Elliot realized the game’s true engine: memory. Each level repaired a fragment of his grandmother’s life—moments she’d saved like seeds because she could not bear to lose them. He had been the downloader, the one who resurrected those fragments. Winning a level stitched a seam in the real world: his backyard cleared a patch of matted grass; the kitchen sink drained without protest; on the counter, a teapot that had been stuck in the cabinet for years now poured without a rattle.

: PCs typically handle late-game waves with hundreds of units more smoothly than older mobile devices.