Home / Games / GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
An epic, challenging tower defense game with an emphasis on strategy and replayability. Summon gems of immense magical potency and harness their unique abilities against a seemingly endless horde of monsters. The archdemon seeks to swallow the world, and you must journey to stand against her.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-08-31 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
35 of the 68 reviews raise this.
“The ultimate tower defense game. While this game is a decade old while writing this review, it is an absolute tremendous gaming experience. Pros A slightly different take on the Tower Defense genre that I welcome. The…”
“The best tower defense game that I've played, even in the times it was a Flash game on Armorgames.com”
12 of the 68 reviews raise this.
“The ultimate tower defense game. While this game is a decade old while writing this review, it is an absolute tremendous gaming experience. Pros A slightly different take on the Tower Defense genre that I welcome. The…”
“Strategy, tower defense game with some recursion, you have to replay some levels with enhancements and traits to have a different result in order to advance. Some levels are a real challenge”
“Takes a bit to get used to, if you arent usually into tower defence games. But stick with it. Get some levels under your belt and learn the mechanics. It's a fantastic way to make days vanish before your very eyes 10/10”
7 of the 68 reviews raise this.
“The ultimate tower defense game. While this game is a decade old while writing this review, it is an absolute tremendous gaming experience. Pros A slightly different take on the Tower Defense genre that I welcome. The…”
“My Number One favourite type of game is Tower Defence, and Gemcraft doesn't disappoint. I'm not even a quarter through the achievements and I'm locked in to achieve the rest!”
5 of the 68 reviews raise this.
“The ultimate tower defense game. While this game is a decade old while writing this review, it is an absolute tremendous gaming experience. Pros A slightly different take on the Tower Defense genre that I welcome. The…”
“Strategy, tower defense game with some recursion, you have to replay some levels with enhancements and traits to have a different result in order to advance. Some levels are a real challenge”
“SO. MUCH. FUN The gameplay, the amout of options, the upgrade system. Love it all”
4 of the 68 reviews raise this.
“Athmospheric upleveling game with spatial 2D placement strategy. Has vast amount of levers to balance your gameplay. My 4th playthrough in 15 years. Masterpiece. Thanks to the creators.”
“Superior goth Bloons TD - Schizophrenic wizard edition™”
6 of the 68 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows looks deep at first. You see gem combinations, traps, amplifiers, spells, skill trees, equipment—tons of systems that suggest experimentation and strategy. In reality, most of that depth is an…”
“I remember flash-era tower defenses being simpler and more fun - this one isn't. It buries you in systems: way too many gem combinations, tower placements, path-blocking tricks, weird spells, and a tangle of stacked…”
“I love Tower Defense games, but this is just terribly bland. I've tried to get into it 3 times but absolutely nothing about it appeals to me.”
3 of the 68 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
Counted across 68 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 94.9% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“you have no idea how long it took me to find this game. I played it like 10 years ago when I was a kid and it has been etched into my memory ever since.”
— a player, Steam review · 31 hrs played“After 20 years of playing Tower Defense games I think the Gemcraft series might be the best experience I've had. You can make your build simple or complicated by digging into the many systems the game has and anything in between. The music, the UI, the art style all blend into a…”
— a player, Steam review · 55 hrs played“There isn't a tower defense game that even comes close to the depth of the gemcraft series.”
— a player, Steam review · 854 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Legacy Collection Releasing October 21st!
The wait is over, Wizards! GemCraft Legacy Collection will be launching on October 21st at roughly 2pm GMT. The game will be $9.99 and discounted in a bundle with Chasing Shadows and Frostborn Wrath.
Legacy Collection Demo is NOW LIVE!
Hello Wizards! We're so thrilled to let you experience the GemCraft - Legacy Collection for the first time. The demo will let you play the first few levels of all 3 games and remember how awesome they
GemCraft Legacy Collection Revealed
Fellow Wizards! The time has come to travel back and begin your journey anew. The first three GemCraft games together in one ominous package. Experience Chapter 1, Chapter 0, and Labyrinth again (or f
GemCraft Frostborn Wrath is finally out on Steam!
After years in development, GemCraft Frostborn Wrath has been finally released on Steam! A new piece of the story arch with 600+ achievements, 130+ fields in 3 battle modes, and so much more to explor
Games like GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath
87.6% · 2,103 reviews
shares Tower Defense, Dark Fantasy, Magic, Tactical
Rock 'N' Roll Defense
83.0% · 1,113 reviews
shares Classic, Tower Defense, Tactical, Great Soundtrack
Dungeon Warfare
95.1% · 974 reviews
shares Tower Defense, Tactical, Great Soundtrack, Top Down
Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense
95.2% · 2,627 reviews
shares Tower Defense, Magic, Great Soundtrack, Difficult
AI War: Fleet Command
84.4% · 1,225 reviews
shares Classic, Tower Defense, Tactical, Great Soundtrack
Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition
98.2% · 45,975 reviews
shares Classic, Tower Defense, Tactical, Great Soundtrack
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
93.0% · 2,447 reviews
shares Classic, Dark Fantasy, Great Soundtrack, Difficult
Super Sanctum TD
83.3% · 861 reviews
shares Classic, Tower Defense, Difficult, Top Down
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Action, Indie, Strategy |
| Player tags | Tower Defense · Strategy · Indie · Singleplayer · Action · Top-Down · Fantasy · Tactical · 2D · Classic · Difficult · Great Soundtrack (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 419 |
| Official site | https://armorgamesstudios.com/games/gemcraft-chasing-shadows/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows Vista SP1 Processor: Intel Celeron N or better Memory: 2048 MB RAM Graphics: Intel HD Graphics or better Storage: 100 MB available space