Top-down view
One of the types of camera in video games is top-down view. It is very similar to isometric view but differs slightly. In top-down view, developers do not strive to make the world three-dimensional and deep. Everything is depicted either in two-dimensional space or they create a pseudo "volume" from several rows of two-dimensional spaces. For example, a character can go behind a "flat" house. Sometimes the camera is completely vertical, and the player looks at the flat world from above, as in the first game of the GTA series. Scaling in such games is used very rarely. This method can be used in quests, role-playing games, hack and slash, beat 'em up, strategy games, and many others.
Years
Platforms
PlayStation 3PlayStation 2Xbox 360PSPWiiNintendo 3DSNintendo DSWindows PhoneNintendo DSiiPod TouchiPhoneCommodore 64Videopac+ G7400GenesisJ2MESEGA Master SystemOdyssey 2SymbianbadawebOS
Statuses
Best Games in the Top-down view genre of 2011 (Game released)
Game released: Android, bada, iPad, iOS, Mac, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PC, Windows Phone, Xbox 360 → 31 May 2011
Players:
7.3/10
Steam:
98/100
Metacritic:
85/100
A colorful strategy game in the tower defense genre, where an ordinary country house is under siege by an army of funny but extremely persistent zombies. The only...
Game released: Android, iPad, iPhone, Mac, PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 → 14 December 2011
Players:
7.2/10
Steam:
66/100
Metacritic:
95/100
Grand Theft Auto 3 is a continuation of the dynamic action game with a third-person view in the open world. Working for the mafia sooner or later ends in trouble...
Role-playing game, Top-down view, Futurism (Future), Anime / Manga, Fantasy / Medieval, Turn-based, Japanese role-playing game
Game released: iOS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PSP, SNES, Wii, PC → 8 December 2011
Players:
9.7/10
Steam:
87/100
Metacritic:
92/100
This role-playing game follows Crono, a young hero who sets out to save the planet’s future after his companion Marle vanishes through a rift in space and time. The...
Game released: Android, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, BlackBerry, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Intellivision, iPhone, MSX, Neo Geo Pocket Color, NES, PC-88, PC-98, PC Booter, TI-99/4A, VIC-20, Wii, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, ZX Spectrum, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One → 27 October 2009
Players:
8.3/10
Steam:
90/100
Metacritic:
58/100
Pac-Man is a top-down arcade action game. You have to guide Pac-Man through the maze and eat all the dots without being caught by the ghosts. You will find exciting...
Arcade, Action, Shooter, Horror, Third-person view, Top-down view, Futurism (Future), Sandbox, Science fiction
Game released: Linux, Mac, PC → 16 September 2009
Players:
8.8/10
Steam:
82/100
Metacritic:
74/100
This top-down science-fiction action game follows a fight against an alien threat in the colony of New Atlantis. The protagonist battles monsters and large bosses...
Game released: PC, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Mac, Linux → 6 July 2012
Players:
9.4/10
Steam:
95/100
Metacritic:
83/100
An indie adventure game created using the RPG Maker engine. The game tells the story of two young doctors, Eva and Neil, who give people another chance to live...
Action, Shooter, Strategy, First-person view, Third-person view, Top-down view, Futurism (Future), Sandbox, Post-apocalyptic, Online
Game released: Mac, PC, Linux → 26 September 2011
Players:
4.7/10
Steam:
78/100
Metacritic:
71/100
Nuclear Dawn is a multiplayer game that combines first-person shooting with real-time strategy in a post-apocalyptic setting of war-torn cities. As infantry...
Role-playing game, Strategy, Adventure, Third-person view, Isometric, Top-down view, Puzzle, Fantasy / Medieval
Game released: Nintendo 3DS → 13 December 2011
Metacritic:
53/100
This puzzle adventure is set in 19th-century Europe, where Professor Jean-Pierre Lautrec investigates the mystery of Louis XIV’s treasure. The search begins when...
Game released: Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns, FM-7, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1, SEGA Master System, Sharp X68000, PC → 1988
A turn-based role-playing game set in the fantasy world of Britannia, it focuses on the hero’s moral development rather than defeating a central villain. After...
Game released: PSP, PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo 3DS, Linux → 12 August 2010
Players:
9.8/10
Steam:
88/100
Metacritic:
73/100
This horror adventure with visual-novel elements follows a group of students trapped in an otherworldly version of an abandoned elementary school after performing a...
Role-playing game, Online, Action, Shooter, MMO, Top-down view, Fantasy / Medieval, Free game, Roguelike, Indie
Game released: Browser, Mac, PC → 20 June 2011
Players:
9/10
Steam:
80/100
Realm of the Mad God is a free-to-play top-down multiplayer shooter in a fantasy setting. You have to team up with dozens of players and fight for the Kingdom of...
Game released: Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM-7, Game Boy Advance, NES, Nintendo 3DS, PC-88, PC-98, SEGA Master System, Wii, Xbox 360, ZX Spectrum → 1986
Players:
7/10
Metacritic:
56/100
Xevious is a third-person action game with shooter elements from developers from Namco Limited and Namco Bandai Games. The game is published by Mindscape, Inc. and...
Strategy, Adventure, In real time, Top-down view, Fantasy / Medieval, Indie, Tower Defense (Tower Defense), Tactics
Game released: Browser, iOS, PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One → 28 July 2011
Players:
8.3/10
Steam:
96/100
Metacritic:
89/100
Kingdom Rush is a real-time strategy game with fantasy elements and a top-down view. In this game you have to fight enemies with the help of your towers and protect...
Role-playing game, Strategy, In real time, Third-person view, Isometric, Top-down view, Futurism (Future), Turn-based
Game released: PC → 3 February 2011
Players:
8.5/10
Space Rangers 2: Dominators — real-time strategy with an isometric view. The main events of the second part of the game take place 250 years after the end of...
Game released: Android, BREW, iPad, iPhone, J2ME, Mac, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 3, PSP, PC → 4 August 2011
Players:
5.5/10
Steam:
80/100
Metacritic:
81/100
A tower defense strategy game in which the player protects the field from waves of ground and air enemies. The defense relies on placing and upgrading towers...
Strategy, In real time, Top-down view, Zombies, Tower Defense (Tower Defense), Procedural generation
Game released: Linux, Mac, PC → 15 March 2011
Players:
9/10
Steam:
90/100
Metacritic:
75/100
This real-time strategy game is set during a 1961 zombie apocalypse. Players assemble a band of mercenaries to rescue survivors and launch nuclear missiles from...
Game released: Atari 2600, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, PC Booter, PlayStation 3, PSP, PC, ZX Spectrum → 1989
This run-and-gun arcade game follows soldiers Ralf and Clark as they fight their way toward the village of Ikari. Enemy soldiers, tanks and helicopters stand in...
Role-playing game, Third-person view, Top-down view, Anime / Manga, Fantasy / Medieval, Turn-based, Japanese role-playing game
Game released: NES, Nintendo DS, Wii, PSP, iOS, Android, Ouya, PC → 27 April 1990
Players:
8/10
Steam:
79/100
Final Fantasy III is a fantasy anime-style role-playing game with a third-person perspective. The four main characters were completely redesigned and new scenarios...
Role-playing game, In real time, Top-down view, Anime / Manga, Fantasy / Medieval, Turn-based, Tactics, Strategy, Japanese role-playing game
Game released: SNES, PlayStation, WonderSwan Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, iOS, Android, PSP, PC → 23 November 1991
Players:
7.1/10
Steam:
83/100
Metacritic:
85/100
Final Fantasy IV is a tactical turn-based strategy role-playing game with anime and fantasy RPG elements. Expect fully voiced dramatic cutscenes, deep, emotionally...
Action, Shooter, Strategy, In real time, Top-down view, Futurism (Future), Third-person view, Exploration, Space
Game released: DOS, Mac, PC → 1996
Players:
10/10
Steam:
67/100
This space strategy game with diplomacy elements centers on a threat to the universe. Deep in space, in the Kessari Quadrant, the player discovers an impending...
