Is Dungeon Defenders II still free to play?

Yes. As of November 2026 Dungeon Defenders II is listed as free to play on Steam, with up to four players online and two in local split-screen. It came out of Early Access in June 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it still has the deepest loot chase of the family.

What is the newest game like Dungeon Defenders?

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, released on January 28, 2025 on PC and Xbox Series X|S, with a PlayStation 5 version that July. Up to four players lay traps and fight in roguelite runs. Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue also left Early Access in January 2025.

Is there a game like Dungeon Defenders in the browser?

Rogue Defenders plays in a browser tab with nothing to download. Up to four heroes defend a crystal against 20 waves, with a boss every fifth wave and new powers at every level-up. The difference: you don't place towers, your hero is the defense, and only the Engineer builds turrets and barricades.

Which game like Dungeon Defenders has the most towers to build?

Bloons TD 6 and the Dungeon Defenders games themselves. Bloons TD 6 is pure tower placement with four-player co-op. Dungeon Defenders: Awakened and Dungeon Defenders II mix towers with hero fighting. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap swaps towers for traps, perfect for players who love building a killing corridor.

Games Like Dungeon Defenders: 7 Co-op Picks for 2026

The best games like Dungeon Defenders are Dungeon Defenders II (free) and Awakened, Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, Sanctum 2 and Bloons TD 6. For a browser game with nothing to download, Rogue Defenders is hero-led wave defense: up to four heroes hold a crystal against 20 waves. It's our game, so we'll say where the others fit better.

Remember the best bit of Dungeon Defenders? The crystal's flashing, the ogre's nearly through, and your friend's tower lights up the whole lane just in time. Every game here chases a piece of that feeling, some with more towers, some with traps, some with more hero. Details are as of November 2026. For the whole story on our entry, see the complete Rogue Defenders guide.

What makes a game feel like Dungeon Defenders?

Dungeon Defenders mixed two things: you build towers before a wave, then fight the wave yourself as a hero, with friends, to protect a crystal. Its heirs keep different halves of that:

Tower-first: most of your time goes on placing and upgrading defenses (Bloons TD 6).
Hero-and-towers: build, then fight (Dungeon Defenders II and Awakened, Sanctum 2).
Hero-and-traps: turn corridors into killing zones (Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap).
Hero-first: your hero is the defense, with skills, powers and the map itself as weapons (Rogue Defenders).

The seven picks at a glance

Game	Players	Where	Cost	Style
Dungeon Defenders II	1-4 online, 2 split-screen	PC, PS4, Xbox One	Free to play	Heroes and towers, long-term loot
Dungeon Defenders: Awakened	1-4 online	PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch	Paid	The original game, rebuilt
Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue	1-4 online	PC	Paid	Heroes and towers, roguelite runs
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap	1-4 online, crossplay PC-Xbox	PC, Xbox Series, PS5	Paid	Traps and heroes, roguelite runs
Sanctum 2	1-4 co-op	PC	Paid	First-person shooter with towers
Bloons TD 6	1-4 co-op	PC, mobile	Paid	Pure tower placement
Rogue Defenders	1-4 online or one screen	Any browser, phone too	Free to try	Hero-led wave defense

Dungeon Defenders II: the free one

Dungeon Defenders II is free to play on Steam, with up to four players online and two on one screen. It left Early Access in June 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it has the deepest long-term loot of anything here. Liked the original and want years of gear to chase for free? Start here.

Dungeon Defenders: Awakened: the original, rebuilt

Dungeon Defenders: Awakened remakes the first game for up to four players online, on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch, as a paid game. Pick it for nostalgia: the same heroes and maps, made new.

Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue: the series as a roguelite

Going Rogue turns the series into roguelite runs for up to four players online. It left Early Access in January 2025 after three years. It's the closest match to Rogue Defenders in shape, and the better pick if placing towers is the part you love.

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap: traps instead of towers

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap by Robot Entertainment came out on January 28, 2025 on PC and Xbox Series X|S, with a PS5 version that July. Up to four players lay traps, then wade in and fight, with crossplay between PC and Xbox. It's the newest game on this list, and there's nothing quite like watching a horde walk into a corridor you've filled with spikes.

Sanctum 2: towers you defend in first person

Sanctum 2 mixes tower defense with a first-person shooter: build towers and walls before a wave, then shoot your way through it, with up to four players in co-op. Pick it if your group likes shooters.

Bloons TD 6: the tower placer's choice

Bloons TD 6 is pure tower defense with monkeys, heroes and a huge range of upgrades, with four-player co-op on every map. It's a paid game on Steam and mobile. You don't control a fighting hero, so it feels less like Dungeon Defenders, but it's the best game here for players who love planning the perfect maze.

Is Rogue Defenders like Dungeon Defenders?

It keeps the hero half. Rogue Defenders puts up to four heroes around a crystal against 20 waves across four realms, and if the crystal falls, or every hero is down at once, the run is over. Each realm ends with a boss crashing in: the Skeleton Warlord, Gorrak the Warlord, Vaela the Lich Queen and finally the Abyssal Golem, each tougher than the last. Every team level-up gives each hero one of three powers, so your build grows wave by wave.

Rogue Defenders heroes fight the Abyssal Golem near the crystal on wave 20 — Rogue Defenders' last boss, the Abyssal Golem, has 8000 health and fires spirals of void orbs.

What it shares with Dungeon Defenders:

A crystal to protect with up to four friends, online with a 4-letter room code or side by side on one screen with gamepads.
Heroes with roles. A tank, a healer, damage dealers, and the Engineer, whose turrets (two at once) and barricades are the nearest thing to towers. The Rogue Defenders heroes guide covers all six.
Loot and levels that carry over: six gear slots, an armory to upgrade them in and hero levels up to 75.

The Engineer's turrets guard the crystal in the Sunken Crypt on wave 7 — Rogue Defenders' Engineer is its nearest thing to tower building: two turrets at once, more with powers like Twin Turrets.

What's different:

No tower building for most heroes. You fight with skills, ultimates and the land itself: a normal monster knocked into water, lava or the void is gone for good (elites, flyers and bosses don't fall in). Shoving a whole pack off a bridge never gets old.
Nothing to download. It runs in a browser tab on a computer or a phone.
Free to try. Four heroes (Warrior, Mage, Archer, Cleric), Normal and Tiers 1 and 2 are free; Pixaplay Pass adds the Engineer, the Assassin and Tiers 3 to 10.

If placing towers is what you loved about Dungeon Defenders, pick Going Rogue or Dungeon Defenders II instead. If it was fighting side by side with friends to save the crystal, and you want to be playing in a minute, try ours.

Which game like Dungeon Defenders should you play?

Free, and deep: Dungeon Defenders II.
The original feeling: Dungeon Defenders: Awakened.
Roguelite runs with towers: Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue.
The newest: Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap.
A shooter group: Sanctum 2.
Tower planners: Bloons TD 6.
No installs, or a mix of laptops and phones: Rogue Defenders.

Looking for more runs with friends beyond tower defense? Our list of co-op roguelite games to play with friends has nine. And if your group would rather build a whole village by day and hold its walls at night, Hearthfall is Pixaplay's co-op village defense game, in early-access beta for Pixaplay Pass members.