How to make a tower defense game in Roblox Studio

Tower defense is harder than an obby or a tycoon because many things move at once: enemies on a path, towers choosing targets, money from kills. Build it in this order and test each system before adding the next.

The core loop

Every tower defense game comes down to one loop that players repeat. Build this first, in grey blocks:

1. Place towers with your cash
2. Survive a wave
3. Earn cash from kills
4. Upgrade towers before the next, harder wave

Systems you need

Build order

1. 1

   Path and one enemy

   Lay out the waypoints and make one enemy walk the whole path.

2. 2

   Waves and base health

   Spawn several enemies per wave and subtract health when they reach the end.

3. 3

   One tower, placed by hand

   Put a tower in Studio and make it shoot before writing any placement code.

4. 4

   Cash and placement

   Give cash per kill and let players place towers through a RemoteEvent that the server validates.

5. 5

   Upgrades and tower variety

   Range, damage and fire-rate upgrades; then a second tower type.

The key script: Enemy path, waves and base health

Where it goes: ServerScriptService > Waves (Script).

• Workspace > Waypoints: small anchored parts named 1, 2, 3… along the path, a few studs apart at corners.
• Workspace > EnemySpawn: an anchored part where enemies appear.
• ServerStorage > Zombie: a rig with a Humanoid and HumanoidRootPart (Avatar tab → Rig Builder).

local ServerStorage = game:GetService("ServerStorage")

local waypoints = workspace:WaitForChild("Waypoints")
local spawnPart = workspace:WaitForChild("EnemySpawn")
local template = ServerStorage:WaitForChild("Zombie")

local baseHealth = 100
local enemies = workspace:FindFirstChild("Enemies") or Instance.new("Folder")
enemies.Name = "Enemies"
enemies.Parent = workspace

local function walkPath(enemy)
	local humanoid = enemy:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid")
	for i = 1, #waypoints:GetChildren() do
		local point = waypoints:FindFirstChild(tostring(i))
		if not point or not enemy.Parent or humanoid.Health <= 0 then return end
		humanoid:MoveTo(point.Position)
		humanoid.MoveToFinished:Wait()
	end
	-- Reached the base.
	if enemy.Parent and humanoid.Health > 0 then
		baseHealth -= humanoid.Health
		enemy:Destroy()
	end
end

local function spawnEnemy(health, speed)
	local enemy = template:Clone()
	local humanoid = enemy:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid")
	humanoid.MaxHealth = health
	humanoid.Health = health
	humanoid.WalkSpeed = speed
	humanoid.Died:Connect(function()
		task.wait(0.5)
		enemy:Destroy()
	end)
	enemy:PivotTo(spawnPart.CFrame)
	enemy.Parent = enemies
	enemy.HumanoidRootPart:SetNetworkOwner(nil) -- smooth movement on the server
	task.spawn(walkPath, enemy)
end

for wave = 1, 20 do
	print("Wave", wave)
	for _ = 1, 3 + wave * 2 do
		spawnEnemy(50 + wave * 15, 10 + wave * 0.3)
		task.wait(1)
	end
	repeat task.wait(1) until #enemies:GetChildren() == 0 or baseHealth <= 0
	if baseHealth <= 0 then
		print("Game over")
		break
	end
	task.wait(5) -- break between waves
end

How it works

• MoveTo gives up after 8 seconds, so keep waypoints close enough that an enemy reaches each one in less time than that.
• Towers deal damage with humanoid:TakeDamage(amount); the Died handler cleans up the enemy.
• A good tower target is the enemy that has passed the most waypoints, not the closest one — store a Progress attribute in walkPath to make that easy.

How tower defense games make Robux

• Premium towers as game passes — but keep free towers good enough to win normal mode.
• Cosmetic tower skins and placement effects.
• VIP servers for groups who want to play hard modes together.

You receive 70% of what players spend on game passes and developer products; Roblox keeps 30%.

Common mistakes