Tower defense is a subgenre of strategy games where the main mission is to defend a territory against waves of enemies by building structures. Due to its simple nature, the genre has been wildly popular with both casual and hardcore players alike. In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase the best tower defense games to try out in 2025.
Table of Contents
1. Mindustry
Imagine a simplified version of Factorio that is also a tower defense game. The game involves mining resources, building factories, towers, support structures, and units to either defend from waves of enemies or attack an enemy base. Each area presents different challenges with regard to available space and accessible resources. In 2025, Mindustry continues to evolve with community updates, including new schematics and enhanced multiplayer stability.
There is a campaign that revolves around securing zones on a planet and capturing various enemy bases while researching new units, resources, and buildings. There are also custom games to play with or against other players or bots. It is a very fun game if you enjoy resource management, tower defense, or puzzle games.The game supports up to 16-player multiplayer and has very good support for community content (schematics, custom maps, etc.) Definitely worth a try if you're into this kind of game.
2. Creeper World 4
Creeper World is somewhat of a tower defense game, though I think the strategy genre fits it better. Your mobile city cannot withstand much damage, so it must be protected from the enemy known as creeper. The city is typically in the furthest corner, but some missions are a bit sneaky and have long-term threats that can encroach on it over several minutes. From this city, you'll build a network of energy nodes. Each unit will draw energy from the ground around it, expressed by the green perimeter. The less bare dirt you see, the better. This energy is needed to build and fuel weapons, which must be connected to the network in order to receive more ammo. Plus, as you advance your units, they may take some damage, which can be repaired if they're attached to the network. In 2025, Creeper World 4 remains a staple with ongoing mod support and community missions.
Missions will include a few objectives that you need to connect to your network, as well as a few enemy units that create creepers. Creeper is essentially a fluid that pools up and spreads across the map, acting as an acid that destroys energy nodes on contact, and heavily damages your weapons. Since it acts like a liquid, and each map includes differing height levels, where you choose to attack it can influence how well you restrain it. Any creeper that's cut off from a source will eventually dissipate.
3. GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
At first glance it may work and look like a standard TD game - monsters enter the map in waves, walk to our base along predefined paths and we have to defend it by building towers and traps, as well as occasionally using some spells. However, not only Gemcraft does it superbly but it also offers depth and complexity you won't find in most TD games. As of 2025, the game has been remastered with improved graphics and balance tweaks for modern hardware.
The most unique and fun feature of the game, in my opinion, is the wave angering. Players can spend some mana to make monster waves stronger (by increasing monster numbers and stats), which allows you to gain more mana and experience from killing the monsters... IF you can kill them that is. This one feature changes the gameplay from simple defense to the "how far can I push it" competition.Another feature, which adds extra replayability value, is the ability to customize levels. It's pretty fun to return to some of early levels later in the game to see how much stronger you have become by beating the level with some extra difficulty settings. You can add more waves, make monsters stronger, faster, tougher or tweak some game rules to get a harder map with higher experience multiplayer.
4. Bloons TD 6
Bloons TD 6 is a highly addictive, top-down, 3D, tower defense game. It might look like a flash or mobile port at first glance, but has way more depth and strategy than expected. In 2025, Ninja Kiwi continues to release major updates, including new heroes, maps, and events.
Each fight starts off in a map with a path running through it, your goal is to position monkeys to ensure that none of the enemy balloons make it to the end of that path. There are several different monkeys, all with their own special ability and upgrade trees. As you make progress the enemy balloons get harder to pop and some balloons later in the waves can only be killed by monkeys that have the right upgrades.There are special monkeys in the game too which are called Heroes, which have powerful abilities and automatically upgrade each round until level 20, with each level unlocking a new buff or skill. At level 30 you unlock Monkey Knowledge, which is another skill tree to make your monkey troops even stronger. Together with the tons of maps that vary in difficulty, challenges, events, achievements, and CO-OP mode, there is enough to do to keep you busy for many hours.
5. Broken Universe
Broken Universe is a fun tower defense with plenty of gameplay considerations to help it feel nice and modern, and little tweaks to the typical Tower Defense formula including mission goals that balance risk versus reward and encourage strategic play. Highly recommended if you're looking for a good classic tower defense. It is fairly difficult for a TD, but that's a plus in my book. In 2025, the game features new DLC expansions with additional levels and tower fusions.
There is a LOT to unlock as you play, and interactions between towers that you continue to get the whole time (fun Fusion mechanic turns two compatible towers into one tower with aspects of each, typically much stronger as you would expect since it costs two for one). It has an engaging gameplay loop.
6. Element TD 2
Most creeps and towers belong to one of six elements – light, dark, water, fire, nature and earth. Each element is strong and weak against another element. So for example fire creeps will take double damage from water towers, but only half damage from nature towers. As of 2025, Element TD 2 has been updated with new elemental combinations and competitive multiplayer modes.
If you have ever liked tower defense games this is for you. It has everything; a challenging campaign with achievements, hints if you work for a living and can't devote endless hours to devise the best strategy, and hints that you can also turn off if you like the hard path. You can change the modes from easy to insane, multiplayer with leaderboards, a variety of maps, and they are changeable to your style and preference of play.
7. Plants vs Zombies
A simple tower defense game where zombies approach from the right, and players defend the left using plants, with new plants and challenging zombies introduced in each level, including minigames. In 2025, the series thrives with updates to Plants vs. Zombies 3, adding new worlds and plant types for endless replayability.
For many, Plants vs Zombies is the ultimate game, period. Even by tower defense standards, it's simple - there's no long path to defend, the zombies come from the right, and the player defends the left. If a zombie makes it all the way left in a lane, there's one do-over available in the form of a lawnmower. Nevertheless, Plants vs Zombies is a perfect cycle of addiction. Every level offers something new to keep you hooked - more challenging zombies are gradually introduced, numerous minigames break up the gameplay, and new plants become available to play with. Combined with the appealing visuals and aggressively fun sound design, it's easy to see how Plants vs Zombies became a phenomenon.
8. Kingdom Rush Vengeance
A fantasy-fueled tower defense game where players defend against waves of enemies using towers and deployable heroes with powerful abilities, taking place from the perspective of the series antagonist. In 2025, Ironhide Game Studio released a new expansion with additional heroes and challenging campaigns.
Kingdom Rush Vengeance flips the script on the series by casting you as the villainous Vez'nan, unleashing dark towers and minions to conquer the kingdom. With over 10 unique heroes, each boasting specialized abilities, and a vast array of towers with upgrade paths, the game offers deep strategic layers. Epic boss fights, hidden secrets, and multiple difficulty modes ensure high replay value, making it a standout in the genre for tactical depth and charming art style.
9. Orcs Must Die! 3
A mix of third-person shooter, melee, and magic combat with tower defense, requiring strategy and skill to defeat orc hordes using weapons and Dungeon Keeper-style traps, including story mode and War Scenarios. As of 2025, the game features new DLC with additional traps and endless mode enhancements.
Orcs Must Die! 3 delivers a thrilling and over-the-top tower defense experience that guarantees to leave players grinning from ear to ear. This third entry into the series throws players into a frantic battle against waves of grotesque creatures, demanding quick reflexes and strategic thinking if they hope to survive. With an arsenal of traps, weapons, and spells at your disposal, you'll set up deadly defenses and dive into the action yourself in third-person combat.
10. Sanctum 2
A tower defense game that also functions as an FPS, where players build walls, turrets, and other defenses in an arena to stop alien hordes, playable in up to four-player co-op. In 2025, community mods and updates keep the multiplayer scene active.
The Sanctum series combines the strategic depth of tower defense with the fast-paced action of first-person shooters (FPS), creating a unique hybrid gameplay experience. In this original title, players blend tower defense and FPS elements to construct mazes of towers against alien invaders. It seamlessly integrates strategic planning with intense, first-person combat, providing an adrenaline-pumping experience. Building on its predecessor, Sanctum 2 introduces new maps, enemies, and playable characters with unique abilities.
11. Defense Grid: The Awakening
A straightforward tower defense game where players use actual towers to stop aliens from stealing power cores, with resources gained from defeating aliens used to buy or upgrade towers, including death mazes. Updated in 2025 with remastered visuals and new challenge modes.
Defense Grid: The Awakening is straightforward perfection, and unlike many games on this list, you're using actual towers as a defense. The goal is to stop aliens from stealing power cores, using the resources gained from defeating them to buy or upgrade towers. The game emphasizes tower placement and resource management, with maps requiring different strategic approaches and containing various difficulty modifiers for replay value.
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