🛡️ Tank Defense

Tower defense with tanks

Tank Defense is a tower defense game where every tower is a tank. Convoys of robot vehicles are rolling along the road towards your base, and the only thing in their way is you. Build tanks on the grass beside the road, watch their turrets swing round to follow the robots, and stop every last buggy, drone and crawler before it gets through. It's free, it runs in any web browser, and it needs no download.

Nothing gets hurt but metal: when a robot is stopped it bursts into a shower of bolts and scrap and drops a few coins. Each robot that reaches your base costs one of your 20 hearts, and if they all run out the robots have won the map.

Six kinds of tank

Every tank has a job, and the trick is to use the right one in the right place. The 💥 Cannon Tank is your all-rounder, with strong shots at one robot at a time. The ⚡ Rapid Tank fires a stream of quick little shots, perfect for swarms of tiny robots, but armour soaks up most of each hit. The ❄️ Freeze Tank throws ice balls that slow down every robot they splash, so your other tanks get more time to shoot. The 🎆 Artillery Tank lobs heavy shells a long way with a big splash, but it can't hit flying drones or anything right next to it.

The last two arrive later. The 📡 Radar Tank doesn't shoot at all: it helps every tank around it reach further and fire faster, so place it in the middle of a group. And the 🔷 Rail Tank fires a bright beam the whole length of its reach that goes through every robot in a line and ignores armour completely. Put it where the road runs straight towards it and watch it hit a whole row at once.

Upgrade, sell and plan ahead

Click any tank to see what it does. Every tank can be upgraded twice, and each level makes it stronger, faster and longer-reaching; the gold dots under a tank show its level. If you change your mind you can sell a tank for most of what you spent. Between waves you earn a bonus for every wave you stop, and if you're feeling brave you can call the next wave early for ten extra coins.

The best spots are usually on the inside of the bends, where one tank can reach the road two or three times. Freeze tanks work best near the start of a long stretch, and artillery likes a place where robots bunch up.

Know your robots

Scout buggies are fast and fragile. Robo tanks are tougher, with a little armour. Swarm bots come in packs of six: each one is tiny, but there are lots of them. Drones fly along above the road, so your artillery can't hit them. Armoured crawlers are slow, heavy and covered in thick plating that little shots bounce off; cannon, artillery and rail tanks are the answer. And at the end of every fifth map, and of every map in the Robot Factory, comes the huge Mega Bot, which takes a whole army of tanks to stop and costs five hearts if it reaches your base.

20 maps in four regions

The first five maps are in the Green Fields, with a single gently winding road. Sandy Canyon opens at 8 stars, with tighter bends and faster robots. The Snowy Pass opens at 20 stars and its road snakes back and forth across the whole map in three long rows. The Robot Factory opens at 34 stars and has two roads that merge into one, so robots come at you from two directions. New kinds of tank join your army on maps 3, 5, 8 and 12. Each map gives up to three stars: one for winning, one for keeping at least 12 hearts and one for letting no robot through at all. There are 60 stars to win.

Tips for a perfect defence

Start with two or three cannon tanks on the first bend rather than spreading them out. Upgrading a well-placed tank is often better than building a new one in a poor spot. Mix your tanks: rapid tanks for swarms, cannons and artillery for armour, freeze tanks to slow the dangerous ones down. Check the wave button between waves and save some coins before a Mega Bot appears. If a map goes wrong, try again with your tanks in different places: every map is the same each time you play, so you can plan.

Why tower defense games are good for your brain

Tower defense is a classic kind of strategy game. Every wave asks you to look at the map, spot the best places to build, spend your coins wisely and adapt when something gets through. You learn to think ahead (what's coming in the next wave?), to compare options (one big upgrade or two new tanks?) and to learn from mistakes, which is why tower defense games are so popular with players of all ages.

How to play on a phone or tablet

On a phone the whole map is turned on its side, so the road runs from the robot gate at the top down to your base at the bottom, and every square is big enough to tap. Tap a grass square to see the build buttons underneath, tap a tank to upgrade or sell it, and use the big wave button to send in the robots. On a computer you can use the mouse and the number keys for quick building.

Free and safe

Tank Defense is free to play in the browser on computers, Chromebooks, tablets and phones, with no download, no account, no chat and nothing to buy. Your stars are saved on your own device. Grown-ups can read more on the Parents & Safety page.

More tank games

Want to drive a tank yourself? Battle with friends in Tank Maze Duel, upgrade your tank between missions in Tank Upgrade Arena, or command a whole team in Tank Battle 3D. Every tank game is on the Tank Games page.

Frequently asked questions