Top 10 Best Tower Defense Games

I really like the Tower Defense genre of video games. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a subegenre of RTS video games. The goal is straigthforward and simple. You have to defeat waves of enemies crossing the map before they reach your base. You build various defensive structures like turrets, towers etc. on their path to defeat them.

PS. I didn't include any Facebook games.

Listed in no particular order.

Platform: Playstation 3 | PSP | PSVITA | Microsoft Windows | MAC OS | Linux

The goal of this game is to prevent your enemies from reaching your hut. Small "tribesmen" inhabit the base and for each enemy that reached the hut, one tribesmen is killed. If all your tribesmen is killed, you lose the level. Destroy enemies drop coins and jewels that can be used to research new towers or upgrade existing towers. The player controls a character that can be used to collect the coins and gems.

A Local Co-op is also available with the maximum of two players playing simultaneously on the same platform.

Platform: Microsoft Windows

The Orc Must Die series is a different variation of a Tower Defense game. You control a character in a 3rd person perspective to set up traps. Your character itself can attack the orcs and use various magical spells. Money is given at every start of a level and are dropped whenever you defeated orcs.

The Orc Must Die 2 sequel includes a new local co-op feature and a new character.

Platform: Microsoft Windows | Xbox 360 | OS X

The Defense Grid series features the traditional gameplay mechanics of Tower Defense game. The player must prevent the invading insectoid aliens from stealing the your base's power cores. There are approximately 10 different tower types, each has its town unique abilities. There are three color types that determines a tower's strength; red, green, and yellow. Every tower can be upgraded to either increase the attack power, rate of fire or range at a cost of resources.

Platform: Microsoft Windows | Xbox Live

Sol Survivor features the traditional gameplay elements of a Tower Defense game with a great emphasize on support. The player must defend human colonies from alien creatures known as the Creeps. The player can build different kinds of turrets to defeat these aliens. Players can call for "help" from the orbit to upgrade the turrets or to directly attack the aliens.

The game features multiple kinds of modes such as campaign and survival. A multiplayer option is also available.

Platform: Playstation 3 | PS Vita

Dungeon Defenders features a mix of RPG, Tower defense, action and fantasy gameplay elements. The player controls one of the four heroes, each with their own varying strengths and abilities, to protect the Eternia Crystals from being reached by the enemies. The players can create towers, which can be upgraded and repaired, to defeat or divert the oncoming horde. The player controlled characters can also place traps and even directly attack the enemies.

Dungeon Defenders has a strong focus on multiplayer but can be enjoyed equally on singleplayer.

Platform: Playstation 3 & 4 | Xbox 360 & One | PSVITA | Microsoft Windows | MAC OS | Linux | Wii U| iOS

CastleStorm's gameplay is a mix of a Tower defense, RTS, and base destruction (like Angry Birds). The goal is to either destroy the enemy's castle or to steal their flags. The player can summon troops that will slowly walk towards the enemy base. The player also controls a ballista ,that can fire different types of projectiles. The ballista can be used for defensive purposes or to attack and destroy the enemies' castle. Multiple magical abilities and skills are also available for the player to use. The game features two faction; the Knights and the Vikings.

The game also features multiplayer options such as co-op and versus.

Platform: Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Microsoft Windows | Linux | OS X

The Sanctum series provides a good mix of a first person shooter and a tower defense gameplay. The player controls a character from a first person perspective. This player character can build different kinds of defensive towers and can even attack the enemies using his designated weapon. The player can upgrade his towers and his own weapon using points, which are collected whenever an an enemy is defeated.

Multiplayer features are also present in this game.

Platform: Xbox 360 | Microsoft Windows | Linux | OS X | iOS | Android

The Anomaly series features an altered gameplay version of a typical tower defense game. This gameplay is often described as a reverse tower defense. Instead of towers, the players controls a convoy of vehicles of different types and abilities. These vehicles are used to attack a downed alien spacecraft, which are protected by defensive towers. Instead of directly controlling the vehicles, the player is tasked to set a specific path along the streets for the convoy to follow.

The game also features a soldier (the Commander) on foot, which are directly controlled by the player, to pick up various power ups all across the map.

Platform: All

The goal of the Plant vs Zombies series is for the player to prevent waves of zombies from reaching the house. Players are tasked to place different plants, each displays its own different capabilities, in a field that is divided into 5 horizontal lanes. The player also collects "sun" which are randomly generated per level or can be regularly produced when a player planted Sunflowers.Unlike a traditional tower defense games, these defensive plants can be destroyed or eaten by the zombies.

The game features an in game store page where the play can buy various bonuses with the money they earn completing a level. A number of game modes and mini games can also be played which includes a Zombie mode where the player controls the Zombie.

Platform: Microsoft Windows | Linux | Mac OS X

McDROID greatly reminds me of WALL-E. You control a small rover robot with the mission to save and restore your home planet. Your mission is to plant trees all throughout the planet but always find yourself being interrupted by pesky aliens. You must defend yourself and your base by building different kinds of defensive towers.

Players may find themselves a bit overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done in game especially whenever there's an attack. You may find yourself constantly going back and forth to repair or move your towers and harvesting resources.

The game also has a multiplayer co-op mode.