The Castle Doctrine
| The Castle Doctrine | |
|---|---|
Cover art on Steam
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| Developer(s) | Jason Rohrer |
| Publisher(s) | Jason Rohrer |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux |
| Release | January 29, 2014 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle, strategy, stealth, roguelike, art game |
| Mode(s) | Massively multiplayer |
| Aggregate score | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 58/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Destructoid | 7/10 |
| Game Informer | 7.0/10 |
| GameSpot | 4/10 |
| IGN | 4.5/10 |
| PC Gamer (US) | 85/100 |
| Polygon | 5.0/10 |
The Castle Doctrine is a 2014 strategy video game developed and published by Jason Rohrer for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux via Valve Corporation's Steam platform. The game was released on January 29, 2014 for all platforms and is available as public domain software on sourceforge. Set in the early 1990s, it pits players against one another as they invade others' houses and attempt to steal money from their vaults, while also setting up traps and other obstacles to keep their own vaults safe.
In creating the game, Rohrer was influenced by his childhood fear of his house being robbed, numerous publicized shootings, and his own political views regarding gun rights and home invasions. During development and beta testing, the game went through several changes that increased its difficulty. It received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising the design and creativity and others finding it hard to empathize with the game's intended message.
The Castle Doctrine incorporates elements of puzzle, strategy, stealth, and roguelike games, viewed from a 2D perspective. It focuses on maintaining and protecting a vault of money stored in one's house from intruders. These intruders are actually other players of the game; likewise, the player can invade others' houses and steal their money—presented in a list rather than found through exploration—in the same way. This list shows a pre-determined three-name pseudonym of each player, the number of dollars contained in their vault, how many others have tried to rob it, and how many have died in the process. All deaths in the game are permanent; upon dying, the player must create a new character.
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