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...
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...
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, 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: 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...
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...
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:
93/100
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:
93/100
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...
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...
Strategy, In real time, Business / Management, Third-person view, Top-down view, Sandbox, Simulation, City Building
Game released: PC, Xbox 360 → 25 June 2010
Players:
10/10
Steam:
90/100
Metacritic:
77/100
A city-building strategy game about ruling a tropical island during the Cold War. The player takes the role of El Presidente and chooses whether to govern as a...
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...
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
Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar is a first-person role-playing game with fantasy game elements from the developers of ORIGIN Systems, Inc.. The main publisher of the...
Action, Shooter, Strategy, First-person view, Top-down view, Tower Defense (Tower Defense), Cooperative (co-op)
Game released: Mac, PC → 14 August 2012
Players:
7.8/10
Steam:
90/100
Metacritic:
70/100
Sanctum is a top-down tactical shooter with strategy elements in the tower defense genre in a sci-fi setting. As one of the first tower defense shooters in history...
Role-playing game, Action, Strategy, Third-person view, Top-down view, Futurism (Future), Space, Indie
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux → 19 June 2011
Players:
7.9/10
Steam:
91/100
Metacritic:
74/100
This space action game with strategy and role-playing elements follows a pirate assembling a fleet and travelling towards the galactic core in search of treasure or...
Role-playing game, First-person view, Top-down view, Anime / Manga, Fantasy / Medieval, Turn-based, Japanese role-playing game
Game released: Nintendo DS, Android, iOS → 20 May 2011
Metacritic:
78/100
A fantasy role-playing game about traveling between two parallel worlds, where reality and illusion intertwine. As the protagonist explores them, the search to...
Game released: Amiga, Atari 5200, Apple II, Apple IIgs, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 128, Commodore 64, DOS, Game Boy, J2ME, Lynx, NES, Nintendo 3DS → 1989
QIX is a top-down arcade game with a mixture of action and puzzles from developers from the Taito America Corporation studio. The game is published by Atari, Inc...
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...