Comparison

SimpleTD vs The Rot Within

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SimpleTD

Engage in a pixel-art tower defense experience with a rich storyline and fully voiced cutscenes. Strategize with over 14 unique towers, permanent upgrade paths, and challenging endless waves. Enemies can also gain power-ups, adding a unique twist to each playthrough.

Highlights
  • Voiced cinematic cutscenes and rich story
  • 14+ unique towers with distinct personalities
  • Deep, permanent upgrade paths
  • Endless waves and titan-sized bosses
  • Enemy power-ups on maps
  • Daily & weekly quests
  • 10+ hand-crafted maps with dynamic modifiers
Features
Read full description

Defend your Life Orbs against ever-evolving foes in SimpleTD—with no microtransactions! Features -- Voiced Cinematic Cutscenes and Rich Story: A rich storyline to propel players through those waves with fully voiced cutscenes in a 2D, pixel art style with plenty of DLCs planned to expand on the story. -- 14+ Unique Towers, Each with a Personality: From all-purpose Simple Towers to credit-printing Mint towers, acid-splashing Splash Towers, boss-busting Shotguns, and range-boosting Buff Towers, every turret plays, and upgrades, differently. -- Interesting Towers and Mechanics - Easily collect crystals passively or organically by completing waves, store credits on easier maps to use on harder maps, protect your towers from aerial attacks. -- Deep, Permanent Upgrade Paths: Spend hard-earned Crystals in the Upgrade Lab to push damage, fire-rate, range, critical chance, and even global LP caps to dizzying heights, then stack buffs for exponential power. -- Endless Waves & Titan-Sized Bosses: Face adaptive swarms, enable Crazy Mode for 3x the enemies with 3x the strength, and face off against bosses with both set and random schedules! No two play-throughs will be exactly the same! -- Enemy Power-Ups: Instead of trying to earn power-ups for your towers, the enemies get a chance to! All maps have power-ups along the paths for enemies to pick up, providing unique abilities to power them through to your Life Points! --Daily & Weekly Quests – Knock out fresh objectives every day and week for Crystals, carry-over credits, and limited-time stat buffs that alter your next run’s strategy. -- 10+ Hand-Crafted Maps with Dynamic Modifiers. Spiral deserts, snaking forests, twin-lane battlefields, mega-sized arenas, and more. Each map flips spawn rates, HP multipliers, weather events, and elite chances to keep you guessing. -- Map Based Events: Contend with interesting events on most of the maps to add to the gameplay. -- Auto-Play & Super Play Speeds - Grind hands-free in Auto Mode (which stops if your lose a Life Point) and/or crank the speed up 5x to hurry through early waves, but watch out as accuracy will take a hit! -- In-Game Store for Buffs and Items: An in-game store using only game acquired crystals to allow players to spend on buffs and items. No real-world money here; microtransactions are not welcomed in SimpleTD! -- User-Defined Graphics: Love retro pixel art? Leave it on. Prefer a clean, minimalist look? Turn it off for a more “Simple” feel. == No Microtransactions == Every Crystal and Credit is earned in-game—no paywalls, ever. Download SimpleTD now and master your defenses!

About

The Rot Within

Experience a survival game where a virus reveals everyone's true nature, testing morality and trust in a collapsing world. Your choices determine survival and the fate of humanity.

Highlights
  • Survival experience
  • Morality testing
  • Trust mechanics
  • Consequential decisions
  • World-altering choices
Features
Read full description

THE Rot Within is not just a game. It is a survival experience. In a world where trust no longer exists, a virus has changed everything. The virus is called Brain Fog. It doesn’t kill instantly. It doesn’t turn people into monsters. It does something far worse. It reveals the truth. Every criminal. Every liar. Every false smile. Brain Fog strips away masks and exposes who people really are. No one can hide. No one can pretend. You believe you are a good person. But are you certain? If you don’t know… or if you lie to yourself… it doesn’t matter. The Fog will decide. Survive in a collapsing world where morality is tested, trust is dangerous, and every decision has consequences. Death is inevitable, but how you face it is your choice. Your actions may save yourself… or change the fate of the entire world. Just remember: The virus will reveal your true face anyway. Don’t let it prove you a liar.

Screenshots

SimpleTD4 screens
The Rot Within4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SimpleTD at 100% against The Rot Within's 50%. SimpleTD also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). The Rot Within's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.1). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SimpleTD ships an update monthly, The Rot Within every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SimpleTD versus The Rot Within: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimpleTDThe Rot Within
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.7 GB515 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperAngrySalami LLCAndrei Robert Marin

Customer experience

SimpleTD

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

The Rot Within

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

SimpleTD

No in-app purchases

None

The Rot Within

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SimpleTD free?
SimpleTD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Rot Within free?
The Rot Within is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SimpleTD or The Rot Within have ads?
The Rot Within shows ads; SimpleTD does not.
Which is updated more often, SimpleTD or The Rot Within?
SimpleTD ships an update monthly, and The Rot Within every 5 days. Most recently, SimpleTD was updated on October 2, 2026 and The Rot Within on October 12, 2026.

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