Sanctum 2

Verdict

Sanctum 2 splits every wave into two halves. First a build phase, top-down and calm, where you lay blocks to bend the alien route and bolt turrets to them. Then the gate opens, the camera drops behind your shoulder and you are a soldier in your own maze with a rifle, a shotgun or a sniper, finishing what the towers start and plugging the gap you did not see. Thirteen years later nobody has done the two halves better in one game.

Four classes with their own weapons and perks, a loadout system that makes you choose which towers to even bring, and co-op for four make it the liveliest evening on this list after Dome Keeper. It is old, the campaign is short and the studio has long since moved on to other things, but at £12.99 with four map packs at £4.99 each it is a lot of game, and it runs on anything.

Towers 16 of 20

A dozen towers, each with a clear role, plus the blocks that shape the maze and the four weapons you carry yourself. The loadout limit means you never have everything, which keeps each map a fresh problem. Upgrades are plain numbers.

Lanes 15 of 20

Compact arenas with build zones you must use well, and the twist that your own body is a tower: standing in the right doorway matters. Variety across the campaign is decent; the map packs add the best ones.

Waves 16 of 20

Walkers, flyers, tanks and the fast little pests that go for the core, all in readable mixes, with Feats of Strength as optional modifiers to make any map nastier. Difficulty with four players is well balanced; alone it gets busy in the last third.

Economy 16 of 20

Resources arrive per wave and go on towers or on your own weapons, a real tug of war. Nothing to buy beyond the map packs and a cosmetic skin pack. Fair.

Longevity 14 of 20

A ten-hour campaign, four add-on packs and co-op for four, with no endless mode and no updates since 2014. What is here is finished and good; it will not grow.

In pictures

Report written against the Steam build current on 31 October 2026; prices read the same day.