Experts offer their top tips on handling holiday diet temptations.
By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Holidays bring family and friends together to celebrate traditions and spread good cheer. They also bring lots of opportunities for socializing, eating, and drinking. Even the most disciplined people struggle with temptation during the holiday season.
To navigate the party landmines with your healthy diet intact, you need a strategy. Experts agree: Having a plan in place will help you handle night after night of eating and drinking.
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"Think of your appetite as an expense account, and figure out how much you want to spend on drinks, appetizers, entrees, and dessert," advises Michelle May, MD, author of Am I Hungry? What to Do When Diets Don't Work. She suggests giving yourself permission to enjoy your favorite foods -- in sensible portions.
To help you survive the seasonal parties without packing on the pounds, WebMD consulted diet gurus across the country for their best holiday diet tips. Here are their top 10 recommendations:
1. Trim back the trimmings. Go all out and deck the halls with boughs of holly, glitter, and lights, but when it comes to holiday food, accessorize with care. To shave calories, go easy when adding nuts, cheese, cream sauces, gravy, butter, and whipped cream -- additions that don't add much to the meal, but can add plenty to your waistline. Trim calories wherever you can so you leave the party feeling satisfied, but not stuffed, recommends Carolyn O'Neil, MS, RD, author of The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous.
2. Wear snug clothes and keep one hand busy. When you wear snug-fitting attire, chances are you'll be too busy holding in your stomach to overeat. While you stand around looking posh in your holiday finery, hold a drink in your dominant hand so it won't be so easy to grab food, recommends obesity expert Cathy Nonas, MS, RD.
3. Chew gum. When you don't want to eat, pop a piece of sugarless gum into your mouth. This works well when you're cooking or when you're trying not to dive into the buffet, says Nonas.
4. Be a food snob. If you don't love it, don't eat it, says American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Melinda Johnson, MS, RD. Scan the buffet for foods you truly treasure and skip the everyday dishes that are available all year long. And don't think it's your responsibility to sample everything on the buffet. Go ahead and indulge in your personal holiday favorites, then find a seat and, slowly and mindfully, savor every mouthful.
5. No skipping meals. Always eat normally on the day of a party. "People who skip meals to save up calories tend to overeat everything in sight once they get there," says Katherine Tallmadge, MA, RD, author of Diet Simple. "Eating sensibly throughout the day will take the edge off the appetite and empower a bit of restraint." Start with a nourishing breakfast, have a light lunch, then a small snack or salad shortly before the event.
6. Check it out. First things first. When you arrive at the party, grab a sparkling water with a twist, and wait at least 30 minutes before eating. This will give you time to relax, get comfortable in your surroundings, and survey your food choices on the buffet before diving in, says Tallmadge. A buffet is an invitation to eat all you can, and unless you carefully scrutinize it and make wise choices, you're likely to overeat.
7. Add fun and games. Cynthia Sass, MPH, MA, RD, co-author of Your Diet Is Driving Me Crazy, proposes taking the focus off food and getting family and friends more active during holiday parties. Think horseshoes, badminton, sledding, ice skating, or building snowmen. Indoors, try a spirited game of charades, or rent an instructional dance video followed by a dance-off. "The best parties include dancing, so why not make dancing after eating a new holiday tradition for a great form of fun and recreation?" asks David Katz, MD, MPH, author of The Flavor Point Diet.
8. Alternate alcohol with nonalcoholic beverages. Alcoholic drinks are loaded with calories -- especially holiday favorites like eggnog. "Cut your alcohol calories in half by alternating water or seltzer between alcoholic beverages," Katz advises.
9. Skip the appetizers. "Eschew the appetizers rather than chewing on them," says Katz. If you need a little nibble before the meal, go for the veggies, fruit, salsa, or a small handful of nuts.
10. Limit the variety. Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating, suggests putting only two items on your plate when you go to the food table. Return as many times as you like, but only take two items each time. "Variety stimulates appetite, and if you limit your choices to just a few items and stick with these, it will be easier to control than eating a little bit of 20 different dishes," agrees Katz.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
49 Tower Defense Apps for the iPhone
By Alfredo Padilla Oct. 7, 2009, 11:00am PT 18 Comments
I was first introduced to the world of tower defense games a couple of years back with the venerable Desktop Tower Defense. I do have to admit that I wondered if the whole idea of the game, placing various types of gun turrets to try and annihilate a group of small creatures/people before they can escape from you, might indicate some deep homicidal impulse on my part. But when I realized that the creatures where aptly named “creeps,” my worries dissipated.
When the iPhone came along it was immediately apparent to me that this was the perfect platform for tower defense games, with the touch screen an excellent way to place my maze of death. Sure enough the genre has sprouted no fewer than 49 different iPhone games for those who share my intense desire to keep creeps from crossing the screen. I’m not going to tell you which are my favorite, that will come later, but I am going to try and give you a complete snapshot of what’s available in the App store today. Because, let’s face it, if you don’t have at least half a dozen of these installed you’re not really exercising your homicidal instincts to their full potential.
td-geodefensegeoDefense
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Futuristic Tron-like graphics, high-speed gameplay and path oriented maps.
td-geodefense-swarmgeoDefense Swarm
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Same purposefully (I hope) unsophisticated, futuristic graphics as the standard geoDefense, but with an open field approach to maps.
td-towermadnessTowerMadness: 3D Tower Defense
Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This games gives you a reason for your killing, to protect your sheep from aliens. Also you get a 3-D interface, although the graphics leave something to be desired.
td-fieldrunnersFieldrunners
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fieldrunners offers a relatively vanilla tower defense experience, but is distinguished by its extremely smooth interface and high quality graphics.
td-stardefenseStar Defense
Price: 99 cents (free “prelude” version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This space-based tower defense game has you playing on small worlds that you can rotate and zoom into. The graphics are definitely the key feature here.
td-dungeondefenseDungeon Defense
Price: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this version of tower defense you play the bad guys, in the form of skeletons, and you kill the heroes. I kind of like that idea. There does seem to be a limited amount of gameplay, however, with only three skeleton types to place.
td-sentinelmarsdefenseSentinel: Mars Defense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: You place towers to defend Mars from aliens. There seem to be a good selection of tower types and the graphics look impressive.
td-Sentinel2EarthDefenseSentinel 2: Earth Defense
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: The same idea as its predecessor Mars Defense, only this time the alien buggers are invading earth. Impressive graphics are once again the highlight of this tower defense game.
td-navypatrolcoastaldefenseNavy Patrol: Coastal Defense
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Tower defense on the water, you place your navy to defend against an invader. Graphics are not overly impressive and the interface can get a bit cluttered, but gameplay seems to be deep.
td-thecreepsThe Creeps!
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: This time the creeps aren’t just trying to innocently cross the screen, they’re trying to get under your bed! This take on the tower defense genre offers cute graphics and some interesting features like destroyable terrain.
td-tapdefenseTapDefense
Price: Free
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Solid graphics and gameplay seem to be marred by some user complaints about advertisements. Still, it’s hard to argue with free.
td-7cities7 Cities
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Coastal tower defense, you build towers next to waterways to destroy invading ships. Towers can gain experience to get more powerful. The graphics are impressive and you can even build your own maps.
td-battlefieldnuclearbombBattle Field – Nuclear Bomb
Price: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A wide selection of towers, with 10 different types. There’s also a leveling system and, of course, nuclear bombs.
td-towerdefenseTowerDefense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not available
Distinguishing Features: Cartoonish graphics look decent but the description is strangely short and there aren’t enough ratings to merit a score. I kind of feel bad for the developer.
td-abugsdefenseA Bugs Defense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is pretty simple, bugs are invading the house and you stop them with various insecticides. The graphics are cute and cartoonish. Unfortunately there seem to be some game-play “bugs” that bother reviewers.
td-sgtowerdefenceSG Tower Defence
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Graphics are… unimpressive. There’s a strange wooden background to everything and the towers and creeps look like something out of 1985, and not in a good retro way.
td-BesiegementBesiegement
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting mix of graphics for a fairly vanilla tower defense game. The point of view is different from most, and you do have a good selection of tower types.
td-portdefenderPort Defender – 2D Tower Defense
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Not a lot special here, the graphics aren’t anything to swoon over and the selection of maps and towers are pretty standard.
td-warpdefenseWarp Defense
Price: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: I was a bit curious to see how the “warp” in the title would be implemented in the game, but it turns out it’s just a path-based tower defense game with laser-showesque graphics.
td-dragonslaughterepisode1Dragon Slaughter Episode I
Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented game with excellent graphics. Interesting tower purchasing system requires you to combine orb types, with various strength and weaknesses.
td-ninjatdNinja TD
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: OK, there are Ninjas, what else do you want? Well, there also seem to be some beautiful graphics here, along with magic based ninja powers. Unfortunately your enemies are not pirates.
td-moonlightminionsMoonlight Minions
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Impressive graphics, with an underground path-oriented theme. Your “towers” are various fungal compositions, I’ll let you make what you will of that.
td-gardenwarGarden War
Price: 99 cents (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A pest oriented tower defense game, in this one you defend your garden from various creepy buggers. Maps appear to be path-oriented and graphics are very good.
td-tridefenseTriDefense
Price: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: This version of tower defense offers decent graphics and some interesting features for example creeps can appear from anywhere on the screen and you can modify the terrain.
td-bloonstowerdefenseBloons Tower Defense
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this path-based tower defense game you want to pop the escaping balloons, but you get to use dart-throwing monkeys to do it, sounds good to me.
td-boombrigadeBooom Brigade
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: An interesting mix of shooter and tower game. You get three types of troops to fire at the incoming creeps, but they don’t do it automatically, instead you have to draw their attacks onto the screen. Reviewers indicate it’s a hard proposition.
td-defenderchroniclesDefender Chronicles – Legend of The Desert King
Price: $3.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented path-based tower defense game with a leveling system for your general that gives you bonuses for troop types.
td-zombieattackZombie Attack!
Price: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There are zombies, you need to kill them…pretty self-explanatory really. The best part is the hand drawn (as in pencil on lined paper) tower picker.
td-tribaltroubletowerdefenseTribal Trouble Tower Defense
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Decent graphics and interface, but be warned that there’s only one level in this game.
td-killallbugsKill All Bugs!
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Basic tower defense game except the creeps are giant bugs. Graphics are nothing impressive, but there does seem to be a good depth of gameplay.
td-hextoptowerdefenseHextop Tower Defense
Price: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Yes, it’s hexagonal, apart from that there’s nothing special here.
td-idefendiDefend
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: A lot of gameplay with 36 levels, but you better be a fan of retro graphics.
td-exaltowerdefenseExal Tower Defense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: A basic open field tower defense games with mediocre graphics.
td-mote-mMote-M
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Another basic tower defense game, this one with path-oriented maps.
td-nemesisdefenceNemesis Defence
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: Path-based tower defense game with a good selection of towers but only three different maps.
td-circuitdefendersCircuit Defenders
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is that you’re defending a circuit board from viruses. The graphics are… not bad. The gameplay is endless, and by that I don’t mean that you will want to play forever (although you might) but rather that you keep on going until you’ve lost all your lives.
td-retrodefenseRetro Defense
Price: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Retro arcade style tower defense game with path-oriented maps and 15 levels.
Sweetwatertd-sweetwaterdefense
Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This coastal defense oriented game features some very nice graphics and 3D effects. Be prepared, however, that this one is no pushover, reviewers rate it as one of the hardest tower defense games they’ve played.
td-lastportalLast Portal
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics are a bit simple, but well designed. The interesting feature of this game is that you need to defend a central point rather than a maze or a side of the screen.
td-galacticinvasionGalactic Invasion
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Your towers in this game are orbital emplacements to stop alien invaders from reaching earth. Unfortunately the interface seems a bit difficult to use.
td-inkomingINKoming
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting resource management features require you to turn towers on/off to make the best use of your capabilities.
td-touchdefensetouchDefense
Price: $3.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Simple but well designed graphics in this basic tower defense game.
defense_stationDefense Station Touchable
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Average graphics and a pretty standard path-based setup without a ton of depth.
tower_defendTowerDefend
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Nice if you like old arcade graphics, but not much else compelling here.
td-marsdefenceMars Defence
Price: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Very basic from graphics to gameplay. Reviews indicate this is a work in progress.
td-tidesofwarTides of War
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: A mix of real-time-strategy and tower defense. You have both units and buildings that you can deploy on the map to keep an invading horde of pirates from overwhelming you.
td-powertowersPower Towers
Price: $1.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There seems to be a lot of depth to the gameplay, with nine tower types and eight different mission types. The graphics look like something from the DOS era, however.
td-stoptheboxesStopTheBoxes
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 1.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The developer says it’s a tower defense game, some of the reviewers agree, but I sure can’t figure it out.
td-defensegridcompanionDefense Grid Companion
Price: Free
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics look nice, but there’s not a lot of information from the developer, nor a lot of reviews. Of course it doesn’t cost you anything to give it a shot.
I was first introduced to the world of tower defense games a couple of years back with the venerable Desktop Tower Defense. I do have to admit that I wondered if the whole idea of the game, placing various types of gun turrets to try and annihilate a group of small creatures/people before they can escape from you, might indicate some deep homicidal impulse on my part. But when I realized that the creatures where aptly named “creeps,” my worries dissipated.
When the iPhone came along it was immediately apparent to me that this was the perfect platform for tower defense games, with the touch screen an excellent way to place my maze of death. Sure enough the genre has sprouted no fewer than 49 different iPhone games for those who share my intense desire to keep creeps from crossing the screen. I’m not going to tell you which are my favorite, that will come later, but I am going to try and give you a complete snapshot of what’s available in the App store today. Because, let’s face it, if you don’t have at least half a dozen of these installed you’re not really exercising your homicidal instincts to their full potential.
td-geodefensegeoDefense
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Futuristic Tron-like graphics, high-speed gameplay and path oriented maps.
td-geodefense-swarmgeoDefense Swarm
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Same purposefully (I hope) unsophisticated, futuristic graphics as the standard geoDefense, but with an open field approach to maps.
td-towermadnessTowerMadness: 3D Tower Defense
Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This games gives you a reason for your killing, to protect your sheep from aliens. Also you get a 3-D interface, although the graphics leave something to be desired.
td-fieldrunnersFieldrunners
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fieldrunners offers a relatively vanilla tower defense experience, but is distinguished by its extremely smooth interface and high quality graphics.
td-stardefenseStar Defense
Price: 99 cents (free “prelude” version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This space-based tower defense game has you playing on small worlds that you can rotate and zoom into. The graphics are definitely the key feature here.
td-dungeondefenseDungeon Defense
Price: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this version of tower defense you play the bad guys, in the form of skeletons, and you kill the heroes. I kind of like that idea. There does seem to be a limited amount of gameplay, however, with only three skeleton types to place.
td-sentinelmarsdefenseSentinel: Mars Defense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: You place towers to defend Mars from aliens. There seem to be a good selection of tower types and the graphics look impressive.
td-Sentinel2EarthDefenseSentinel 2: Earth Defense
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: The same idea as its predecessor Mars Defense, only this time the alien buggers are invading earth. Impressive graphics are once again the highlight of this tower defense game.
td-navypatrolcoastaldefenseNavy Patrol: Coastal Defense
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Tower defense on the water, you place your navy to defend against an invader. Graphics are not overly impressive and the interface can get a bit cluttered, but gameplay seems to be deep.
td-thecreepsThe Creeps!
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: This time the creeps aren’t just trying to innocently cross the screen, they’re trying to get under your bed! This take on the tower defense genre offers cute graphics and some interesting features like destroyable terrain.
td-tapdefenseTapDefense
Price: Free
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Solid graphics and gameplay seem to be marred by some user complaints about advertisements. Still, it’s hard to argue with free.
td-7cities7 Cities
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Coastal tower defense, you build towers next to waterways to destroy invading ships. Towers can gain experience to get more powerful. The graphics are impressive and you can even build your own maps.
td-battlefieldnuclearbombBattle Field – Nuclear Bomb
Price: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A wide selection of towers, with 10 different types. There’s also a leveling system and, of course, nuclear bombs.
td-towerdefenseTowerDefense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not available
Distinguishing Features: Cartoonish graphics look decent but the description is strangely short and there aren’t enough ratings to merit a score. I kind of feel bad for the developer.
td-abugsdefenseA Bugs Defense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is pretty simple, bugs are invading the house and you stop them with various insecticides. The graphics are cute and cartoonish. Unfortunately there seem to be some game-play “bugs” that bother reviewers.
td-sgtowerdefenceSG Tower Defence
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Graphics are… unimpressive. There’s a strange wooden background to everything and the towers and creeps look like something out of 1985, and not in a good retro way.
td-BesiegementBesiegement
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting mix of graphics for a fairly vanilla tower defense game. The point of view is different from most, and you do have a good selection of tower types.
td-portdefenderPort Defender – 2D Tower Defense
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Not a lot special here, the graphics aren’t anything to swoon over and the selection of maps and towers are pretty standard.
td-warpdefenseWarp Defense
Price: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: I was a bit curious to see how the “warp” in the title would be implemented in the game, but it turns out it’s just a path-based tower defense game with laser-showesque graphics.
td-dragonslaughterepisode1Dragon Slaughter Episode I
Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented game with excellent graphics. Interesting tower purchasing system requires you to combine orb types, with various strength and weaknesses.
td-ninjatdNinja TD
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: OK, there are Ninjas, what else do you want? Well, there also seem to be some beautiful graphics here, along with magic based ninja powers. Unfortunately your enemies are not pirates.
td-moonlightminionsMoonlight Minions
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Impressive graphics, with an underground path-oriented theme. Your “towers” are various fungal compositions, I’ll let you make what you will of that.
td-gardenwarGarden War
Price: 99 cents (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A pest oriented tower defense game, in this one you defend your garden from various creepy buggers. Maps appear to be path-oriented and graphics are very good.
td-tridefenseTriDefense
Price: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: This version of tower defense offers decent graphics and some interesting features for example creeps can appear from anywhere on the screen and you can modify the terrain.
td-bloonstowerdefenseBloons Tower Defense
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this path-based tower defense game you want to pop the escaping balloons, but you get to use dart-throwing monkeys to do it, sounds good to me.
td-boombrigadeBooom Brigade
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: An interesting mix of shooter and tower game. You get three types of troops to fire at the incoming creeps, but they don’t do it automatically, instead you have to draw their attacks onto the screen. Reviewers indicate it’s a hard proposition.
td-defenderchroniclesDefender Chronicles – Legend of The Desert King
Price: $3.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented path-based tower defense game with a leveling system for your general that gives you bonuses for troop types.
td-zombieattackZombie Attack!
Price: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There are zombies, you need to kill them…pretty self-explanatory really. The best part is the hand drawn (as in pencil on lined paper) tower picker.
td-tribaltroubletowerdefenseTribal Trouble Tower Defense
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Decent graphics and interface, but be warned that there’s only one level in this game.
td-killallbugsKill All Bugs!
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Basic tower defense game except the creeps are giant bugs. Graphics are nothing impressive, but there does seem to be a good depth of gameplay.
td-hextoptowerdefenseHextop Tower Defense
Price: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Yes, it’s hexagonal, apart from that there’s nothing special here.
td-idefendiDefend
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: A lot of gameplay with 36 levels, but you better be a fan of retro graphics.
td-exaltowerdefenseExal Tower Defense
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: A basic open field tower defense games with mediocre graphics.
td-mote-mMote-M
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Another basic tower defense game, this one with path-oriented maps.
td-nemesisdefenceNemesis Defence
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: Path-based tower defense game with a good selection of towers but only three different maps.
td-circuitdefendersCircuit Defenders
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is that you’re defending a circuit board from viruses. The graphics are… not bad. The gameplay is endless, and by that I don’t mean that you will want to play forever (although you might) but rather that you keep on going until you’ve lost all your lives.
td-retrodefenseRetro Defense
Price: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Retro arcade style tower defense game with path-oriented maps and 15 levels.
Sweetwatertd-sweetwaterdefense
Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This coastal defense oriented game features some very nice graphics and 3D effects. Be prepared, however, that this one is no pushover, reviewers rate it as one of the hardest tower defense games they’ve played.
td-lastportalLast Portal
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics are a bit simple, but well designed. The interesting feature of this game is that you need to defend a central point rather than a maze or a side of the screen.
td-galacticinvasionGalactic Invasion
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Your towers in this game are orbital emplacements to stop alien invaders from reaching earth. Unfortunately the interface seems a bit difficult to use.
td-inkomingINKoming
Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting resource management features require you to turn towers on/off to make the best use of your capabilities.
td-touchdefensetouchDefense
Price: $3.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Simple but well designed graphics in this basic tower defense game.
defense_stationDefense Station Touchable
Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Average graphics and a pretty standard path-based setup without a ton of depth.
tower_defendTowerDefend
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Nice if you like old arcade graphics, but not much else compelling here.
td-marsdefenceMars Defence
Price: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Very basic from graphics to gameplay. Reviews indicate this is a work in progress.
td-tidesofwarTides of War
Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: A mix of real-time-strategy and tower defense. You have both units and buildings that you can deploy on the map to keep an invading horde of pirates from overwhelming you.
td-powertowersPower Towers
Price: $1.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There seems to be a lot of depth to the gameplay, with nine tower types and eight different mission types. The graphics look like something from the DOS era, however.
td-stoptheboxesStopTheBoxes
Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 1.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The developer says it’s a tower defense game, some of the reviewers agree, but I sure can’t figure it out.
td-defensegridcompanionDefense Grid Companion
Price: Free
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics look nice, but there’s not a lot of information from the developer, nor a lot of reviews. Of course it doesn’t cost you anything to give it a shot.
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