Dead End Defense is a free zombie tower defense game you can play online at ArcadeBean, right in your desktop or mobile browser with no download. Zombies walk a winding road from the graveyard to your safehouse. Build and upgrade towers on the stone pads beside the road, and stop all 20 waves before your 20 lives run out.
Game Info
- Developer
- ArcadeBean
- Genre
- Strategy
- Platforms
- Web browser on desktop, phone and tablet
- Controls
- Keyboard and mouse, or touch
- Orientation
- Landscape (portrait supported)
- Saving
- Each run lasts until the safehouse falls. Your best wave and kill count are saved in your browser.
- Released
- Price
- Free
- zombie
- tower defense
- strategy
Screenshots
How to Play Dead End Defense
| Action | Desktop | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Build a tower | Click an empty pad, then pick a tower (or press 1–4) | Tap an empty pad, then tap a tower |
| Upgrade or sell | Click a tower, then Upgrade (U) or Sell (S) | Tap a tower, then Upgrade or Sell |
| Start or call a wave | Wave button, Space or N | Wave button at the bottom |
| Game speed | F or the 1×/2× button | 1×/2× button in the top-right corner |
| Pause / mute | Esc or P / M | Buttons in the top-right corner |
How the Waves Work
You start with 250 scrap and 20 lives, and nothing happens until you press Start Wave 1, so you can place your first towers in peace. Each wave sends more zombies than the last, and every zombie gets tougher as the waves go up. Runners join from wave 3, armored Brutes from wave 5, and every fifth wave ends with an Abomination, a slow boss with heavy armor.
When a wave has finished spawning, a 20-second countdown to the next one begins, even if zombies are still on the road. You can call the next wave early with the wave button: you earn 2 scrap for every second left on the countdown. Every zombie that reaches the safehouse costs lives: 1 for Walkers and Runners, 2 for a Brute and 5 for an Abomination. Clear wave 20 to win, then keep going in endless mode if you want to see how far your defense holds.
Towers and Upgrades
There are four towers, and each has three levels. The Rifle Nest (70 scrap) shoots one zombie at a time from long range. The Flamer (90) burns every zombie in its short range, sets them on fire for two seconds and ignores armor. The Mortar (120) fires slow shells that explode in a splash. The Shock Coil (80) pulses every zombie in range for a little damage and slows them by 40% at level 1, up to 60% at level 3.
Upgrades raise damage, range and fire rate. A fully upgraded Rifle Nest hits for 66 damage every 0.55 seconds, and a level 3 Mortar deals 135 splash damage. Selling a tower returns 70% of everything you spent on it, so you can move your defense when a new kind of zombie shows up.
The Zombies
Walkers are slow and come in large numbers. Runners move twice as fast as Walkers but have less health. Brutes are slow, take a lot of punishment and have 6 armor, which is subtracted from every hit except fire. The Abomination has 10 armor and a huge health pool, and slowing effects work only half as well on it.
Game Features
- 20 waves to win, then an optional endless mode
- Four towers with three upgrade levels each: Rifle Nest, Flamer, Mortar and Shock Coil
- Four zombie types, including armored Brutes and an Abomination boss every fifth wave
- Call waves early for bonus scrap, or wait and build
- Tap controls that work on phones in portrait or landscape
- 2× speed button for faster waves
- Night-time graveyard road with synthesized sound effects
- Your best wave and kill count are saved in your browser
Tips & Strategy
- Build at the first corner. The road bends sharply just below the graveyard. A Rifle Nest on a pad next to that corner covers both stretches of road, so zombies stay in its range for longer.
- Put Flamers on corner pads. The Flamer has the shortest range but hits every zombie around it. A pad tucked into a corner of the road, like the one where the road turns along the bottom of the map for the first time, reaches both stretches of road, so groups walk through the fire twice.
- Answer armor with fire and big hits. Armor takes 6 off every hit from a Brute and 10 off every hit from an Abomination. Small hits like a level 1 Shock pulse barely scratch them, while fire ignores armor completely. Upgrade Rifle Nests and Mortars before wave 5.
- Pair the Mortar with a Shock Coil. Mortar shells land where the zombie was when the shell was fired, about 0.8 seconds earlier. Fast Runners can walk out of the blast. Zombies slowed by a Shock Coil stay inside it.
- Call early waves for scrap. The first waves are light. Calling the next wave as soon as the road is clear earns up to 40 scrap each time, and that adds up quickly over the first few waves.
- Save scrap before every fifth wave. Waves 5, 10, 15 and 20 end with an Abomination. Keep enough scrap to upgrade a tower near the safehouse when it appears, because it costs 5 lives if it gets through.
- Sell to rebuild, not to panic. Selling returns 70% of what you spent. Use it to swap a tower that fits the wrong job, such as a Rifle Nest on a long straight that a Mortar could cover better.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this zombie tower defense game free?
Yes. Dead End Defense is completely free to play on ArcadeBean. There are no purchases, no sign-up and no account needed.
Can I play it on my phone?
Yes. It works in mobile browsers like Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android. Tap a pad to build and tap a tower to upgrade. In portrait the road runs from the top of the screen to the bottom.
Do I need to download anything?
No. The game runs directly in your web browser using HTML5. Press Play and it loads in a few seconds on any modern desktop or mobile browser.
How does saving work?
Each run lasts until the safehouse falls or you start again. Your best wave and kill count are saved automatically in your browser, so you can try to beat them next time.
How many waves are there?
You win by stopping 20 waves. After that you can keep going in endless mode, where the waves keep getting bigger and tougher.
Why can't I build a tower?
You need enough scrap. Each tower's price is shown on its button, and buttons you can't afford are greyed out. Earn scrap by killing zombies and by calling waves early.
What are some similar games?
If you like Dead End Defense, try other tower defense, strategy and zombie survival games. Our zombie games page lists every zombie game on ArcadeBean.
