Sir, We Have an Orc Problem: Beginner's Guide & Best Towers
A bazillion orcs are coming and you've got turrets, bombs, and a tech tree. Here's how the game works and which towers the community swears by.
What is this game?
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem is a short, incremental-style tower defense game by Mumpitz Games, released July 28, 2026. The pitch is in the title: tens of thousands of orcs are coming to overrun your base, and you defend with towers, active abilities — and meta-progression that makes every run, won or lost, count.
The core loop
The game runs on two loops that feed each other:
- In-run: survive waves of orcs across 6 chapters with your towers and abilities.
- Meta: every run earns resources — win or lose — which you spend on a massive upgrade tree that makes towers and abilities stronger for next time.
Because upgrades persist, early "failures" are progress. The difficulty challenges (1.1 through 6.2 achievements) basically assume a near-complete tech tree.
Active abilities
Four click-to-use abilities, on hotkeys, available in every run:
- Missile launcher — the workhorse; upgradeable into a delete button.
- Air strafe — a quick AoE strike.
- Nuke — the screen-clearing panic button.
- Cryo beam — freezes and slows a targeted area.
Ability upgrades live in the tech tree too — some challenge runs (2.1, 4.1) lean entirely on them.
Tower archetypes
Every tower fits at least one of three roles (community guide by plant4):
- Power — high DPS and solid pierce; less reliable up close, but against hordes that downside vanishes.
- Support — crowd control or damage amp (includes knockback).
- Cleanup — fast, reliable single-target/small-crowd damage.
Every tower explained
| Tower | Gunner (machine gun) |
|---|---|
| Role | High fire rate, low pierce/damage. Excellent cleanup; maxed out it becomes a horde weapon. |
| Tower | Mortar |
| Role | Power/support hybrid. Infinite pierce, modest damage, but knockback that blocks off chokepoints. |
| Tower | Cannon |
| Role | The power weapon — excellent pierce, incredible damage, slow fire rate. Aim along orc flow lines, or wall off chokes. |
| Tower | Flamethrower |
| Role | Most versatile. Best as support: 30% damage amp on affected orcs + chance to not consume pierce. Place in front of your main damage. |
| Tower | Tesla coil |
| Role | One of the best. Fast fire rate, CC, good damage, and 360° electric chaining — the best cleanup tower. Keep it behind your main line. |
| Tower | Grenade launcher |
| Role | Default support: heavy slow + damage amp. Front of the main damage setup. |
| Tower | Laser |
| Role | Infinite pierce, best range, bouncing shots. Laser walls can block entire chokes; now fires reliably on slants. |
Best tower ranking
The community guide's personal ranking (reliability and versatility over raw DPS):
- Tesla coil — the best all-rounder, solid anywhere.
- Cannon — the best horde clearer; 1-2 cannons hold areas where lasers need ~4.
- Laser — top-tier power now that terrain no longer ruins its bounce.
After those three, machine guns (reliable cleanup), flamethrowers (amp support), mortars (knockback), and grenade launchers (slow) round out the list. For hard challenges, follow the exact setups on our level loadouts page.
FAQ
Is this game hard?
Normal runs are manageable; the achievement challenges (1.1–6.2) are genuinely hard and assume a nearly-maxed tech tree.
How long is it?
A few hours for the main chapters, plus challenge runs for achievements.
Is there co-op?
No — single-player only.
Which tower should I build first?
Tesla for general use, cannon for horde lanes, laser for long sightlines.
Related:Level Loadouts ·Achievements Guide ·System Requirements