Diplomacy is Not an Option

Verdict

The pitch is right there in the name. You are a lord with a castle to build and a problem outside it, and the problem has ten thousand heads. Diplomacy is Not an Option is a base-building defence game whose engine throws crowds at your walls that other games would render as a texture, and watching a catapult volley land in that crowd is the kind of spectacle that keeps you playing one more night.

The full release brought a proper campaign with a dark, funny script, a tidy tech tree and an Endless mode that is the game's real home. Unit variety is modest and the early hours of each map are a familiar routine of quarries and farms, but the sieges deliver every time.

Towers 15 of 20

Walls, towers for archers, ballistas, catapults and a short list of infantry, archers and cavalry you command directly, with a magic tree on top. Everything works and nothing surprises; it is the crowd that is special, not the kit.

Lanes 16 of 20

Open maps with hills, forests and rivers, where you choose where the castle goes and the enemy comes from the edges. Terrain matters for walls and sight lines; the campaign maps are better than the random ones.

Waves 19 of 20

Waves grow from hundreds to tens of thousands with a timer you can always see, and the game is honest about what is coming. The late waves in Endless are the best spectacle in the genre and a fair, brutal test.

Economy 17 of 20

Wood, stone, iron, food and gold from a working village you must protect as well as feed, with taxes and a tech tree. Solid and readable. The opening of every map repeats itself.

Longevity 15 of 20

Campaign, Endless, custom and random maps, Workshop support and a free Fog of War update on the way. Single-player only, and the unit roster limits how different two long games can feel.

In pictures

Report written against the Steam build current on 31 October 2026; prices read the same day.