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Firefly Studios · 2025 · Windows

Steam: 91 % positive of 10,869 reviews, as of Oct 28

Gird your loins and sharpen your steel! Besiege 20 unique enemy lords and battle friends online, in this expanded remaster of the classic 'castle sim'. Relive history with new units, opponents, visuals, audio, campaigns, skirmish trails, co-op and larger maps.

24 games that play like Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition and 24 that look like it. Closest by gameplay: Stronghold Crusader HD (2012), Stronghold: Definitive Edition and Stronghold Crusader 2.

Player tags

  • Strategy
  • City Builder
  • Real Time Tactics
  • Medieval
  • Colony Sim
  • Building
  • War
  • Sandbox
Map region: Historical Strategy
Open on Steam ↗

Steam reviews

What players say

Players mostly recommend this remaster for its faithful feel, new content and co-op, though many cite unfixed bugs and multiplayer desyncs.

Many players say the Definitive Edition keeps the original's castle building and resource-driven warfare intact while adding sharper sprites, bigger maps, new troops, new AI lords, co-op trails and an automatic market, which removes a lot of tedious clicking. Players who knew the 2002 game describe it as nostalgic and comfortable, and newcomers say the campaigns ease them in. Criticism centres on bugs that remain or came back: multiplayer crashes and desyncs, troops and siege engines that ignore orders or fail to build, the lack of height advantage for archers, and a unit cap that stops large armies. Some players want harder co-op missions and more depth. Recent reviews are more mixed than Steam's totals, with several complaining about performance on large maps and a few about the frequency of DLC releases.

Praised

  • Faithful to the original

    Players say the castle building, economy and siege warfare feel just as they remembered, with modern visuals added on top.

    Many players
  • Multiplayer and co-op

    Players are glad to finally play online or in co-op trails with friends, which the original lacked.

    Many players
  • Nostalgia for childhood

    Long-time fans describe the game as a return to childhood and often play it with family or friends.

    Many players
  • Quality-of-life upgrades

    The automatic market and shift-click recruiting remove a lot of tedious clicking, which players value highly.

    Some players

Criticised

  • Multiplayer desyncs and crashes

    Players report crashes mid-match and desyncs that cause lag and disconnects, especially in long or large games.

    Some players
  • Units ignoring orders

    Troops and siege engines get stuck, wander off or ignore targets, and the AI does not behave as expected.

    Some players
  • Developer neglect of bugs

    Players say reported bugs go unaddressed while new DLC keeps coming, and they feel the community's feedback is ignored.

    Some players
  • Limited remaster changes

    Players feel the upgrade is mostly upscaled sprites and wanted deeper changes or more challenging content.

    Some players
Who it suits
Players who loved the original and want its castle building and siege warfare with multiplayer and co-op will get the most from it.
Who should skip it
Players wanting modern strategy depth, polished multiplayer or consistently fixed AI behaviour may be disappointed.

Short vs. long playtime: Players with hundreds of hours mostly raise multiplayer desyncs and large-map performance, while newer players praise the campaigns and approachable pace.

Summarised by AI from 80 Steam reviews (English, helpful and recent), as of Oct 28, 2026.

Best matches

Plays and looks like Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition

These games are close to it by gameplay and by look, so they appear in both lists below.

By gameplay

Plays like Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition

Matched from Steam descriptions and player tags. The tags under each game are the ones both games share.

More matches

  1. Stronghold Kingdoms62 % positive of 9,602Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Real Time Tactics
  2. Rise of Nations: Extended Edition93 % positive of 13,459Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Building
  3. Crusader Kings III90 % positive of 93,955Shared: Strategy · Medieval · War
  4. Lords of the Realm II95 % positive of 1,644Shared: Strategy · Medieval · RTS
  5. Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition85 % positive of 72,767Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Medieval
  6. Diplomacy is Not an Option84 % positive of 11,018Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Medieval
  7. Knights of the Crusades70 % positive of 167Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Real Time Tactics
  8. Kingdoms and Castles92 % positive of 30,397Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Medieval
  9. Age of Empires II (Retired)94 % positive of 84,933Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Medieval
  10. Medieval Kingdom Wars75 % positive of 2,237Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Real Time Tactics
  11. Manor Lords83 % positive of 78,085Shared: Strategy · City Builder · Medieval
  12. Total War: WARHAMMER II92 % positive of 85,168Shared: Strategy · Real Time Tactics · War

By look

Looks like Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition

Matched from screenshots. Each card shows the screenshot closest to the look of this game.

More matches

  1. Cossacks 382 % positive of 12,478
  2. Age of Mythology: Retold90 % positive of 21,185
  3. Rise of Nations: Extended Edition93 % positive of 13,459
  4. Imperivm RTC - HD Edition "Great Battles of Rome"71 % positive of 838
  5. Praetorians - HD Remaster92 % positive of 855
  6. Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition94 % positive of 27,515
  7. Stronghold Kingdoms62 % positive of 9,602
  8. Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI86 % positive of 277,296
  9. Age of Mythology: Extended Edition92 % positive of 31,938
  10. Seven Kingdoms 2 HD82 % positive of 345
  11. Sid Meier's Civilization® III Complete89 % positive of 5,738
  12. Conan Unconquered70 % positive of 1,205

At a glance

What games like Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition have in common

  • The tags they share most often with Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition: Strategy (24 of 24), City Builder (19) and Medieval (13).
  • They came out between 2006 and 2025, none of them after Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition (2025).
  • Best rated by Steam players: Stronghold Crusader HD (2012) (97 % positive of 17,639).

How these matches work

Matches come from embeddings of Steam descriptions, player tags and screenshots, computed offline. “Plays like” compares what the games are about and how players tag them; “Looks like” compares their screenshots. The share of positive reviews is based on Steam user reviews.

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