Today is tower defense day. I was originally going to post the following games over two days, but decided splitting them would just water down the whole, so, here are five free tower defense games, three of which I found very playable (The Lost Castle, Curator Defense and Grassland Tower Defense, with DtD Tower Defense and Beluxed Defense taking fourth and fifth positions (you’ll see why when you see them.
The Lost Castle: (4.9Mb)
The lost Castle is a turn based mini strategy game. As with all Tower Defence (TD) games the goal is to defeat as many enemies as possible and to earn lots of gold.
This can be achieved to place the war towers sensibly to defeat the invading enemies. And by building as many houses as possible to earn enough gold to buy more towers to defend your realm. The trick is to find the right balance of money earning houses and defending towers. The castle gets damaged whenever a enemy reaches it. Each time one does damage is done to the castle. When it’s destroyed the game is over.
Download Link:
http://games.softpedia.com/get/Freeware-Games/The-lost-Castle.shtml
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Curator Defense: no shortcut
Here’s an unusual take on the TD game.
In Curator Defense, enemies spawn at the top of the map (behind the silver entrance doors) and attempt to reach the bottom of the map (the store room). It is the player's job to prevent enemies from reaching their goal. To do this, the player can build any defense object they can afford in any pattern they see fit. Certain combinations of defense objects perform better than others, and certain locations and "mazes" are more effective than others. With experimentation, you can find which combinations add up to success.
There’s no shortcut created, so make sure you make a note of where it’s being installed, or choose a path of your own choosing. If you’re not sure how to create a shortcut I’ve posted a short tutorial which can be found in the forums; it includes shortcuts for both the desktop and the start menu.
Download Link:
http://www.towerdefence.net/games-50-Curator_Defense.php
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Grassland TD: (1.42Mb)
This was my second favorite after The Lost Castle. The game has basic graphics (as all have), but the game play is excellent. There are eight different towers to choose from, though initially you will only be able to afford the cheapest with the money you are given to start the game with. As with all tower defense games the strategic placement of your towers will determine whether you’ll win or lose. :)
Download Link:
http://www.towerdefence.net/games-119-Grassland_TD.php
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Dtd Tower Defense: (2.75Mb)
DtD Tower Defense is a typical TD game with planes, tanks, electric domes, 10 air defense towers, and motion sensor bombs to help you hold the enemy hordes back. There’s a read me document unzipped with the game, which gives you all the information you’ll need to play this game. You can gain access to this during game play by pressing the F1 key. There’s no shortcut installed with this game either so follow the link at the end of the review if you require assistance with creating one. The following is the author’s description of the game.
The game has no end, so you can keep playing for as long as you like, but if you do get bored: there are two different game modes, with three difficulty levels each.
Quote:
Tower Defense is no longer considered to be a beta program. However, I will still accept suggestions and I migt apply them someday when DtDRM is done.
What can be better than defending your base against endless hordes of bloodthirsty attackers with only towers? Well I can safely say that DtD Tower Defense excels at this. The whole game is overall fun, addicting, and will keep you hooked for some time.
If you have played tower defense scenarios, or popular games such as Starcraft and Warcraft III, you will absolutely love this game. The game features many different kinds of towers, all with unique attributes, "pros and cons", and graphics. Even the bullets they shoot look different. Its all fine. You might be asking Enough rambling on about the towers, where are the endless hordes of bloodthirsty attackers? Well, there are three main types of attackers - normal attackers (which start to attack your towers later on in the game), flying attackers (which only towers that can shoot aerial targets can fire at) and shielded units (have shields, lasers shut down near these). Its fun to watch the attackers desperately try to make their way to your base. Unfortunately, none of the attackers are animated. The only animation they have is the dieing animation, which is just them fading out, nothing fancy. But you look at this with pleasure since its the only way to gain money to build up towers, and the only way to survive.
There is no upgrade system, which I found out as a slight disappointment. But luckily there are towers that require a certain building so that you can build them. This system is very basic, but I didnt mind. There are remote mines (which explode when enemies touch them), tanks which go along the track shooting enemies and planes that sweep over the track and shoot at enemies. This was a nice addition and seemed original, but it wasn't enough to save the games lack of a proper upgrade system.
The game only has one music track. The music track was nice, and even after the 30th wave I kept listening to it without getting bored of it. I was hoping that the 30th wave would have a boss fight. To my displeasure, no boss showed up, just another wave of attackers. I didnt like this because why would I want to play a game without a way of winning? Sure you can try and get a new personal record every time, but without a load of fire towers no enemy will get through.
I give this game a nice and healthy 3.2 out of 5. Its fun overall, but the lack of a proper upgrade system, variation in levels, animation and music just doesn’t cut it on my standard to get anything over 3.5. So get downloading and have a good time.
System Requirements:
• Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista (if you use a patch)
• DirectX 8 compatible graphics card with at least 16MB of video memory (32MB or more recommended) - All computer built in the last four or so years should have at least a 32Mb graphics chip onboard the motherboard
• Pentium or equivalent processor
• DirectX 8 compatible sound card
• 64 MB of system memory or greater (RAM)
•
Download Link:
http://www.download.com/DtD-Tower-Defense/3000-7562_4-10565493.html
or
http://www.dtdsoft.com/index.php?page=DtDTD1
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Beluxed Defense: (36.1Mb)
Beluxed Defense is a humorous 3D defense game, where the player lays unusual traps and defenses to protect his castle against the hordes of revolting peasants. The graphics are dated, but it’s still a game worth trying. :)
Download Link:
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=401
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Cheap Commercial Tower Defense Games:
I thought I’d add the following even though they aren’t free only because they are cheaper than the usual arcade games price and they are in-keeping with today’s theme.
Those that have been regulars at the game giveaway for more than several months will recognize one of the titles. A game that got decent reviews when given away twice, I’ve still got it, and if needed I would buy it as well. The other two games are novelty versions of Tower Defense. When I was downloading all this stuff nearly a month ago I didn’t think to check the prices, so haven’t written them down now. I do remember that they were less than the normal $19.99 you pay for an arcade game.
Immortal Defense:
Is there anything you would give up everything to defend?
Immortal Defense is a fresh take on the tower defense genre. In the course of your adventure, you'll face twenty-six different enemy types, including challenging bosses. You'll come to know the use of eleven different "Points", each with its own personality and style of defense. You'll go through one hundred stages of challenging game play--including secret stages for the most advanced path defenders.
You'll experience an interesting combination of procedural and pixel-art, an original soundtrack, and you'll explore a story about love, duty, and the consequences of immortality. With six to ten hours of game play, this game won't be something you play and then forget about.
What would you be willing to defend for all eternity?
http://www.towerdefence.net/games-49-Immortal_Defense.php
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Zombie Defense:
http://files.filefront.com/ZombieDefense+Windows+v19exe/;10854861;/fileinfo.html
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Wicked defense: (21.9Mb) (download link a little temperamental, but does work)
http://www.towerdefence.net/games-32-Wicked_Defense.php
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How to Create a Shortcut:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2594
Do let me know which is your favorite. Thank you.
Regards
Stephen
