Free, with nothing to install

Tower defense unblocked: play free in your browser

Looking for a tower defense game you can play straight away? Towers of Aurum is a free co-op tower defense game that opens in your browser: no download, no install and no account needed. Pick a faction, build towers along the road and hold back the waves, alone or with up to three friends.

What you need

• A computer with a recent Chrome, Edge or Safari, or Firefox on Windows or a Mac. On Linux and Android, use Chrome.
• Most recent Chromebooks with Chrome kept up to date will run it too.
• Nothing else: no download, no install, no plugin and no email. You play as a guest until you choose to make an account.
• A mouse and a bigger screen help. The game opens on a small screen, but it plays best on a laptop or desktop.

If a computer cannot draw the game’s graphics, the page tells you why and what to try, such as updating the browser or turning on graphics acceleration.

Start playing in under a minute

1. Open the gameGo to Towers of Aurum. It loads in your browser in a few seconds.
2. Press PlayYou start as a guest, so there is nothing to fill in.
3. Choose Story Mode and a factionThe Oni, Ronin, Kitsune or Shrine. Story Mode is where new players learn, with a guide at your side.
4. Build and start the wavePlace your first tower beside the road, then call the wave and watch it fire.

Tower defense in two minutes

In a tower defense game, creeps walk a road towards something you protect. In Towers of Aurum they pour out of the Hollow Gates and walk towards the ember at the heart of the Ember Ring. You cannot block the road, so you build towers beside it, and each tower fires at the creeps that pass in its range. Gold arrives with each wave, to spend on new towers and upgrades. Every creep that gets through costs lives, and when the lives are gone the run is over.

1. Build beside the roadA tower only fires at creeps in its range, so place it where that range covers as much road as it can. A tower set back from the road wastes most of its reach.
2. Cover the bendsWhere the road turns, a tower sees the same creeps twice: once on the way in and again on the way out. Bends are the best ground on any map.
3. Upgrade before you spread outEarly on, one upgraded tower usually does more than two new ones. Raise your first towers a tier or two before you build across the whole road.
4. Use the holdBefore every wave you get 30 seconds to build and upgrade. Spend it, then call the wave early when you are ready.
5. Watch for fliersLater waves bring fliers. They follow the road through the air, and only towers that can hit the air can stop them, so have at least one ready before they come.

Your first Story Mode pages

Story Mode is told in chapters, and each chapter is made of pages. Every page has its own map. The first one is a short road with a single bend and only a few waves, so you can learn the basics without pressure, and a guide named Tomo shows you each step. Each page after that adds a little more: longer roads, tougher creeps, new towers to try. Win a page to open the next, and if a page beats you, change where you build and try again.

Once you know the basics, try Quick Play for a Full Run on the Ember Ring, or read how a full co-op run plays and what each faction does best.