game giveaways thanks to @yogscast.games! Congrats to the winners! #ad Check it out on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3975750/... TY to 💙 GrayInGreen for raiding in! We raided ❤️ @c0mmandoftw.bsky.social to end the night! #TwitchStreamers #YouTube
neutral · AI labelView post →fun game, can get a little laggy at times and smalls bugs.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →spaghetty coded rubbish, horendous mechanics, gotcha and disrespecting your time. stay away!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →steam deck compatible = 100% lies total clusterf*** nobody can have even tested this
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun game. Has big potential as the dev likes to get creative. 👏
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game was very shallow at the time of release and didn't have much content. (could have potential tho)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its quite simple in its game loop, yet fun in its team build variation possibilities. The game has an atmhosphere that feels good.,
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of those situations where I wish there was a neutral button. Not bad enough to thumbs down, but not good enough to thumbs up. There is a great idea behind this game, but it's executed poorly. You'll see a lot of the same critisim, it gets very samey and grindy quickly. The upgrades aren't game changing enough, nothing really new happens as you progress and while the maps change, they don't really. My biggest issue, is this genre is flooded, and by many games that just do it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/iwoHC-9e0Fk Opening with a strong pitch for combining survivor like play with tower defense but the pacing is inconsistent with numerous waves providing no resistance followed by bosses of immense power.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a tower defense game. If the mazing worked with barricades that take 5 minutes to generate one by one, maybe. But it's just frustrating to play as it is.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just find it fun, nothing too difficult but the visuals are satisfying and you can quite easily lose yourself in playing. There are a few issues that don't really impact the gameplay, like some of the translations being a bit weird or falling out of a textbox, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying my time. Also the dev is constantly changing things and listening to feedback, I think the game will have a good future.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad, good idea, its worked on often.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blending Vampire Survivors and tower defense, 'The Gate Must Stand' is total chaos #IndieGames #TheGateMustStand Blending Vampire Survivors and...
neutral · AI labelView post →Let's change this back to a thumbs up - the dev seems cool and the game is good. It got extremely laggy for me in a game and the final boss became unkillable, but it hasn't happened since, so the game is running smooth at the moment. Only downside to the game at the moment is that it gets very grindy . It takes quite a while to beat the game on max difficulty and you only get about 700 gems for doing so. If you want to unlock all unit upgrades, that is 63000 gems and that is not even…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Gate Must Stand, the brand new title from @yogscast.games released today on Steam. Take up the mantle of one of the city's last warriors in this roguelike game and fend off invading forces. nevermoreniche.com/2026/06/22/a...
neutral · AI labelView post →this game pretty clearly needs an AI content disclosure EDIT: The dev was responsive and seems to have taken the art out and for that I am adjusting my review to positive. I hope they will take greater care in the future and other devs in their region will stop allowing themselves to be taken advantage of by grifters.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →11) The Gate Must Stand store.steampowered.com/app/3975750/... pretty simple horde defense game with meta progression and pick 3 upgrades.
neutral · AI labelView post →
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