The sixth and latest entry in the Bloons Tower Defense series, it first released on June 13, 2018, for iOS and Android.
[3] In the game, the player—who is able to team up with up to three other players in a co-op mode[4][5]—creates a defense consisting of several variants of monkeys, structures, and traps, collectively known as "towers", in order to prevent balloon-like objects known as "Bloons" from reaching an exit.
[8][9][10] When popped, Bloons grant the player money, which can be used to purchase additional defenses or upgrade existing ones[7][2][9]—upgraded towers gain access to new abilities.
After winning, the player has the option to exit directly back to the home screen, or go into an endless Freeplay mode.
[18] According to the same article posted on PRLog, an "extensive balance and test period" was required due to the "immense scale and strategic depth of the game".
[24] Netflix has announced a third-party version of Bloons TD 6, releasing for June 21, 2023 for iOS and Android.
New Zealand Game Developers Association secretary Stephen Knightly praised the depth of the gameplay in Bloons TD 6, specifically the visual appeal to a general audience and the level of complexity for more experienced players: "It's fun and friendly, so it's accessible, but under the surface it's quite complicated".
Simon Hill from Wired perceives the business model of the game to take into account both the premium market and the freemium market: "It’s a premium game that fully justifies the price of entry, but it also offers a wide range of microtransactions that includes the usual cosmetic upgrades, gameplay boosts, and unlimited access to special events.
"[14] He also praises the balance of replayability with complexity, mainly through the deepened progression and development of strategy in a tower defense context.
One critic from MetaCritic argues that the game has an overwhelming amount of content that lack sufficient replayability and uses a dubious mix of premium and freemium marketing styles.
It now receives over 10,000 constant players on average for any given moment on Steam, being the largest Bloons game in the franchise by far.
[31] Dustin Bailey from PCGamesN noted the increased popularity of the Steam version of Bloons TD 6 and the greater appearance of the game on Twitch.
[34][35][23] Ben "RidiculousHat" Goodman from PC Gamer praises the continuous development of Bloons TD 6, which regularly refines the balance in the game through updates to promote a variety of gameplay.
[34] The success of the Bloons TD franchise had been given praise by digital investment company Modern Times Group, with special note on Ninja Kiwi's continuous work to "pioneer" the tower defense genre in an economically viable but quality format.