Fit check
Is Shepherds of the Abyss worth it for you?
We tell you who should skip it, too.
Play it if you…
Good fit- Tower-defense players who enjoy constructing new mazes each game
- Strategy players who want wave preparation and counter-based tower placement
- Friends seeking cooperative survival or one-versus-one tower-defense matches
Skip it if you…
Saves you a refund- Players seeking a story-led campaign or character-driven RPG progression
- Players who prefer fixed layouts and familiar strategies over changing obstacles and wave setups
- Solo players who do not want a game centered partly on multiplayer modes
Our take on Shepherds of the Abyss
The defining detail is the preparation grid for incoming enemy buffs: adjacent matching effects become stronger, while limited movement forces players to rearrange the wave before combat begins.
What is Shepherds of the Abyss?
Build tower defenses across open spaces, placing structures to make enemy units follow long routes toward a throne.
Each game introduces random obstacles and waypoints, so maze layouts cannot be memorized. Enemy units receive varied buffs, including armor, speed, regeneration, and shields; towers provide counters that make placement and selection important. Gold pays for construction and upgrades, while souls gathered from defeated units activate additional tower effects between waves. Play alternates between a preparation phase for building, upgrading, and empowering towers and a combat phase in which units attack all players. Incoming wave buffs appear in a movable grid, with adjacent matching effects becoming stronger. Modes include solo survival, cooperative survival, and one-versus-one battles.
How Shepherds of the Abyss plays
- 01Randomized Maze Layouts
- Obstacles and waypoints change between games, requiring new routes for enemy units.
- 02Buff Counter System
- Enemy bonuses such as armor, speed, regeneration, and shields are matched by suitable tower choices.
- 03Two Resource Types
- Gold funds construction and upgrades, while souls activate extra tower effects between waves.
- 04Wave Planning Grid
- Buffs for the next attack can be repositioned during preparation, although movement is restricted.
- 05Multiple Game Modes
- Survival supports solo and cooperative play, while head-to-head mode uses one-versus-one matches.
Shepherds of the Abyss compared to similar games
Dungeon Defenders: Awakened combines cooperative tower defense with action RPG systems such as loot, leveling, pets, and character customization. Shepherds of the Abyss instead centers on maze construction, enemy-buff counters, wave preparation, and solo, cooperative, or one-versus-one survival formats.
Shepherds of the Abyss: platforms & release
Is Shepherds of the Abyss worth it?
It is worth it if: tower-defense players who enjoy constructing new mazes each game. Skip it if: players seeking a story-led campaign or character-driven RPG progression.
Where can I download Shepherds of the Abyss?
Use the Download Now button on this page: it opens Shepherds of the Abyss's store page, where you can choose how to get it.
What platforms is Shepherds of the Abyss on?
Windows only.
