A free medieval castle-building real-time strategy game that runs in your browser on desktop and phone, with nothing to install. Grow an economy from wood, stone and wheat to bread and weapons, raise walls, gates and arrow towers, recruit spearmen, archers and swordsmen, and lay siege to your rival's keep. Play the AI on three difficulties or challenge a friend 1v1 online.
- Genre
- Strategy
- Players
- Solo or online, up to 2 players, bots fill empty seats
- Devices
- Phone and desktop
- Price
- Free, plays in the browser, nothing to install
How to play
Drag to select troops, tap or click to move and attack. Tap a building to manage it (keep = taxes, market = trading, barracks = recruiting). Drag the map to pan, pinch or scroll to zoom, ⚔ selects your army, 🏰 centres on your keep. Desktop: WASD pans, Esc deselects, Del demolishes, Space pauses, 1-4 sets speed.
New in v4.7
Better layouts on small phones, landscape and tablets: the menu no longer hides behind the map buttons, the top bar fits, and build buttons are easier to reach.
What is Bannerhold?
Bannerhold is a free castle-building real-time strategy game for the browser. You start with a keep and a few peasants, build a working medieval economy, wall in your castle and then go to war with a rival lord who is doing the same. It runs on a desktop or a phone, with nothing to download.
How to play
- Gather. Woodcutters, quarries and wheat farms feed raw materials to your stockpile.
- Produce. Mills grind flour and bakeries bake bread to feed your people. Workshops forge spears, bows and swords.
- Keep people happy. Set taxes in your keep. High taxes fill the treasury but cost popularity, and unpopular lords lose peasants.
- Trade. The market buys and sells goods when you are short of something.
- Fortify. Raise walls around your castle, put gates in them for your own troops, and add arrow towers.
- Recruit and attack. The barracks turns weapons into spearmen, archers and swordsmen. Drag to select them, then tap or click to move and attack. Break their gates and raze their keep before they raze yours.
Game modes
- Against the AI: three difficulties, from a gentle opponent to one that punishes a weak economy.
- 1v1 online: quick play finds you an opponent at once, or open a private room and send a friend the invite code. A bot fills the seat if no one joins.
FAQ
Is Bannerhold free? Yes. It is free and plays in the browser with nothing to install.
Can I play it on my phone? Yes. Drag to pan, pinch to zoom and tap to give orders. It also plays on a desktop with mouse and keyboard.
Can I play against a friend? Yes. Open a private room and share the invite code, or use quick play to be matched with someone.
Is it a city builder or a war game? Both. Most of a match is building an economy and a castle. The battles are won by whoever fed and armed their army better.
