Top 10 Tower Defense Games for Android

The tower defense genre – where you defend a home base or other objective from hordes of invading foes – has proved very popular on smartphones. The combination of pick-up, put-down casual gameplay, along with some quite detailed strategies and impressive graphics, particularly for games optimised for a smaller screen and slower processor than most contemporary digital games, is a winning one. We take a look at the ten must-have, or at least, must-try-free-version-of, tower defense games for Android.

1. Grave Defense (Silver version, free download; Gold version, £1.08; Android 1.5 & up)

Fight off mutated zombies in this detailed, atmospheric post-apocalypse game. It’s quite a challenging play, with the levels getting increasingly tricky. Even at the start of the game, you’ll need carefully thought-out strategies rather than just button-mashing and fast reflexes.

2. Guns ‘n’ Glory (basic version, free download; premium version, £0.85; Android 1.6 & up)

Play as the desperado bandits in this Western-themed game. Strictly speaking it’s a stagecoach attack game rather than tower defense, but the gameplay is much the same – set up an ambush in the canyons just as you would set up a defense in another game.

3. Fieldrunner HD (£1.90; Android 2.1 & up)

Fieldrunner has been around for a while, in one form or another, but the latest HD version is a thing of beauty. The graphics are smooth, sharp, and clear, as though you were playing a game on a much bigger screen.

4. Monster Defense Strategy (basic version, free download; premium version, £1.80; Android 1.5 & up)

A real time strategy / tower defense hybrid, MDS gives you a classic fantasy setting, with an undead horde attacking your medieval style castles. The free version is good, and quite involving in itself, and the paid one gives a lot more levels.

5. Robo Defense (basic version, free download; full version, £1.88; Android 1.6 & up)

Robo Defense may not have the greatest graphics around, but as with Grave Defense, there’s plenty of strategy. The free version comes with only one map, with 11 different difficulty levels, but if you like it you can get another 5 levels for less than the price of a pint.

6. Armored II Tower Defense (basic version, free download; premium version, £1.99; Android 1.5 & up)

This gives you one of the most detailed, well-developed Android tower defense games on the market. It’s more-or-less modern-day themed, with tanks, stealth tanks, bombs, and mines. A particularly neat touch with Armored II is that you can theoretically unlock all the premium content without paying a penny, just through the free version.

7. Defense Craft Strategy (basic version, free download; premium version, £1.80; Android 1.6 & up)

DCS is another real-time strategy / tower defence hybrid, again with a strong medieval fantasy theme, this time spread over a visually varied array of maps, from snowy tundra to desert islands. As with other RTS games, you need to manage your resources, in this case, gold, as well as fighting off vast numbers of traditional fantasy enemies such as dragons and orcs.

8. Void Defense (basic version, free download; premium version, £0.99; Android 1.5 & up)

The free version is ad-supported, but either way, this makes for a cheap, cheerful tower defence game, with simple graphics but thoughtful gameplay.

9. Spira 2 (basic version, free download; premium version, £0.99; Android 1.6 & up)

Spira 2 is pleasantly difficult, with the unusual feature that unused cash in the game (earned for killing enemies) accrues interest, allowing you to effectively invest it in the event of tougher foes on future levels. The free version is ad-supported, but you can buy the full one in-app.

10. Tesla Defense (lite version, free download; premium version, unreleased; Android 2.1 & up)

The graphics may be simple, but are at least colourful. That and the cost-free nature of this game are  the biggest points in its favour though.

If you like tower defense games, or like the sound of a particular game mentioned above, but need a phone to play it on you can take a look at the Android mobile phone deals available from Best Mobile Contracts.