Defend the Rook
Skip · Roguelike · 2021
Steam Deck VerifiedThe verdict
SKIP IT.
It scores 36, under the fair line, at $17.99.
- Length
- 1.5h 28.1h to 100%
- Value
- $11.99/hr
- Reviews
- 76% of 244 positive
Watch this gameOne alert at a price you pick.
Buy now or wait
Discounted in each of its last 8 seasonal sales. Last cut ended 11 days ago.
- Next sale
- Winter Sale, Dec 17 to Jan 4
Sources: IsThereAnyDeal, Valve.
What drives the score
How to read this
Grades run S to D, read from the buyer's side. ▲ marks a lift, ▼ a drag or a dock, ? an input we do not have, • a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
About the game
A roguelike tactics board combat combined with tower defense elements. Defeat the invading hordes to stay alive and save the land! Enjoy more tactics than a normal TD game, combined with the added challenge of building towers and fighting off waves of enemies!
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: GeForce 600M / ATI Radeon HD 5450 (1GB), 2.4 GB of storage. Windows only.
The value story
It has been discounted 43 times in the 5 years tracked here. The median cut across all of them is 75 percent, about 5 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended 11 days ago.
It is pricier than 73 percent of its genre, and less well reviewed than 67 percent. Among the games that feel like it, The Last Spell ($6.24, scores 78) beats it on value, while it beats WARSAW RISING: City of Heroes (free, scores 15).
More about Defend the Rook
HowLongToBeat players log 1.5 hours as a typical playtime, and completionists log 28, 19 times as much.
Valve rates it Steam Deck Verified, and at 1.5 hours it is short enough to finish on one.
The drop-off
58% start to 36% finishA game like this has no single ending, so its score does not use the finish rate. The curve shows where players stop. Steam global achievements
What players say
This has been one of the most fun Rogue-Lites I've played in a very long time. For the price, the amount of content and hours of play is so worth it. Rare I leave reviews, but I want to support where I can for such a lovely game.
2 more reviews, 1 not recommended
**edit** Recommending again. *sigh* It's complicated... If you get lucky with ability draws and spell combinations to start a run with, it's pretty fun. Just don't be afraid to bail on doomed runs and roll again so to speak. Also, if something unexpected happens, you can save and quit and start your turn over, which has saved me from a few misclicks and misunderstandings. *edit* I no longer recommend this game as a...
Good first impression, but as soon as you get deeper into the game it just gets you disappointed because this game is not about your tactical skill, but about getting good RNG. [*] Tactics. There is barely any: all enemies are able to cover half the map in one turn, so your only viable option is to kill them in one turn. While you can try to go for defensive play, defense upgrades scale poorly and higher...
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
No data upstream: critic score (Metacritic).
Cite this score
Defend the Rook scores 36/100 on the BANG Score (a skip) as of Oct 19, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/1531250/defend-the-rookReviews set the ceiling, and the size of the player base moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Oct 2, price as of Oct 18. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.