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The best tower defense indie games, ranked by reviews

5 min read for players

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Data report Built from live indielist data on 2026-06-13. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 21 tower defense indie games on Steam, holding 3,109,126 reviews at an average of 90% positive. This list ranks them by Steam review count, the most reliable public sales proxy, with a white-box sales estimate behind every title. The most reviewed is Dota 2 with 2,722,621 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Dota 2 · 2,722,621 reviews · 81% positive · 2013
  2. Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition · 140,718 reviews · 98% positive · 2009
  3. They Are Billions · 45,790 reviews · 85% positive · 2019
  4. Mindustry · 26,869 reviews · 96% positive · 2019
  5. Thronefall · 23,080 reviews · 96% positive · 2024
  6. Orcs Must Die! 2 · 19,562 reviews · 92% positive · 2012
  7. Dungeon Defenders · 18,870 reviews · 93% positive · 2011
  8. Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense · 16,599 reviews · 97% positive · 2014
  9. Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ · 14,002 reviews · 85% positive · 2014
  10. The Last Spell · 13,369 reviews · 91% positive · 2023
  11. Bloons TD 5 · 11,872 reviews · 95% positive · 2014
  12. Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD · 11,324 reviews · 88% positive · 2024
  13. Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense · 10,451 reviews · 97% positive · 2016
  14. Kingdom Rush Origins - Tower Defense · 7,818 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  15. Ship of Fools · 6,025 reviews · 82% positive · 2022
  16. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap · 4,544 reviews · 71% positive · 2025
  17. GemCraft - Chasing Shadows · 4,367 reviews · 95% positive · 2015
  18. Touhou Big Big Battle · 4,033 reviews · 80% positive · 2018
  19. Emberward · 3,707 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  20. Element TD 2 - Tower Defense · 3,204 reviews · 90% positive · 2021

How this list is built

Games are ranked by Steam review count, the most reliable public proxy for sales when actual figures are private. Each title links to its indielist page, where the white-box sales estimate expands into the full Boxleiter formula, so you can audit the number rather than trust a black box. Review counts come from Steam; sales figures are estimates, not official sales data.

Want the underlying estimate for your own game? Try the sales estimator, or browse the full game directory.