mhwang-1/merlion-defense — explained in plain English
Analysis updated 2026-05-18
Play a free browser tower defense game themed around real Singapore neighbourhoods and Asian folklore.
Study how a real world map from OpenStreetMap can be turned into a playable game level.
Use as a reference project for building a Canvas based game without any external game engine.
| mhwang-1/merlion-defense | 100/rutgers-pbl-dining-2015 | a15n/a15n_old | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 0 | — | — |
| Language | HTML | HTML | HTML |
| Last pushed | — | 2015-12-01 | 2016-06-18 |
| Maintenance | — | Dormant | Dormant |
| Setup difficulty | easy | easy | easy |
| Complexity | 2/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| Audience | general | general | general |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
Just run docker compose up, or serve the web folder with any static file server.
Merlion Defense is a browser based tower defense game inspired by Kingdom Rush, but set entirely in real neighbourhoods of Singapore. Instead of fictional maps, each of its 30 levels is built from actual OpenStreetMap data, so the roads, housing blocks, malls, rivers, and MRT rail lines you defend are the real geography of places like Ang Mo Kio, Changi Village, Tiong Bahru, and Merlion Park, with enemy paths following the real streets and trains animating along the real viaducts. The game is built with plain HTML5 Canvas and JavaScript, with no separate backend server and no build tools required to develop it. It can be run either through Docker Compose, which starts a small web server automatically, or by serving the web folder yourself with any static file server, such as Python's built in one. Levels are grouped into four difficulty tiers that sweep across the island from north to south, each with a boss drawn from South East, South, and East Asian folklore, such as a Naga or the Ox-Head Warden. Every level offers three modes: a standard campaign for up to three stars, a one life Heroic Challenge against elite waves, and a one life Iron Challenge with a restricted set of towers. Players also control a hero character drawn from Singaporean and regional legend, build and upgrade towers with locally flavored names like the Durian Launcher or Hawker Wok, and earn merit points to unlock more towers and heroes in an in game armory. Progress saves automatically in the browser's local storage, with an export and import option for backing up or transferring a save file. The project also includes a small command line tool for regenerating a level's real world map geometry from OpenStreetMap's Overpass API, useful if someone wants to tweak or extend a level. The README does not mention a license, so it is unclear under what terms the code and game may be reused.
A browser tower defense game set on real Singapore maps where you fight Asian folklore creatures across 30 levels.
Mainly HTML. The stack also includes JavaScript, HTML5 Canvas, Docker.
Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.
Mainly general.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
double-check against the repo, no cap.