Tower Defense is one of the most popular genres in the wide world of Time Wasters. The premise of any TD game is building an array of towers to blow up waves of baddies before they make it to your base. Upgrading and adapting towers as the enemies get stronger and faster is the only way to survive.
Two main styles of Tower Defense dominate the landscape: the first has your enemies following a set path, so you have a basic idea of where to set up your defensive perimeter. The second is more free-form, with the waves of creeps taking a less predictable path across the screen. In these games, you have to set up your own maze of towers to direct the flow of enemy traffic.
This selection of 10 Tower Defense Time Wasters includes both set-path and mazing games, as well as a few with novel twists in gameplay, like tower combos and enemies that can only be hit by specific weapons.
WARNING: TD games are insanely addictive. I can't count the number of hours I spent testing all of these out. I hope you get as much fun out of them as I did, DLS readers!
When Penguins Attack
This one's kind of a novelty, but I think killer penguins make any game more fun. I gave this game a positive review last year, and I thought it was worth mentioning one more time. Your enemies here are, obviously, penguins. They don't follow a set path, so you can build your own maze and force them to take a longer path across the screen. Penguins doesn't offer a huge number of tower types, but there are several different maps with varying terrain to keep gameplay fresh.
Defender: Hold the Holy Pig
Defender: Hold the Holy Pig is a heavily elemental-based tower defense game, which means you'll need to balance your towers amongst several different elements to take out different enemy types. Upgrades go to level 5, and your best tower is the tough-to-get Ultimate Tower, which hits all enemy types. Periodic boss waves add to the challenge. I can't figure out where the Holy Pig comes in, though ...
Desktop Tower Defense Pro
Your playing surface in Desktop TD Pro is, as the name suggests, a wooden desktop. This is just about the most free-for-all tower game around, especially in Sandbox mode. There are 24 "scenarios" you can play through to practice using all the towers and upgrades, but Sandbox is really where it's at in terms of replay value. You'll have to learn how to maze to survive this one.
FlashCraft Tower Defense
FlashCraft is based on the popular Tower Defense mode in Warcraft III. It's more challenging than a lot of TD games because your enemies can fight back and destroy your towers. Other challenges include not being able to see the entire map at once, and having to save up for tech upgrades before you can create new tower types. Don't expect an exact replica of Warcraft III, but be prepared for a challenging TD experience.
GemCraft Zero: Gem of Eternity
GemCraft is a whole other kind of Tower Defense game. The abilities of your towers come from a combination of gems, so you have to keep track of more than just how many times you've upgraded a tower. GemCraft is an extra-tough TD because the mana points you use to create gems and build towers and traps are also your life points, which get depleted if you let an enemy reach the other side. GemCraft has a story mode with several different levels, and you can gain experience and new abilities as you complete them. I lost more time to this game than any other on my list. It's addictive! Fortunately, you can save your game so you don't lose those hours of progress.
Protector
Instead of towers, Protector has wizards and warriors. It's sort of the same idea, but your protectors can level up and gain new skills as they kill more enemies. It's up to you to decide whether you want them to be generalists or focus on special attacks. Protector has a pretty extensive world map that should keep you playing for hours on end. Complex, well-designed TD action.
Bloons Tower Defense 4
The latest and greatest in the popular Bloons series, Bloons TD 4 adds better graphics and plenty of new tower types. What's more fun than a deadly (and kind of cute) battle between monkeys and balloons? Pretty much nothing.
Defend Your Honor
In this unusual game, you play an elf who's looking for the Walrus King's golden statue, so you can earn command of the king's army and get your own apartment. The twist is that you've got a set arsenal of characters to deploy at the beginning of each battle and, while you can upgrade during battle, you can't buy new units until you pass a level. Defend Your Honor isn't a long game, but it's enjoyable and has a sense of humor. One word: chinchillas.
Antbuster
Antbuster is a piece of cake. Literally. Your goal is to stop an army of ants from running away from your picnic with a cake. Luckily for you, you somehow remember to pack your collection of ant-sized cannon towers. Now it's on! Mazing is (sort of) possible in Antbuster, even though the number of towers you can buy is limited. The game is even easier because the ants have to make it back to their hole with your cake, so you have two changes to shoot them.
Whiteboard Tower Defense
Whiteboard Tower Defense is a challenging TD with unique whiteboard-sketch graphics. I found it tougher than average, and the selection of towers isn't huge, but the sound effects and the aesthetic are really fun. Also, the Boss Tower is awesome if you can afford it. If I were still in school, I'd be daydreaming about this game every time a professor put notes on the board.
So, there you have it ... ten of the most awesome Tower Defense time-wasters on the web. They're all free, and they're all fun. Let us know which is your favorite, or leave us a comment about a game that should've made my list.
