Co op tower defense games to play with friends, and how to win as a team
By EggVerse · · 6 min read
A co op tower defense game puts you and your friends on the same side against waves of enemies heading for something you must protect. You earn currency by stopping them and spend it on towers and upgrades, ideally between waves. Teams win by splitting jobs: one person handles the economy and towers, another plugs leaks, and everyone agrees on where the next wave will hit hardest.
What tower defense is
In a classic tower defense game, enemies follow a path or come through gates toward your base. You cannot stop them directly. Instead you place towers beside the path, each with its own job: long range damage, area damage, slowing, or hitting fliers. Every enemy you stop pays out, and that money buys more towers or upgrades the ones you have. The waves get bigger and tougher until your defense breaks.
Action tower defense games add a character you control. You fight alongside your towers, so positioning and reflexes matter as much as the build. Many of the best known co op examples are in this style.
Well known tower defense games with co op
- Bloons TD 6 has a co op mode for up to four players, each building on their own part of the map.
- Dungeon Defenders supports four player co op, mixing hero combat with towers each class can build.
- Orcs Must Die! 2 added two player co op to the trap based action defense of the first game.
Those are downloads or console games. If your group wants something everyone can open from a link, on any phone or computer, browser games fill that gap.
Co op tips that work in any tower defense game
Split roles before the first wave. A common setup is one builder who decides tower placement and upgrades, one or two fighters who cover the lane that leaks, and one player who watches the base and calls problems. In a small group, people can double up, but somebody should own each job.
Spend between waves, not in a panic. The calm after a wave is when you can see what worked. Upgrade the tower that did the most work before buying a new one; a fully raised tower usually beats two weak ones. Keep a little saved for repairs.
Cover the types, not just the lanes. Fast enemies need slowing, crowds need area damage, armoured ones need focused hits and fliers often ignore ground paths. Agree who covers which threat so you do not all build the same tower.
Call leaks early. A single enemy slipping past is how runs end. Say where it is and who is going, then go back to your job once it is handled.
Shellbound: action defense for up to eight
Shellbound is a free co op defense game on EggVerse. Your crew defends a relic in the middle of a sanctuary while creatures pour in through the gates and fly over the walls. Some come straight for the eggs; others head for the relic. Play solo or with two to eight friends in one room.
Each egg picks a weapon at the start: greatsword, bow, staff or daggers, each with its own special move. The greatsword carries the most hearts and the bow and staff the fewest, so classes fall naturally into front line and back line roles. Hold Space to attack, press E for your special and Shift or Q to roll out of a lunge.
The tower part works like this. Twelve pads ring the sanctuary, and any egg can build any of five towers on any pad with its own Scrap: the Bolt Turret, Flame Flower, Tesla Tower, Frost Fountain and Rotten Mortar. Each tower grows through three levels. Creatures can break towers, and the rubble can be rebuilt for half of what went into it. Scrap is earned per egg from kills and cleared waves, and you can spend it at the stations around the relic at any time, even mid wave.
- Every third wave, each egg chooses one of three upgrade cards.
- Every fifth wave ends in a boss.
- After each boss, the crew picks one of two Omens: a curse that lasts the rest of the run and raises the Scrap everyone earns.
- Stand beside a cracked friend to revive them. Anyone still down comes back when the wave is cleared.
- The waves never end. The run is over when the relic breaks or every egg is down.
The tips above map straight on. Let one egg own the tower pads while the greatsword holds the gate that leaks, keep someone near the Relic mason, which repairs a fifth of the relic, and talk about which Omen your build can live with.
Spoiled Egg: wave survival with the same itch
Spoiled Egg is not a tower defense game; it has no towers. It is a co op wave survival shooter, but it scratches the same itch of holding out against waves and spending between them. Two to eight players share one graveyard, crack rotten eggs and earn scraps. Spend them at the Mystery Carton, the Overcooker or Supplies, or open gates to four new areas, which also lets the horde in. The horde grows with your crew.
A cracked teammate returns at the campfire with three hearts when the next wave starts, and the run ends when the whole crew is down. Everyone shares the number of waves survived.
| Shellbound | Spoiled Egg | |
|---|---|---|
| You protect | A relic, and each other | Each other |
| Towers | Five types on twelve pads, three levels each | None |
| Spending | Scrap on gear, towers and upgrades | Scraps on weapons, supplies and gates |
| Coming back | Revive a friend, or return when the wave clears | Return at the campfire next wave |
| Players | Solo or two to eight | Solo or two to eight |
Questions about co op tower defense
What is the difference between tower defense and action tower defense?
In classic tower defense you only build and upgrade towers. In action tower defense you also control a character who fights alongside them.
Should we upgrade towers or build new ones?
Usually upgrade the tower that is doing the most work first, then fill gaps with new types the defense is missing.
Is there a co op tower defense game in the browser?
Shellbound on EggVerse is a free co op defense game with buildable towers for solo play or two to eight friends, joined from a link.
How many people do we need?
Two is enough to split building and fighting. Larger groups can give each lane or threat its own player.
Compare more team games on the co op games page, or read cooperative browser games for friends.