The SDMB Tower Defense game thread!

I did some searching here, and saw that someone was talking about starting a Tower Defense game thread about 18 months ago, but I didn’t see where it had ever actually been started, so I started this one to have an on-going TD game thread on the Straight Dope.

I started playing Kingdom Rush last week. First I bought it for my iPad for US$0.99, then I started playing it on my home machine for free. I even coughed up the US$5 for the bonus content online, and it’s kinda cool to see Yoda or Darth Vader or Scorpion or ninjas appear as my reinforcements. I’m not an expert on Tower Defense games, but this one has been great fun for me, and I’m looking for others.

What TD games have you played that you particularly enjoyed? Which ones sucked, and why?

And is there a Quarry Defense game? Because I’m fully prepared to throw things down there!

The Bloons Tower Defense games are pretty much the best.

Desktop Tower Defense is my favorite. I like the purity of it. Start with an empty square board, etc

Creeper world is not exactly tower defense, but close enough that I’ll dare mention it here. Great game, especially when you buy the downloadable versions.

Thanks! I’ve spent several hours now playing BTD5, and while it’s quite a bit different from Kingdom Rush, it’s a ton of fun. It’s both simpler and more complex, and quite a bit faster paced.

I still think basic DTD was the best. Other ones I’ve liked:

Vector TD - Nothing too special in terms of gameplay. But it’s the perfect combination of music and visuals that give it a great sense of flow. It’s almost as good just to watch it.

Bubble Tanks TD - Lets you build up some combined towers that are ridiculously powerful. It has the downside that some levels can’t be won fairly. (i.e. you have to game the system or only do as best you can; I don’t find that fun in a TD game)

Gemcraft - In this series, you get different colored gems, and you can save up and combine them to get varying effects, even down to dropping them as bombs on the field. You also develop/unlock skills that help you beat the levels. Another notable feature is that the levels are intended to be replayed - you advance through a map and usually need to beat a stage in various ways to get farther. This is better than it sounds, since the challenges can make a big difference, and since you usually can’t beat a challenge immediately on unlocking a stage, but you can choose which ones to go back - it gives it a little bit of RPGish feeling.

edit: Should mention Bloons TD was great too, it was just already mentioned in the thread.

The Bloons games are fun, but it’s the Gemcraft games that I get compulsive about.

In Gemcraft: Labryinth, I’ve actually reached the point at which I can beat Endurance mode on pretty much any map. (It’s not endless; it has 1337 waves.) The key, oddly enough, is to select apparently suicidal challenge settings–all giant monsters, quadruple monster count, faster monsters, and so forth. I haven’t done it often, just because it takes a long time to build up the necessary gems–about 200 waves to set up the field so that I can tell it to send all remaining waves, then do something else while the monsters march to their doom.

My favorites are Cursed Treasure: Don’t Touch My Gems, Cursed Treasure: Level Pack, and Desktop Tower Defense 1.5

I really like Tower Madness on my iPhone.

For the PC Bloons might indeed be the best so far.

My kids love that Zombie vs plants one though.

Plants vs. Zombies isn’t all that challenging, but it is a ton of fun.

I guess going up the tower and throwing stuff off isn’t the same.

Now I’m picturing a Monty Python-based TD game, in which your towers launch a bizarre assortment of random objects at enemy knights, and you can upgrade them with taunting Frenchmen.

Well, no, it isn’t unless you’re throwing things into a quarry. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? Are you gonna tell us that you don’t enjoy throwing things down into a quarry? Pfft. Nonsense! Everybody likes that! It’s fun! :stuck_out_tongue:

[Bloons 5 TD Deluxe (download, not an online flash game) has a release date: August 15](If those posts cited in your OP had gotten a mod note, you would not have posted this thread. Admit it. This thread would not exist if those posts got mod notes.
)!

Ever since ExcitedIdiot initial recommendation, I’ve been having fun with this and Bloons 4 (I got the iPad app for 4). B5TDD is supposed to have 10 new levels and 2 new towers, plus a bunch of other new features.

I’ve been trying out new TD games whenever I see them, and it’s surprising how different they can all be.

I didn’t care too much for Spice Bandits, but Cursed on iPad is great.

Jelly Defense looks great but is very hard and not that much fun to play, IMO.