73%Strong matchExodus Borealis
92%23792% positive reviews, Very Positive across 237 reviews·Tower Defense · Building
—






Tower-defense mixed with economy elements. It features complex skill trees, resource trading, building your own village, and setting individual tactics for each tower. Can you defend what you've built from hordes of enemies? Visit Ancient Islands and test your tactical sense!
The islands may look colorful and peaceful at the first glance, don't let It fool you though, the truth is quite different...

Ancient Islands is a hardcore, old-school tower defense game with complex mechanics unusual for the genre!


Many towers are at your disposal, each one with unique properties. Set your buildings wisely to maximize their combat potential and take advantage of the synergies between them.

Develop the village you're defending. Build not only the defense towers but also other facilities inside your settlement. Place woodcutter's huts near the forest to gather wood, then build a marketplace to exchange it for stone. Develop your magic schools to get more mana and unlock more powerful spells. Upgrade your gate to damage enemies attacking it and so on...



Exchange resources to get the ones you need. You want to build a specific tower and you lack wood while sleeping on the stone and gold? - no problem! (if you're willing to pay the price). The map you're on is rich in one supply while lacking the presence of others? - Trade! You're not a mage type? - Turn your mana into gold!

Set the plan of an attack for each individual tower. Order your forces to attack a specific enemy based on 14 unique traits. You can make mage towers target the flying enemies with low health first, and your archers the fastest ones with the strongest magic resistance. It's all in your hands. Figure out what works for you once or change your tactic according to the map!



Develop your abilities in a way you like, there are tons of available combinations, you can specialize yourself in getting gold and archery, woodcutting, and melee fighters, or go full resource gathering. The choice is yours. Each branch of the skill tree has new buildings and towers ready to be unlocked!

Upgrading equipment for your towers in the blacksmith, multiple difficulty levels, troops formations, and powerful spells await...
Steam data © 2026 Valve Corporation. Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
All matches
Finding similar games…
Exodus BorealisShares Difficult · Tower Defense · Building , adds City Builder92% · 237 positive reviews73%Strong match—
Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower DefenseShares Difficult · Colorful · Tower Defense , adds Choices Matter97% · 9k positive reviews70%Strong match—
Ancient PlanetShares Difficult · Tower Defense · Isometric , adds Comedy84% · 833 positive reviews75%Strong match—
Broken Universe - Tower DefenseShares Colorful · Tower Defense · 2D , adds Survival90% · 284 positive reviews74%Strong match—
ThronefallShares Colorful · Tower Defense · Base Building , adds City Builder97% · 21k positive reviews69%Strong match—
Tower DominionShares Tower Defense · Base Building · Resource Management , adds Roguelike87% · 3k positive reviews70%Strong match—All matches
The best games like Ancient Islands are Exodus Borealis, Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense, Ancient Planet, Broken Universe - Tower Defense, and Thronefall.
Match on: filter matches for Ancient Islands by tag
Filters all matches
65%+Strong matches