Nostalgic childhood classic that still holds up
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“I can't count the hours I spent playing this, growing up. It's still great 21 years later.”
Steam review · 27.1 h played ↗
Stronghold 2: Steam Edition
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 89%Very Positive · 89%Firefly Studios2017City Builder · Real Time Tactics · Colony Sim
$14.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 2 h ago
The verdict
A deep, nostalgic medieval castle sim with rich daily-life and economy mechanics, but dated, janky and crash-prone. Skip it if you want strong AI, multiplayer bots or smooth performance.
Great for
Nostalgic Stronghold fans and castle-builders who enjoy managing a living medieval estate
Main risk
Crashes, FPS tied to game speed, dumb AI and harsh campaign difficulty
What players love
Detailed castle life and economy simulation
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“The huge number of buildings and the simulation of everyday life inside the castle are definitely major positives.”
Steam review · 30.3 h played ↗
Good campaigns and varied game modes
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“The Peace Campaigns are great for when you want to sit back, relax, and build a quaint village, while the War Campaigns can be challenging and require strategy akin to a full-time RTS game.”
Steam review · 9.3 h played ↗
Relaxing and runs on low-end PCs
Mentioned in ~1 in 21 positive reviews
“This game will also run on a potato, which is convenient for players without gaming rigs.”
Steam review · 9.3 h played ↗
Workshop maps and replayability
Mentioned in ~1 in 21 positive reviews
“it also has ton's of workshop items that will keep you busy with Stronghold”
Steam review · 1240 h played ↗
Great value and atmospheric voice-over
Mentioned in ~1 in 30 positive reviews
“Picked up the collection for 3.75 Euros, one of the best purchases I've ever made.”
Steam review · 34.9 h played ↗
What players complain about
Crashes and technical problems on modern PCs
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“I had a 6.7 hour game saved in kingmaker mode against AI opponents, crashed 12 times, and the final time it crashed, it did so while saving”
Steam review · 6.7 h played ↗
FPS tied to game speed, stutter and low fps
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“Monitors Frame Rate depends on the in-game speed.”
Steam review · 0.2 h played ↗
No AI bots in multiplayer, weak online
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“Great game but they removed the AI for multiplayer games. Was in the original.”
Steam review · 2.1 h played ↗
Weak or cheating AI
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“It's a dice roll if you are going to end up with A. Terrible AI, B Cheating like crazy AI or C, actually decent doing AI.”
Steam review · 5.2 h played ↗
Punishing campaign balance and timed missions
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“When you are starting to grow your town, a pack of 20 wolves followed by 10 bandits attack.”
Steam review · 2.8 h played ↗
Annoying crime, rats and gong mechanics
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“The crime system is dumb and all it does is make you lose buildings cuz the workers become criminals”
Steam review · 16.4 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Unsupported3 GB
Minimum
OSWindows XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
Processor1.6 GHz Intel or AMD Processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics256 MB Video Card
Storage3 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 7/8/10/11
Processor2.3 GHz Intel or AMD Processor
Memory1 GB RAM
Graphics512 MB Video Card
Storage3 GB available space
OSWindows XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
Processor1.6 GHz Intel or AMD Processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics256 MB Video Card
Storage3 GB available space
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