I was first introduced to the "castle sim" genre of gameplay with Firefly Studio's 2001 game, Stronghold. At the time the real-time strategy genre was all over the place; from fantasy based games like the Warcraft franchise to unique spins like Tzar: The Burden of the Crown, Earth 2150, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. Fortunately it was a good thing, as some real gems came out of those days, Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader being a few of them. What was different about Stronghold and its sequel (-ish) was that it was a castle-building sim. You would gather resources, manage your town's needs, and build your army, but the real 'character' was the castle. Each map allowed you to build your castle to your desires.
