Roblox Tower Defense Beta v1.0

This game was the first-ever tower defense game on Roblox. It was created in 2007 by Naxic and had pretty awesome mechanics for an old game. There are a decent number of towers, and the game was straightforward and enjoyable. Not much information is known about this game, but it was the starting point of something bigger. ^[3]

Tower Battles

Tower Battles was the first huge tower defense game on Roblox to be released. It was created by Planet3arth in 2011 but was officially released in 2017.

The creator expanded upon the tower defense genre by adding a competitive multiplayer game mode where players can send offensive enemies on the opponents' side to try and make them lose. Not only do you need to defend the normal wave of enemies, but you also need to hold off the enemies your opponents send you. This changes your strategy up as different players would defend differently, get further into the match, and send different, strong enemies in your way.

There are a huge number of towers to choose to defend the enemies with. Since there are only 5 towers to take with you in a match and each tower has its own mechanic, players have to strategize what to bring. Some towers can freeze enemies, deal splash damage, and more! To get these towers, you have to unlock them using coins you get from losing or winning a round. This gets players consistently playing the game to get coins to unlock more towers. Even though it's a long journey to get coins, it has replay value.

Even after 10 years and minimal updates, the game is still pretty popular and well-known. A lot of Roblox users would remember this game in the future (Tower Battles Wiki).

MechaCubes

MechaCubes was another notable tower defense game released in 2015 by a group named Tuning Studios. It's run by the Roblox users named toonicooooooos, the amazingkang, and Lenny. The game is inspired by Bloons Tower Defense, a well-known tower defense game on the internet.

It was very popular back then since it had a lobby with leaderboards that showed the players' rank, total cash, and wins. You can search for certain players to see their game stats.

A new and cool feature in this game is the perks that players can buy using the game currency. These perks work on specific towers and can boost their stats, and usually have a downside as well. For example, a perk can boost their damage but lower their fire rate. These perks can change players' strategies and give them a massive combination of towers and perks to choose from to defend the enemies. Players can also trade these perks with other players!

Just like Tower Battles, the gameplay is straightforward. The main difference is that you unlock towers by leveling up and getting experience from losing or winning rounds. There are many towers to use and defend with though. Another cool thing is that players can rejoin the same match if they disconnect or leave the round. Many tower defense games don't have this feature.

In the modern day, MechaCubes isn't receiving any updates anymore and isn't popular, but it's still a nostalgic tower defense game to come back to (MechaCubes Wiki).

Tower Defense Simulator

Tower Defense Simulator, also commonly known as TDS, was the most popular tower defense game on Roblox until the modern day. It was created in 2018 by the group Paradoxum Games, with the lead developer being BelowNatural. It was inspired by Tower Battles and marked a milestone for modern-day tower defense games. It redefined what tower defense games are on Roblox.

The popularity of the game was influenced by its astonishing game mechanics and design. It has a clean UI, numerous amount of towers, many abilities, game dialogue, unique enemies, four different game modes, original music, and a nice community. The game also receives consistent updates even in the modern day, giving players more of a reason to play the game. In 2020, the game reached its milestone of one billion visits, which is a huge achievement and goes down in Roblox history.

A huge aspect that brings a mass amount of players into the game is its seasonal events. Their first ever event was Sword Fight on The Heights (SFOTH), featuring a new map, totally different enemies, and a unique boss. It gave the players something new and exciting to experience other than the four main modes. These events usually reward a limited-time tower that is strong in certain scenarios. There are over 15 unique events, and continues to rise as the game continues to be popular.

Tower Defense Simulator has changed a lot since its first release. It has gotten numerous updates, gameplay, and design changes to make it appealing in the modern day. The game has won many Roblox awards and will continue to be well-known in the future (Tower Defense Simulator Wiki).

All Star Tower Defense

All Star Tower Defense, or ASTD, immediately grew popular when it was released. It was created by the group Top Down Games and was released to the public in 2020.

This game has basic tower defense game mechanics, but what made it popular was the addition of anime. As many people watched anime, the creators threw the idea of adding famous anime characters into a Roblox game. Characters such as Naruto and Goku were included to attract people.

This game is unique from the recent tower defense games because it includes a gacha system. Gacha is derived from a Japanese word meaning a vending machine, meaning players spend their in-game currency for a chance to get a random tower. It's up to luck to decide whether players get a strong or weak tower, depending on the probability listed. This mechanic fueled people's drive to keep playing the game to get more currency and try their luck for a rare and strong tower. Even though it'll get some hate from some players, this mechanic is what allows replayability and the consistent visits.

The gacha system and anime theme work together to form the growing popularity of this game. This game inspired many future tower defense games to add a gacha system for getting towers as well (All Star Tower Defense Wiki).

World Tower Defense

World Tower Defense is a unique tower defense that slowly gained its popularity with its unique gameplay. The game was created in 2021 by the group named Select an Image from Your Computer Studios, with its main developer being Babygoo25. This game was inspired by The Battle Cats and expanded upon it.

This game is notable since it features maps with no designated paths for the enemies to follow. It also brings the mechanic that all towers can die from the enemies. This is the first tower defense game on Roblox to implement the idea that towers that are placed are directly targeted by enemies and can get killed by them. This mechanic is what makes the game extremely difficult and encourages trial and error to beat all the modes. Due to its difficulty, many players quit, but many are motivated to take on this arduous challenge.

The game started weak and unbalanced, but as time went on, it received consistent and frequent updates that added new towers, modes, enemies, and even some lore! The game is somewhat popular today, and the main developer is actively working on new content for players to enjoy. Overall, its uniqueness and high stakes are what make this game enjoyable. ^[4]

Tower Galactica

Tower Galactica is another unique and once-popular tower defense game on Roblox. It was created by Eraptyy and was released in early 2022.

The theme of this game is space, and it features an engaging storyline that captures players' attention. There are different planets to visit, and you have to defend against waves of enemies on each one to progress. This pushes users to keep playing to discover new enemies and what happens next in the story.

What makes this game so unique is that it gives the enemies the ability to attack players instead of only the towers. The player will have a certain number of lives, and the game will end if all players lose all their lives to the enemies or their surroundings. As a result, all players will have to be careful of getting too close to the enemies and avoid getting damaged from anything that can hurt them. This turns this game intense, which draws the attention of many players to attempt to get to the end and conquer the enemies. This mechanic is rarely used since it doesn't fit the traditional tower defense ways, though.

This game gained popularity due to its amazing storyline and lives mechanic, but it soon died out when the developers lost the motivation to continue updating the game with more planets and lore. However, this game will be remembered as the most interactive and movement-intense tower defense game on Roblox (Tower Galactica Wiki).