15 best Android tower defense games

Tower defense games were among the first to truly take advantage of mobile phones. The touch controls make it easy to play on screens and the upgrades allowed for the depth you couldn’t find in too many games in the early days of mobile gaming. In other words, they’re just as fun to play on mobile phones as they are on other platforms. The genre has stagnated a bit in recent years, but tower defense titles are still among the best and most entertaining strategy games on mobile. Here are the best tower defense games for Android.

2112TD is a pretty good tower defense game. It relies more heavily on micromanagement than your traditional tower defense game. That’s where the difficulty in this game comes from. At its core, it plays like most tower defense games. You place defenders, upgrade them as you play, and try and keep the upper hand against the attackers. The game includes achievements, combat stats, and a rock-solid overall experience. It’s a bit more old-school than these modern games, but it has a single (and honestly, cheap) price tag with no in-app purchases.

Bloons TD 6

Price: $4.99 with in-app purchases

The Bloons TD series is one of the most popular and successful tower defense franchises on mobile. The latest one, Bloons TD 6, launched in 2018. It features over 20 maps, tons of upgrades, 19 towers, three upgrade paths, offline support, new game modes, and more. The developers added a bunch of extra stuff after launch as well. Of course, previous iterations of the game also have their charms, and some of them still get updates. It’s nice to see companies still taking the genre seriously, even years after it hit its second renaissance. Bloons TD 6 (and previous games) are solid tower defense games for reasonable prices.

Data Defense

Price: $4.99

Data Defense is a minimal-style tower defense game with some neat ideas. Players build to defend their servers from outside attacks. It has all the same mechanics as a traditional tower defense, but they have clever names for the stuff you do. For example, instead of building towers, you install defense programs. The game is 100% playable offline, includes 50 maps, and offers up 30 different towers. That’s quite a bit more variety than some other tower defense games. Some players have issues with difficulty, especially at higher levels, but otherwise, it plays quite well. It’s far from perfect, but it has a single price tag, no in-app purchases, and no advertising.

Defenders 2: Tower Defense CCG

Price: Free to play

Defenders 2 is a tower defense and card-collecting hybrid. You unlock various towers and such by collecting cards. The things you unlock are usable in the game. The freemium aspect should be fairly apparent. However, this game can pump out a few dozen good hours of play before it starts bothering you for money. It features a total of 40 towers, 20 spells, 29 bosses, and even PvP. This one has a bit of a bad endgame thanks to microtransactions, but the initial experience is quite good.

Defense Zone 3

Price: Free to play

Defense Zone 3 is the latest of a popular series of tower defense games. It features a lot of the mechanics from the prior two games along with some new stuff to freshen things up. It also features several difficulty modes, eight kinds of turrets, special battles, and support for 20 languages. In addition, the game leans a bit on its difficulty settings so you can find a difficulty no matter your experience level. The graphics are also pretty good. This one is a bit older, but it’s still quite good.

Digfender

Price: Free to play

Digfender is a fun take on the tower defense genre. Each level gives you a basic map. You’ll then have to dig your level out yourself and defend the path you dig. The game features 70 levels, a survival mode where you can challenge for leaderboard supremacy, achievements, and a variety of upgrades. It also boasts no paywalls or wait timers so you can play as much as you want. It’s one of the most underrated tower defense games out there.

Element TD is a newer pay-once tower defense game in a genre that is quickly being overtaken by freemium titles. It features simple graphics and a fairly standard premise. There are maps, you lay down towers, and hope they can get the job done. There is an elemental mechanic where the elements you choose determine which towers you can lay down. That helps provide an extra layer of challenge. There are also 44 towers, 50 different bad guys, 30 achievements, and five difficulty settings. It’s a solid overall game and it’s worth a shot.

Grow Castle

Price: Free to play

Grow Castle is one of the interesting tower defense games. This one gives you an actual tower that you must defend. It can be stocked with a selection of heroes that do the defending. There are 120 heroes, Each one has its own powers to shape the context of the game. The game also features a ranking system, guilds, and more. It’s a freemium game. That’s probably the thing we like least about it. It is a fun play, though.

Infinitode 2

Price: Free to play

Infinitode 2 is a minimal tower defense game with fairly simple graphics. The minimalism of the game allows you to build like a madman and has some of the deepest upgrades of any tower defense game on the list. It has 14 types of towers, 11 types of enemies, and over 40 levels. In addition, the game lets players create maps and share them with other players, a unique feature in this space. You can also sync your progress with the PC version. There is very little wrong with this game, and all in-app purchases are obtainable for free if you play long enough. This is one of those really good ones, folks, there is no doubt about it.

Iron Marines

Price: $4.99 with in-app purchases

Iron Marines is the latest tower defense game from Ironhide Game Studio. We also have their Kingdom Rush franchise a bit further down. This one is among the newer tower defense games. It features 14 campaign missions, ten additional special missions, and an Impossible Mode for an additional challenge. There are also a variety of towers and heroes. They are unlockable and upgradeable. It comes complete with achievements and more. It’s $4.99 with in-app purchases. This one is also available on Google Play Pass if you use it.

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Kingdom Rush games

Price: $0.99-$4.99 with in-app purchases (each)

The Kingdom Rush series is one of the most prolific and highly rated tower defense franchises on the list. It adheres strictly to the classic tower defense mechanics which has garnered it a tiny bit of vitriol from more serious gamers, but most people still really enjoy these titles. There are four total, including Kingdom Rush, Kingdom Rush Frontiers, Kingdom Rush Origins, and the newest title, Kingdom Rush Vengeance. They all have similar mechanics with small mechanic changes as you progress through the series. The first Kingdom Rush game is free with no in-app purchases which makes it a great jumping in point. The entire Kingdom Rush series is also available on Google Play Pass.

Myth Defense LF

Price: Free / $2.99-$3.99

Myth Defense is a family of pay-once tower defense games for those who dislike freemium. The basic mechanics are purely tower defense. It also adds things such as random maps, alchemy, and more. There are 18 maps in the campaign mode, two difficulty levels, 22 towers (along with three traps), 33 total levels, and support for multiple languages. You can also play both difficulties at once with each one having its own save file. There are two games in the series (Myth Defense LF and Myth Defense 2) and both them are relatively inexpensive. They’re worth a shot. Both games are available on Google Play Pass as well.

Plants vs Zombies 1, 2, and Heroes

Price: Free to play

The Plants vs Zombies games are arguably the most casual gamer-friendly tower defense games on the list. It doesn’t look like your classic tower defense but the mechanics are there. You must defend against waves of enemies by planting weaponized plants in your yard to obstruct their path. It’s long been one of the most popular tower defense games. Additionally, it’s a fun game and it’s great for casual gamers. The developers have also been consistent with adding new content for those who have reached the end of the game. Plants vs Zombies Heroes is also decent if you want a card game spin on the game mechanics.

Radiant Defense

Price: Free / $0.99

Radiant Defense is easily the most colorful tower defense game on the list. It also features some rather unique mechanics. Players build their own routes and then line that route with towers. This is in stark contrast to the standard where the developers make the paths for you. It adds an extra layer of strategy on top of an already above-average tower defense experience. It’s a bit short with only about 15 missions. However, the game is also quite inexpensive.

Swamp Attack

Price: Free to play

Swamp Attack is a tower defense game with a goofy southern theme. It plays a lot like Plants vs Zombies. Bad guy waves come in from the right side and a hick with a gun battles them off from the left side. You get some weapons, decent strategy elements, and 390 single-player levels. That should keep you going for a while. Players also tap the screen to shoot weapons so there is an element of control here as well. It’s a free-to-play game, but it really only affects the endgame experience.

If we missed any great tower defense games for Android, tell us about them in the comments. You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
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