Stronghold

aka: D&D Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator, Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator, Stronghold: Kōtei no Yōsai
Moby ID: 482
DOS Specs
Buy on DOS
$6.49 used on Amazon
Buy on Windows
$2.99 new on Steam
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Description official descriptions

Mixing the gameplay of Civilization and similar games into real-time and with a 3D view, players must build up a small village in the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy universe into a Stronghold. How much micro-management you wish to do is up to you; the computer can take care of much of it.

You recruit and train Fighters, Thieves, Clerics and Magic Users to venture out and claim more land and resources, which include removing hostile forces. Take control of food supply and the production and management of buildings including castles, markets and magic schools.

Your victory condition is based on your alignment: Lawful players must advance to the rank of Emperor, Chaotic players must destroy all enemy strongholds, and Neutral players must do both!

Spellings

  • ストロングホールド ~皇帝の要塞~ - Japanese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 11 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 32 ratings with 5 reviews)

A truly revolutionary game that is head and shoulder above the competiton.

The Good
Graphics (9/10): Oh man, when I first turned this gem in, the introduction just wowed me. The portraits of your different units are simply amazing, and the detail on the buildings and units is so nice that for the time it was released I really couldn't find any game that looks better.

Sound (6/10): Mostly repetitive, the music while looking at characters you control or enemy characters is suiting and is good to the ears, but there is no other music. The sound effects can be comical in battle, and most of what you hear will be the crashing sounds while structures are being built. Although, none of this used to bother me in the least, I guess I'm just spoiled. =P

Gameplay (8/10): Wonderfully fun getting your newer buildings and upgrading your old ones, but when your empires get very large it is VERY difficult to keep track of every single square of land. Battle can also be a pain, and controlling your armies takes a bit of practice.

Overall (9/10):The game just has a certain draw to it and you never really quite feel you've beaten it. Every game a different but always graphically gorgeous experience, this is one I'll still go to on occasion for years to come. An absolute must-try for anyone who thought (or still think) that civilization was fun.

The Bad
Well I sort of covered most of that already.

The Bottom Line
Hehe, that too.

DOS · by Eric Post (2) · 2003

Excellent combination of several gaming elements.

The Good
This game played wonderful on my P75 five years ago and plays just as well on my 500mhz machine now. This can be a simple game to start and slowly get more challenging. Does not get too frustrating like some of the more complicated strategy games.

The Bad
Sometimes I get really engrossed in the graphics and forget I have a whole kingdom to worry about :)

The Bottom Line
If you were to mix up Populous, Power Monger, Civilization, and Sim City. Then throw in some classic SSI RPG elements. You would come up with Stronghold.

DOS · by gametrader (208) · 2000

Awful, simply awful

The Good
The game works mostly like any Sim City clone. You have a kingdom, you make houses for people to live in, crops make you gain food, other buildings gives you money and etc... so the main element is you trying to keep a balance of buildings while you increasing your kingdom. There's really no challenge in the game, only patience, as you wait for buildings to finish and for money to pour in. The game really needs a speedup option. Another small element is combat, there's creatures around in the land which will attack you, and you can attack them by (in a very annoying and slow way) selecting units to attack the enemies.

The Bad
The game's just plain boring. And the graphics just look weird... it's a mix of simple 3d terrain and 2d sprites which does not blend in well. And the game is D&D, which I just don't understand, can you imagine seeing a Sim City game with D&D rules? Well, this game is officially D&D, when you make a leader you get to roll dices to get stats (something I've always hated in D&D games, every player I see rolling a character presses "reroll" a million times, why not have a system where the player allocates points? ... I hate D&D), of course I have no freaking idea what the stats mean in the game. Perhaps your population fights better with more strength, but I'll be damned if I can guess what intelligence, wisdom and such do. So the D&D rules could have just been taken out, I pray that the combat engine isn't based on D&D rules as that would make it totally random (the fighting in D&D isn't exactly known for being advanced). The sounds are also insanely annoying, the ambience sounds consists of 4 short sounds being looped randomnly and it sounds so annoying, the few odd places there's music it's bad.

The Bottom Line
The game's just plain horrible. It's boring, and the only challenge is patience. Steer away from this one unless you love Sim City-alike games to death.

DOS · by Kate Jones (416) · 2001

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Wrong GOG link Simon Dor (55) Feb 22, 2014

Trivia

Rules

Although some may consider them overly simplistic compared to Advanced Dungeons&Dragons rules, Stronghold performs well with the bare bones Dungeons&Dragons rules. That's the reason why there's only three alignments and demi-humans' sole 'jobs' are their 'race'.

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Related Games

FireFly Studios' Stronghold
Released 2001 on Windows, 2002 on Macintosh
FireFly Studios' Stronghold Deluxe
Released 2002 on Windows, 2012 on Macintosh
FireFly Studios' Stronghold 2
Released 2005 on Windows
Stronghold Legends: Steam Edition
Released 2016 on Windows
FireFly Studios' Stronghold Crusader
Released 2002 on Windows
Stronghold: Warlords
Released 2021 on Windows
The Stronghold Collection
Released 2009 on Windows
Stronghold Kingdoms: Starter Pack
Released 2013 on Windows

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  • MobyGames ID: 482
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tony Van.

Windows, Linux, Macintosh added by Cavalary. FM Towns added by Terok Nor. PC-98 added by Unicorn Lynx.

Additional contributors: Ray Soderlund, Alaka, formercontrib, ZeTomes, Kayburt.

Game added November 27, 1999. Last modified February 13, 2024.