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Stronghold: Definitive Edition
Greetings sire! Your stronghold awaits you. Build a castle economy, besiege unforgettable villains and return to the 'castle sim' that started it all. Experience this classic RTS with upgraded visuals, modernised gameplay, Steam multiplayer and a new campaign.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
31 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Back in 2001, I used to boot up [b]Stronghold[/b] and just play the [i]Free Build[/i] mode for hours: the first-ever [i]Castle Sim[/i]. I'd stare at the mills, the bakers, the fletchers and even the moat diggers, truly…”
“This game reminded me why I love gaming so much. It’s so simple at its core, without any hidden mechanics or complicated combinations, yet it still gives you a challenge you’re supposed to conquer without hand-holding…”
“My food stocks may be dwindling, but not my love for this game. This game is the ultimate castle builder / medieval economy sim for me. It's not the absolute greatest in any field anymore, but being a 9,5/10 in every…”
14 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Back in 2001, I used to boot up [b]Stronghold[/b] and just play the [i]Free Build[/i] mode for hours: the first-ever [i]Castle Sim[/i]. I'd stare at the mills, the bakers, the fletchers and even the moat diggers, truly…”
“A great updated remastered version of a beautiful classic! Well worth both time & money.”
“A good remaster of the visuals but the gameplay and UI is so incredibly dated. Just not much fun 20 years later.”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“My food stocks may be dwindling, but not my love for this game. This game is the ultimate castle builder / medieval economy sim for me. It's not the absolute greatest in any field anymore, but being a 9,5/10 in every…”
“More campaings, maps, sieges and medieval fun :-) Improved graphics, HD resolutions. Good old Stronghold!”
“Very fun single-player experience classic atmosphere very fun campaign”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This game reminded me why I love gaming so much. It’s so simple at its core, without any hidden mechanics or complicated combinations, yet it still gives you a challenge you’re supposed to conquer without hand-holding…”
“UI is a bit odd in some regards, and there's a small learning curve for the objectives, but they really do make you learn what strategies work and what to focus on first/ starting out (at least for the objectives).…”
“Excellent! Game is very fun. Save often some battles you are on top and in the next wave the enemy can overwhelm you.”
3 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“My food stocks may be dwindling, but not my love for this game. This game is the ultimate castle builder / medieval economy sim for me. It's not the absolute greatest in any field anymore, but being a 9,5/10 in every…”
“It's great, just like the classic one but with graphics, sound and QOL improvements.”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“THE ECONOMICS CAMPAIGN IS F*CKING BROKEN! - a random fire breaks out of nowhere every 5 minutes and ruins the entire city in 10 seconds - non-stop wolf attacks where 6 wolves will kill like 20 spearmen and destroy the…”
“I've played all stronghold series. After long time try to play the first original game and now i understand why i prefer crusader. The economic side of the game makes zero sense. fire and plague far too often and…”
“Stronghold has a beautiful main campaign, but after that, there are no more "real" missions that combine tasks, economy, and defense. There are mainly sieges or invasions without resource management or free building…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“Should be written in CAPS LOCK - no AI bots to play against like in the old games.”
“It's fine. Looks great, but just like the original that it's a remaster of, there's no custom skirmish, so there's not much to do. I really only bought it because I want them to make Stronghold 2 DE.”
“Classic Stronghold with better looking sprites and additional content. I really wish more games took inspiration from Stronghold's approach to the economy and troops production. Unfortunately neither the original…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Me mate merlin said " this game is super hard isn't it " so I tried it and it is easy”
“good old school rts even if a little easy”
“I've played all stronghold series. After long time try to play the first original game and now i understand why i prefer crusader. The economic side of the game makes zero sense. fire and plague far too often and…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“This is a great game however this release is very buggy. It has audio glitches, missing information panels, bad AI and Pathfinding. Some of the cinematic features don't play / work fully. Just hopped off to write this…”
“THE ECONOMICS CAMPAIGN IS F*CKING BROKEN! - a random fire breaks out of nowhere every 5 minutes and ruins the entire city in 10 seconds - non-stop wolf attacks where 6 wolves will kill like 20 spearmen and destroy the…”
“Troop movement/AI a little buggy, but otherwise a very enjoyable cross between a city builder and RTS.”
3 of the 103 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“This is a great game however this release is very buggy. It has audio glitches, missing information panels, bad AI and Pathfinding. Some of the cinematic features don't play / work fully. Just hopped off to write this…”
“A good remaster of the visuals but the gameplay and UI is so incredibly dated. Just not much fun 20 years later.”
“UI is a bit odd in some regards, and there's a small learning curve for the objectives, but they really do make you learn what strategies work and what to focus on first/ starting out (at least for the objectives).…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 86.5% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“One of the finest games ever made. Masterful game design. If you are mostly a solo player I really would not worry about no skirmish, There is just so much solo content. They added raids to free build that is such a HUGE feature along with so many other options to customize and…”
— a player, Steam review · 23 hrs played“Stronghold: Definitive Edition reminded me why the original game was so easy to love in the first place. It has that rare ability to make castle building feel personal. You are not just placing walls and units on a map — you are creating a working medieval settlement, piece by…”
— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs played“There are numerous bugs here that are not in the original game, which the devs are aware of, and cannot address on the new engine for various reasons. All of them stem from AI bugs and pathfinding, especially noticeable to units under the player's control. Unless you want DE for…”
— a player, Steam review · 48 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.
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From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | City Builder · Strategy · Real Time Tactics · Medieval · Sandbox · Building · Colony Sim · RTS · Economy · Base-Building · Tower Defense · 2D (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Workshop · Custom Volume Controls |
| Languages | English * , French * , Italian * , German * , Spanish - Spain * , Czech, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish * , Portuguese - Brazil * , Russian * , Simplified Chinese, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian * |
| Achievements | 30 |
| Official site | https://www.playstronghold.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10/11 64 Bit Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-3220 or equivalent Memory: 6 GB RAM Graphics: Graphics Card with 2GB VRAM (for 1080p) or 3GB VRAM (for 1440p) or 4GB VRAM (for 4k) DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 4 GB available space