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indielist (beta)

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 2026-10-23. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 20 tower defense indie games on Steam, holding 265,131 reviews at an average of 88% 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 141,936 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition · 141,936 reviews · 98% positive · 2009
  2. Thronefall · 23,197 reviews · 96% positive · 2024
  3. The Last Spell · 13,350 reviews · 91% positive · 2023
  4. Orcs Must Die! 2 · 12,941 reviews · 92% positive · 2012
  5. Dungeon Defenders · 12,194 reviews · 93% positive · 2011
  6. Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD · 10,556 reviews · 88% positive · 2024
  7. Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ · 9,423 reviews · 85% positive · 2014
  8. Kingdom Rush Origins - Tower Defense · 7,634 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  9. Ship of Fools · 5,094 reviews · 82% positive · 2022
  10. Emberward · 4,403 reviews · 97% positive · 2026
  11. Warpips · 4,353 reviews · 87% positive · 2022
  12. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap · 4,082 reviews · 70% positive · 2025
  13. GemCraft - Chasing Shadows · 3,673 reviews · 95% positive · 2015
  14. Nordhold · 2,915 reviews · 86% positive · 2025
  15. Element TD 2 - Tower Defense · 2,881 reviews · 90% positive · 2021
  16. GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath · 2,700 reviews · 89% positive · 2020
  17. Topple Tactics · 1,374 reviews · 88% positive · 2023
  18. Touhou Big Big Battle · 1,153 reviews · 80% positive · 2018
  19. Toy Soldiers: Complete · 992 reviews · 78% positive · 2016
  20. Crab God · 280 reviews · 80% positive · 2024

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.