The best tower defense indie games, ranked by reviews

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

indielist tracks 12 tower defense indie games on Steam, holding 281,011 reviews at an average of 89% 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 Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition with 140,494 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are modeled estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

1. Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition · 140,494 reviews · 98% positive · 2009
2. They Are Billions · 45,754 reviews · 85% positive · 2019
3. Mindustry · 23,402 reviews · 96% positive · 2019
4. Thronefall · 22,374 reviews · 96% positive · 2024
5. Bloons TD 5 · 11,860 reviews · 95% positive · 2014
6. Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD · 11,287 reviews · 88% positive · 2024
7. Ship of Fools · 6,009 reviews · 82% positive · 2022
8. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap · 4,529 reviews · 71% positive · 2025
9. GemCraft - Chasing Shadows · 4,364 reviews · 95% positive · 2015
10. Touhou Big Big Battle · 4,033 reviews · 80% positive · 2018
11. Emberward · 3,703 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
12. Element TD 2 - Tower Defense · 3,202 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 modeled estimates, not official sales data.

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