Realms of Madness

Realms of Madness is a fantasy real-time strategy game developed and published by Robin van der Horst that seeks to combine classic fortress management with imaginative large-scale warfare. Rather than relying on a traditional top-down perspective, the game adopts a side-view presentation that immediately distinguishes it from many other strategy titles. This creative choice gives every battle a layered appearance where castles rise toward the sky while conflicts unfold across land, sea, and even beneath the water. The result is an experience that feels both familiar and refreshingly different, offering players a chance to build thriving kingdoms while commanding armies against increasingly dangerous enemies in a world filled with magic and mythical creatures. The game's strongest feature is the depth of its kingdom-building mechanics. Success depends on establishing a stable economy, gathering resources efficiently, and expanding a castle with carefully placed defenses before committing to offensive campaigns. Every decision influences long-term survival, whether reinforcing walls, erecting defensive towers, improving military production, or investing in infrastructure that keeps…

Somehow this reminds me of original Stronghold more then the modern stronghold games lol

It’s, just considering the idea, a good game. Some of the old issues got patched, following the ones I encountered again. Troop pathfinding is atrocious. When units try to form a line, they move erratically, which results in archers dying almost every time. Strategy is largely repetitive, with only a brief change of pace in the ice region, where rushing the enemy becomes viable. Otherwise, most levels feel like a matter of having sufficient APS or prior knowledge, often boiling down to a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. Some audio tracks appear to be incorrectly mixed, villagers may scream even when the master volume and all other audio settings are set to zero. Dialogue and narration are dull, though this is more of a minor issue than a dealbreaker.

Simple. Addictive. Fun little time killer. Lots of room for improvement, but fun nonetheless.

Game was great until Coctyus 1. They somehow expect you to start from nothing and hold off a medium boat of archers, 3 groups of archers, knights, and heavy knights all at once lol. There might be a way, but that then means the tech tree is a puzzle and you can't pick and use what you want, and it's a puzzle I can't figure out after 4 tries of getting stomped into the ground when I didn't lose once before.

Fun game and it can be very hard on some missions. The controllers for your army is rudimentary and frustrating at times. Archers hiding behind buildings, no way to pull out wounded units or quicky give large scale orders make the game feel like a slug. The missions are the same with a faster timer in between attacks and adding some bigger units once in a while. Wish there were more tactics or defense options. The fun comes from not giving up when your army is gone and doing the tug or war battle slowly pushing back till you get in their town. I had fun but may not finish the full game.