The Castle Doctrine

Critic reviews

• GGameSpot

  Nick Capozzoli · Feb 17, 2014

  4.0

  The flawed, nihilistic, trap-building simulator that resulted isn't worth a look. In the whole of the game, only one metaphor hit home for me. Sometimes when you manage to reach another person's vault, you find it empty, pillaged by a previous robber. There's nothing to take away, and all the time and effort you've put into the endeavor has been wasted.

  Read review from GameSpot (opens in a new tab)
• DDestructoid

  Patrick Hancock · Feb 08, 2014

  7.0

  The Castle Doctrine is certainly an experience unlike any other, but I also find it hard to recommend since it's so obtuse and seems to want to put new players at a huge disadvantage, increasing the skill gap between the best and the worst. Intense research and work must be put forth to succeed, but there's no real motivation except bigger and better death traps.

  Read review from Destructoid (opens in a new tab)
• EEdge

  Edge Staff · Feb 06, 2014

  6.0

  Yet The Castle Doctrine’s notoriety ends up feeling like another fakeout – a disconnected conceptual commit gate at the entrance of an often-frustrating sandbox puzzler.
• IIGN

  Keza Macdonald · Feb 04, 2014

  4.5

  The Castle Doctrine is a brutal, minimalist depiction of urban paranoia that brings out the worst in its players, and I struggled to find value in it. That doesn’t mean that nobody will, but as a gameplay experience it is bleak, brief, and terribly frustrating. It certainly makes you think, but not about anything very complex.

  Read review from IGN (opens in a new tab)
• PGPC Gamer

  Patrick Carlson · Feb 02, 2014

  8.5

  By accepting that there is so little permanence at play in The Castle Doctrine, the almost overwhelming sense of uncertainty that pervades it becomes easier—and more satisfying—to cope with. In this way, what The Castle Doctrine offers is a brilliant but horrifying depiction of a risk society at war with itself.

  Read review from PC Gamer (opens in a new tab)
• PPolygon

  Russ Pitts · Jan 31, 2014

  5.0

  My only recourse, should I choose to continue playing The Castle Doctrine, would be to start over. Suicide, in the game's terms. A robbery gone wrong, and the man of the house takes his own life. Ripped from the headlines for your amusement. There's a button to facilitate your suicide. It is clearly marked.

  Read review from Polygon (opens in a new tab)

See all critic reviews