Unlock
Hard mode opens after you beat Easy and earn Easy Peasy!. The lobby portal is the check. If it is closed, you are not done with Easy.
A Hard clear awards Not So Hard!. Beating Hard while you are the only player in the house awards I Ain't Scared!.
Two doors
Hard houses have two entrances. A desert layout is the one described for this mode. Each door has its own level and its own repair. Enemies that find the cheap door end the run even if the front door is a Diamond Door.
Spend the early waves so both doors reach the tier that unlocks your real towers. Then place damage on both sides. A Mortar set to Strongest is the reported answer for bosses that would otherwise walk through minions.
Bosses players name
- Thorn Warden: reported around 25,000 HP and able to heal. Burst from high-tier Mortars and Cannons matters more than another starter Crossbow.
- Grave Mender: a later Hard boss called out for heavy structure damage. Exact health is not published.
- Cursed Priest: reported around 45,000 HP and fast door drain. Manual repair plus maxed Mortar fire is the described response.
Treat those health figures as play reports. If your client shows a different bar, trust the bar.
Solo versus a friend
Friends add bonus coins, which makes two doors easier to level. The solo badge requires you to be alone in the house, so farm the clear with a partner first and attempt I Ain't Scared! only after the crate towers are upgraded.
Nightmare and Impossible come after Hard in community descriptions of the portal chain. Their wave counts, maps, and boss names are not in the public badge text. Their clear badges are Nightmare who?, Need No One!, Beat HIM!, and Actually Impossible....