Fantasy TD vs Cryptid Defense
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Fantasy TD
A fast-paced, strategic tower defense game where players build towers, cast spells, and upgrade defenses to repel waves of monsters. It offers a challenging experience focused on tactical placement and resource management to protect your castle.
- Build towers
- Cast spells
- Upgrade defenses
- Stop monsters
- Strategic gameplay
- Fast-paced action
Read full descriptionHide full description
Fantasy Tower Defense is a challenging, fast-paced, and strategic Tower Defense game where you frantically build towers, cast spells, and upgrade to stop monsters from reaching your castle.
Cryptid Defense
Defend the wilds as legendary creatures against invading settlers and trappers. Strategically choose your cryptids and their upgrades to overcome 19 illustrated battlegrounds across three distinct worlds. Unlock new legends and experience a story carried by fully voiced cutscenes.
- 19 illustrated battlegrounds
- 20 unique cryptids with upgrades
- Strategic cryptid selection
- Unlock cryptids by winning levels
- 24 fully voiced cutscenes
- Three distinct worlds with unique challenges
Read full descriptionHide full description
You are not the kingdom. You are what the kingdom came to kill. Cryptid Defense is a tower defense with the polarity flipped. Settlers, trappers and inquisitors march into the wilds with cages and rifles, and you answer with Bigfoot, Mothman, Nessie, the Wendigo, and every other legend they came to collect. DEFEND THE WILDS - 19 illustrated battlegrounds - 21 cryptids, each with its own traits, upgrades and way of fighting - Pick five for each hunt — choosing the pack is half the puzzle FREE THE LEGENDS - Win a level and you liberate the cryptid caged there - 24 fully voiced cutscenes carry the story between battles - Every invader captain is voiced, and taunts you by name THREE WORLDS - Elohi, Domhan and Mokili - Each region brings its own cryptids, its own invaders, and its own boss NO ADS There are optional relic bundles, but nothing is locked behind them. Everything in the game can be earned by playing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Cryptid Defense at Free against Fantasy TD's $1.99. Fantasy TD's advantage is ratings volume (14 vs 2) and device support (5 vs 3). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Cryptid Defense is free to download; Fantasy TD costs $1.99 up front. Fantasy TD sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Cryptid Defense sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Fantasy TD against 5.0 for Cryptid Defense. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fantasy TD has 14 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Fantasy TD | Cryptid Defense |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (14 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 600 MB | 385 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Ktisis Web, LLC | Andrew Tanaka |
Customer experience
Fantasy TD
Cryptid Defense
In-app purchases
Fantasy TD
- Remove Ads$0.99
Cryptid Defense
- Handful of Relics$0.99
- Pouch of Relics$1.99
- Hoard of Relics$4.99
Questions
Is Fantasy TD free?
Is Cryptid Defense free?
Which has better reviews, Fantasy TD or Cryptid Defense?
Do Fantasy TD or Cryptid Defense have ads?
Which is updated more often, Fantasy TD or Cryptid Defense?
Other comparisons
