Firefly Studios' Castle Attack was a mini-game used to promote the release of Stronghold games. Originally released in 2001, to help advertise and promote Firefly's first release, the Stronghold castle-sim, there are now 3 different versions of Castle Attack available for free.

While Castle Attack changed from version to version, most notably when Castle Attack 2 was released, the basics of gameplay remained the same.
The player had to use archers to fire and kill on coming troops long enough for their castle to be finished construction. The archers are placed on walls, at 3 different heights (or 5, in the case of Super Castle Attack), separating the attacking troops from the engineers building the castle. The player sets the angle of fire for the archers using the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys, and uses Space Bar to fire all the archers simultaneously. The player can also remove/add archers to/from the wall, using the UP and DOWN arrow keys. When an archer is not on the wall, they become an engineer and help build the castle. So the less archers, the more engineers are available thus building the castle faster, while sacrificing some tactical efficiency.
The player also has some extra tactical aids to help fend off attackers, which will get discussed about more thoroughly in each game section.

Castle Attack was the first in the series of mini-games, and was actually the first ever Firefly Studios' release. It was released on the 19th of April, 2001 and was created to advertise and promote the upcoming release of Firefly Studios' Stronghold, released in October of the same year. The game was hosted by most major download sites and was available to the public free of charge.

The game was designed by Firefly Studios' lead designer Simon Bradbury and programmed in C by Andy McNab, using graphics from Stronghold 1 which was deep in development at the time. The game allowed you to have a maximum of 3 archers, with no minimum. Each level begins with 3 archers on 3 walls at different heights, and 1 engineer. The engineer starts to build the castle, 5% at a time, as soon as the level starts, while the 3 archers are used to fend off oncoming attackers, which increase in variety, strength and amount as the game progresses through the levels. The player can remove archers from the wall to recruit them as engineers at any time, allowing for a maximum of 4 engineers to help build the castle faster. Each level is completed when the castle reaches 100%, provided that at least 1 wall is still standing. The walls are knocked down by enemy troops in stages, but so long as the wall is still there, an archer can be placed on top of it and the level is still winnable.

The player also has an extra tactical advantage. By using ENTER or INSERT on the NumPad, the player can pour boiling oil over the front most wall, which sets all troops immediately in front of the wall on fire. The game keeps a score for the player's progress. Points are awarded for killing troops, as well as a bonus for how quickly the castle is completed.

There are various enemies you will encounter in Castle Attack, as described below...

• Spearmen: First troop you encounter in the game, they move fast and charge the walls. They take 2 arrows to kill and are the most frequent troop of the game.
• Swordsmen: First appear in level 2, these hardened troops take 4 hits to kill, but move considerably slower but attack the walls with more force.
• Crossbowmen: These troops move slow and rather than charging and attacking the walls, they stop about half way and fire a lethal bolt which can instantly kill one of your archers. Luckily, they can be killed with one shot.
• Catapults: The catapults stay far back and launch rocks at your walls to help take them down quicker. You'll need 4 hits to destroy a catapult.

When playing Castle Attack, try using these hints and tips to survive and increase your top scores...

• Whenever things are quiet, remove all archers and recruit them as engineers. This will help build the castle quicker and in turn, increase your score with a bigger time bonus.
• You can dodge a crossbows bolt by removing an archers just as he fires it. Replace the archer as soon as the bolt has gone by.
• Wait as long as possible before using your pot of boiling oil.
• Try removing your archers before they are killed by troops at the walls. Just because you've lost the wall, you do not need to lose your man, and he can help build the castle faster as an engineer!

System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP/Vista
• Processor: 486 Processor or above
• Memory: 8MB RAM
• Hard Drive: 4MB
• Screen Resolution: 800x600
• Video: SVGA Graphics
• Sound: 16-bit Sound Card

DOWNLOAD CASTLE ATTACK FOR FREE HERE