Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense vs Town of Salem
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense is an action-adventure RPG game from Ironhide Game Studio (2014) while Town of Salem is an RPG strategy game from BlankMediaGames (2014).
Quick answer: Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense rates higher, 8.1 to 7.7 on the GamingPickz Score, and Town of Salem is the cheaper at $4.99.
What each one is
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense is filed under Action-Adventure and RPG. In contrast, Town of Salem under RPG and Strategy.
Get ready for an epic journey to defend your kingdom against hordes of orcs, trolls, evil wizards and other nasty fiends using a vast arsenal of towers and spells at your command!Fight on forests, mountains and wastelands, customizing your defensive strategy with different tower upgrades and specializations!
Inspired by the party games Werewolf and Mafia, Town of Salem is a game of murder, mystery and deception.
Story, characters and reception
No Wikipedia detail on file.
Reception
In 2020, PC Gamer named Town of Salem one of the best free-to-play browser games. They described it as difficult to explain, but easy to get the hang of. Matt Cox of Rock, Paper, Shotgun described the game as "an online hidden role game with no friends or eyeballs, and a whole load of bullshit. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense | Town of Salem | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 7.7/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (97%, 17,136) | Very Positive (88%, 36,262) |
| Critic aggregate | No aggregate | No aggregate |
| Price | $9.99 | $4.99 |
| Install size | 1.46 GB | 3 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2014 | 2014 |
| Developer | Ironhide Game Studio | BlankMediaGames |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense vs Town of Salem, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Kingdom Rush - Tower DefenseAction-adventure RPG gameTown of SalemRPG strategy gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Kingdom Rush - Tower DefenseTower Defense, Strategy, 2DTown of SalemStrategy, Mystery, IndieThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense ✓Score 8.1 · 97% on SteamTown of SalemScore 7.7 · 88% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense17,136 reviews · 1.46 GBTown of Salem36,262 reviews · 2 add-ons · 3 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense$9.99Town of Salem ✓$4.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Kingdom Rush - Tower DefensePlayableTown of SalemPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueKingdom Rush - Tower Defense and Town of Salem on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- The cheaper right now: Town of Salem ($4.99)
- Lighter on storage: Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense (1.46 GB)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Town of Salem (36,262 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
Strategy2DTacticalCasualActionFunnyIndieComedy
Where they differ
Tower DefenseSingleplayerFantasyAdventureMedievalCartoon
MultiplayerMysterySocial DeductionWerewolvesSurvivalMassively Multiplayer
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense is demanding, for players who want a challenge. Town of Salem is relaxed, easy to pick up.
System requirements, side by side
| Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense | Town of Salem | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | OpenGL 3.0 compliant with 512MB of video RAM. | — |
| Minimum CPU | Dual Core CPU | 2 Ghz |
| Minimum RAM | 1 GB | 2 GB |
| Install size | 1.46 GB | 3 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense · Town of Salem.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense and 0 for Town of Salem. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense and Town of Salem in scope?
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense has drawn 17,136 Steam reviews and installs in 1.46 GB. Town of Salem has drawn 36,262 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 3 GB.
Is Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense or Town of Salem better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense rates higher (8.1 to 7.7). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense or Town of Salem?
Town of Salem is cheaper right now at $4.99, against $9.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense or Town of Salem?
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense rates higher, 8.1 to 7.7 on the GamingPickz Score, and Town of Salem is the cheaper at $4.99. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.