Becastled

Hold the walls

Many games, like Age of Darkness, have done the build & defend a castle concept to excessive ends, and Becastled is one such title that adds a fresh take to the genre. Becastled takes some of the best parts of other castle-building and defense games, putting them in one place for all to play and enjoy. From map customization, tech trees for building and unit upgrades, managing essential resources, and changing seasons to keep you on your toes, Becastled does a lot of this right, providing an experience you genuinely want out of the genre. There are also many other challenging parts to Becastled that will keep you wanting to come back for more.

To start in Becastled, you first have to generate a map, and you have several customization options to choose from. You can choose one of three different map types: hill, flatland, or river. Next, adjust the difficulty to one of eight levels and then tweak the resources, neutrals, and season duration to your liking. But if you like more customization than that, you can edit a map you have played on before, or one from the Steam Workshop if you are on Steam. The choice is yours.

Once you are in, it is time to start building up your town and castle. You start with a small assortment of buildings to work with and begin growing your land. More buildings can be obtained easily by spending resources in the different tech trees, allowing your town to grow and thrive. Thankfully, the tech tree is simple and straightforward, making it easy to find the upgrades you need when you need them.

Don't get too comfy, though. When night falls, the enemy will be at the gates ready to attack, so you will want to use the day cycle to prepare ahead of time. The fights will get harder and harder as time passes, along with the occasional surprise. A blood moon will appear every five nights and greatly increase the enemy's numbers & strength. It becomes a real fight, and that is where Becastled thrives.

The objective of the game is to destroy the four towers on the map. But that is easier said than done. The towers can repair themselves, so you must take care of them and their defenders in one go. Once the tower is destroyed, the real challenge takes place. The enemy will be back the next night with a massive counterattack featuring new enemies that have special abilities to really make you sweat. Though challenging, the game still strikes the right balance of difficulty and fun.

There are two ways to fight off the enemy. The first is your army. The second is your static defenses, which are your walls and towers. You will need to build them both up to hold back the enemy. Both of these combined will stall the enemy while giving your archers & siege weapons time to pick them off. This will greatly reduce the stress of battle on your sword & spear men, who will go head-on to finish the job. With some well-picked upgrades from the tech tree, they can take on more challenging enemies and obstacles.

Though the enemy is strong, don't forget that you are also at the mercy of Mother Nature.  The seasons will change as time goes on and bring a new problem... winter. It is harder to grow and gather food during winter, so building up a good stockpile is mandatory. The cold temperature also affects your people, so make sure you have the resources to keep them warm. Thankfully, the game gives you a visual clock to warn you when the season is about to change.

All in all, Becastled is a great castle defense game that is easy to pick up and play. It doesn't hold your hand with tutorials, but gives you enough information and context clues through the use of its UI. There are still some bugs, like enemies warping around or losing your population after reloading a save. Thankfully, the bugs are entirely fixable currently by fully restarting the game. Beyond that, it is still a fun time to play and is worth looking into if you enjoy these types of games.

Developer - Mana Potion Studios.
Publisher - Mana Potion Studios, Pingle Studio Limited Released - October 22nd (PC) October 23rd (Console) 2025. Available On - PC, Xbox One/Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch. Rated - (E 10+) - Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - PC (Steam).
Review Access - Review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.