About This Demo

The old races made a pact in the dark: the age of man ends here. Every castle along the border has fallen. Yours is the last one standing, and thirteen armies are already on the road.

Castellan is a real-time roguelite castle defense where nothing plays itself. You aim every arrow, place every soldier and time every spell, all at once, while the horde keeps coming.

About this demo

This free demo contains the first three chapters of Castellan: The First Night, The Drowned Village and The Burning Keep. The full game has 13 chapters, 33 different soldiers, 85 different enemies and 9 spells. Progress from the demo does not carry over to the full game.

I am a solo developer. If you enjoy the demo, adding the full game to your wishlist helps more than you might think. Every idea and every criticism is welcome: the "GIVE FEEDBACK" button on the screen before each attempt takes you straight to the game's discussions.

You are the castle

Hold the left mouse button and arrows fly wherever you point. You choose the target: the elite at the head of the wave, the harpy in the air, the supply chest falling from the sky. Press F to switch on auto fire and just aim. When the castle's health runs low, Last Stand begins: you shoot faster, your soldiers move faster and every kill pays more mastery. Some of the best comebacks start there.

Your soldiers are cards

Before each attempt you spend your gold on chests. Every card that comes out is a soldier in your squad for that attempt. In battle those cards sit in your hand: drag one onto the field and the soldier appears right where you dropped it. Put footmen in the gap, archers behind them and a cleric close enough to heal both. Changed your mind? Right-click a soldier to pick it up and move it.

There are 14 different soldiers in three roles: melee, ranged and healers. Some bring a trick of their own: lightning that jumps between enemies, shots that slow, blows that hit a whole group.

Five spells, four slots

Spells come out of chests too, and you take four of them into battle on keys 1 to 4. Entangling Roots holds a wave in place. Frost Field slows it. Fireball burns it. Poison Cloud eats through it. Repair Ritual patches the castle. Charges are limited, so every cast is a decision.

Lose, upgrade, return

Losing is part of the game. Every attempt pays mastery, even a failed one, and mastery buys upgrades that stay with you for good. The demo has 120 of them in 7 tabs: Castle Defense, Arrows, Supply Drops, Soldiers, Economy, Remnants, Overall Power.

Tougher walls and castle repairs. More arrows per shot, critical hits, arrows that pierce. Stronger and faster soldiers. Supply chests that fall from the sky in the middle of a battle: shoot one open and its card flies straight into your hand.

Every chapter has five quests. Completing them raises your gold cap for good, which means more chests and a bigger army on the next attempt. Enemies you kill leave remnants that drift back to your castle. Upgrade them and they repair the walls, pay mastery or explode.

Three chapters, three armies

Every chapter is a different army with its own elite and its own boss. The demo has 20 different enemies:

• The First Night: risen villagers, forest trolls, mushrooms that split in two when they die, and a troll king at their head.

• The Drowned Village: nagas that leap toward your walls, harpies that fly over your soldiers, and the naga queen rising with the water.

• The Burning Keep: forge golems whose armor halves your damage, fire wyrmlings in the sky, and the Forge Tyrant, who has sworn to melt your walls.

After these three, the full game has ten more chapters, each with a new rule to learn.

Know what you are getting

Castellan is a single-player game played with the mouse and a handful of keys. It is a roguelite: a chapter is meant to take a few attempts, and every attempt leaves you stronger than the last. If you like learning an enemy, coming back with a better plan and finally breaking through, this is your kind of game.

At a glance

• Real-time castle defense: you aim, deploy and cast yourself

• 3 chapters, each with its own army, elite and boss

• 20 different enemies with mechanics you have to answer

• 14 different soldier cards: melee, ranged and healers

• 5 spells, 4 slots, limited charges

• 120 permanent upgrades in 7 tabs

• 15 quests that raise your gold cap

• A Collection that fills up as you open chests

• Auto fire for long sessions

• Playable in 15 languages

• An indie game made by a solo developer

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

AI tools were used during development to assist in the creation of some pre-generated content included in the game. All such content was reviewed, curated, and edited by the developer before inclusion. Some 2D sprites, icons, and key art were created with the assistance of generative AI tools. Music and sound effects were also created with the assistance of AI audio tools. Localization for languages other than English was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by the developer. The game does not use generative AI at runtime and does not generate any live AI content during gameplay.