CastleOn

CastleOn is a turn-based strategy game in which the player builds and defends a castle. Matches are won by surviving for a set number of turns or by conquering all enemy Lords. The setting is the second half of the 12th century, and the game references the Third Crusade. The castle’s position is not fixed on the maps, and the player customises their kingdom.

Construction and defence form the core of play. Players build walls and towers from wood and stone, and can add traps, snares, moats and mottes. Defenders can use arrows, bolts, rolling logs, boiling oil, pitch and rotten carcasses against attackers. Enemy siege equipment includes catapults, battering rams, ladders and siege towers. The game lists over 70 buildings, walls, towers and traps, and a range of units including Spearmen, Archers, Templar and Teutonic Knights, Horse Archers, Assassins and Varangian Guards.

Other systems include a tech tree of over 90 technologies that alter how certain buildings or units work, and diplomacy with more than 50 historical Lords, among them Richard the Lionheart, Saladin and Henry VI. There are five optional religions, each with 10 passive bonuses tied to the faith of the peasants, and 16 criminal abilities that give bonuses at the cost of corruption, which reduces building effectiveness and resource gathering. Lord relations are randomised, random events occur, and there are six difficulty levels. Content covers the Holy Land, the Balkans, the Iberian Peninsula, Scandinavia and central Europe, with over 50 Skirmish maps based on famous castle locations and multiple historical campaigns with custom win and lose conditions. A map editor allows players to create their own skirmish maps or custom campaigns.