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Top 10 best tower defense games for iOS, iPhone, & iPad (free & paid)

Hold the fort with the best tower defense games for iOS

Updated: Mar 10, 2023 2:32 pm
Top 10 best tower defense games for iOS, iPhone, & iPad (free & paid)

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Tower defense games have long been a popular genre for casual gamers, and they’ve really found a nice audience on mobile devices such as iPhone or iPad. With that in mind, we’re going to go through the top 10 best tower defense games for iOS, iPhone, and iPad. We’ve found 5 free and 5 paid TD games to show off.

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Anyone with an iPhone or iPad will be able to access these games from the App Store of your chosen device. We’ve made note of the compatibility below each pick, along with the key details and a summary of the game. Let’s see if we’ve found the perfect fit for you.

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Best free tower defense games for iOS

Let’s start off with a selection of free tower defense games. If you’re completely new to the genre, then it may be worth checking out one of these games to see if the gameplay suits your style.

  • Kingdom Rush
  • Plants vs Zombies 2
  • Arknights
  • Tower Duel – PvP TD
  • Defenders 2: Tower Defense CCG

One thing to note though for free-to-play (F2P) games like this is that they tend to have more focus on in-app purchases, which can make gameplay a little bit of a grind starting out. Either way, they’re worth trying out for free.


Kingdom Rush

kingdom rush app store icon
  • Price: Free
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 11.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: see below
  • Size: 145.6 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone / iPad

Kingdom Rush Tower Defense has two different entries on the App Store – the iPhone version, and the iPad ‘HD’ version. The iPad version is also free, requires iPadOS 11.0 or later and is 132.1 MB.

With that detail out of the way, what can you expect from Kingdom Rush TD? Well, this is one of the most acclaimed TD games out there – for free. With 13 heroes & 50 unique enemies, there is a ton of content to enjoy. This original Kingdom Rush game is still loved by fans. The sequels are great too – such as Kingdom Rush Frontiers, however these are paid games.

Plants vs Zombies 2

plants vs zombies 2 app store icon
  • Price: Free
  • iPhone & iPod touch compatibility: iOS 11.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 11.0 or later
  • Size: 151.7 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

The sequel to the massively popular Plants vs Zombies, PvZ 2 builds upon the original success and expands on the classic tower defense gameplay. There’s hundreds of plants and zombies to play with – upgrade your plants and keeping zombies off your lawn. The original is also available for free, so we recommend trying out both if you have the time.

Arknights

arknights app store icon
  • Price: Free
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 9.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 9.0 or later
  • Size: 2.4 GB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

Arknights is a great pick for anyone looking for an anime-style tower defense game. This game mixes tower defense with a range of strategy and RPG elements for an interesting fusion. In addition, many people have been praising the soundtrack and sound design.

Tower Duel – PvP TD

tower duel pvp td app store icon
  • Price: Free
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 11.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 11.0 or later
  • Size: 438.4 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

Now for a more competitive pick – some Player vs Player (PvP) action. Tower Duel mixes tower defense mechanics with realtime PvP. There are over 100 maps to battle on, featuring plenty of customization and challenges to complete. Perfect for some friendly competition with a friend.

Defenders 2: Tower Defense CCG

defenders 2 tower defense ccg app store icon
  • Price: Free
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 9.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 9.0 later
  • Size: 939.9 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

This is an interesting pick as it combines both tower defense and collectible card game genres. This is a mash-up which sounds like the perfect match in our mind. If you enjoy collecting and evolving your toolkit, then the CCG format is perfect for you. Mix that with tower defense for a unique experience.


Best paid tower defense games for iOS

Now let’s move on to some paid alternatives in the tower defense genre. One of the best things about mobile games is their relatively low cost. If you’re looking for something to play while commuting or even at home, you really don’t have to spend big.

  • Bloons TD 6: $6.99
  • Fieldrunners 2: $2.99
  • Dungeon Warfare 2: $4.99
  • Kingdom: Two Crowns: $6.99
  • Kingdom Rush Vengeance: $4.99

Again, we’ll be going into a little more detail for these titles and explaining what makes them worth your hard-earned cash. There’s a good mix of styles and genre-mashing here to enjoy.


Bloons TD 6

bloons td 6 app store icon
  • Price: $6.99
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 11.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 11.0 or later
  • Size: 145.4 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

For many of us, Bloons is one of the first names we think of when we hear tower defense. It dates back to being a primitive free flash game originally, but the series has come a long way. Now we can enjoy the 6th installment of the Bloons TD series available across many platforms – including iOS.

Fieldrunners 2

fieldrunners 2 app store icon
  • Price: $2.99
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 8.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: see below
  • Size: 91.5 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone / iPad

What about the iPad compatibility then? Well, much like Kingdom Rush, the iPad version for Fieldrunners 2 has a different listing on the app store. The iPad version is $4.99 and requires iPadOS 8.0 or later.

Fieldrunners 2 seems to do it all, with tons of levels and varied game modes – such as Time Trial or Puzzles. Not all levels are locked into a linear path, which is refreshing. Despite the fact it’s an older game at this point, it still holds up, especially for $2.99.

Dungeon Warfare 2

dungeon warfare 2 app store icon
  • Price: $4.99
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 9.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 9.0 or later
  • Size: 240.6 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

This feels like a great classic tower defense experience. The physics-based gameplay is a lot of fun and there are plenty of traps, enemies, and hand-crafted levels to play through. The original Dungeon Warfare was known for it’s difficulty, and this sequel gives you a little extra freedom to mix the difficulty to your liking.

Kingdom: Two Crowns

kingdom two crowns app store icon
  • Price: $6.99
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 10.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 10.0 or later
  • Size: 1.2 GB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

Kingdom: Two Crowns comes in as more of a hybrid option, but we’ve decided to list it as one of our tower defense picks due to the high quality on offer. It’s defined as a side-scrolling strategy game, but heavily features TD mechanics as you’d expect. So, this is definitely a unique choice if you want something that strays away from the traditional tower defense format.

Kingdom Rush Vengeance

kingdom rush vengeance app store icon
  • Price: $4.99
  • iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility: iOS 10.0 or later
  • iPad compatibility: iPadOS 10.0 or later
  • Size: 880.6 MB
  • App Store Preview: iPhone & iPad

Time for a much more recent game in the Kingdom Rush series now. This acclaimed tower defense series is back with a vengeance. Like we mentioned already, the entire Kingdom Rush series is worth checking out, with the original game and sequel Kingdom Rush Frontiers remaining popular. We’ve picked Kingdom Rush Vengeance as a natural evolution to go for if you’re familiar with the series.


Best tower defense games for iOS FAQs

Are tower defense games popular?

Yes, tower defense games continue to be a popular genre, especially for the casual player. Their easy to learn nature make them perfect for gamers on platforms such as mobile, including iOS.

There’s plenty of strategy to enjoy, even for a short amount of playtime while you’re on the go.

Are tower defense games pay to win?

Many mobile games, especially free games, can be deemed ‘pay to win’. This means there is a strong focus on in-app purchases to get ahead in the game.

Some tower defense games do use this design, but it doesn’t mean that you are forced to pay up if you want to progress.

Does Apple Arcade have tower defense games?

Apple Arcade features some of the most popular tower defense games out there, including titles from the Kingdom Rush series and Bloons TD.

Best tower defense games for iOS : Final word

That wraps up our top 10 tower defense games for iOS. Whether you’re playing on iPhone or iPad, looking for a free game or don’t mind spending a little bit of cash, we’ve got you covered.

Tower defense games are a staple of the mobile gaming market, so we don’t see them going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, many of the games on our list are a number of years old – but that doesn’t stop them from being great, even today.


As a Junior Staff Writer, Jack is involved in writing and maintaining a bunch of hardware guides & reviews. With an interest in PC gaming, he now focuses on writing about monitors, headsets, and more.

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