Castles & Catapults

About Castles & Catapults

Castles & Catapults offers a mix of siege warfare, army building, and castle construction against hordes of enemy attackers in a 3D real-time strategy environment. Set in late 13th century Europe during unsettled times, gameplay features a turn-based structure in which players buy new units and castle tiles, build armies, and construct castle defenses at night, then battle the enemy during the day cycles. Campaign mode consists of 15 sequentially tougher battles broken into three "acts" of five missions each, while a Skirmish mode provides for quick battles governed by time limitations.

The clock ticks inexorably in Castles & Catapults during each phase of the action. During the night turn, players have 20 seconds to buy up to a total of ten "tiles" for strengthening their keeps and building armies. Five types of castle tiles include walls, towers, and fortifications, while units come in ten basic types such as pikemen, archers, mirrors, and dragons, and three special commanders units (paladin, engineer, and wizard). Units vary in cost commensurate with offense, speed, and range ratings.

Regardless of the state of the nighttime building, players are faced with battle at the dawn of each new day and must maneuver three armies deployed to attack enemy forces, protect castles on the home front, and lay siege to the opponent's castle. Armies engage in melee attacks, ranged warfare (archers, ballista, mages, wizards, and dragons), and siege warfare (catapults, cannon, trebuchets, and so forth). At sunset, all armies retire for the night and the rebuilding process begins anew, with units holding positions on the battlefields.

Castles & Catapults supports two players in Skirmish mode via the Internet or a LAN and offers GameSpy Arcade connectivity.