sharpening the crayons…

Castle Defense: a hand-drawn crayon siege game

Castle Defense is a free browser game drawn entirely in wax crayon on notebook paper. An army of stick invaders marches on your castle each day. Grab them with the cursor, lift them high, and fling them into the ground or into each other. Buy a pit and lower ordinary invaders into it gently to convert them into workers, then hire archers, masons, wizards and demolition crews between days. Every day is longer and meaner than the last. Nothing is installed, nothing is uploaded, and your progress is saved in your own browser.

How do you play Castle Defense?

Click or tap an invader to pick them up, drag them upward, and release to throw. A long drop or a hard landing crumples them. Bottle-cap bombers explode when clicked, and giants and catapults are too heavy to lift, so use clicks, archers, spells or explosions on those.

Is Castle Defense free?

Yes. It is free, needs no account, has no ads, and runs entirely in your browser.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes, in landscape. Turn your device sideways for the full battlefield, or choose to play sideways anyway if your rotation is locked.

How do you convert invaders into workers?

Buy the Pit of Conversion from the castle ledger, then lower an ordinary invader into it gently rather than throwing them. Converts become permanent workers you assign to rooms.

Does the game save my progress?

Yes. Progress is stored locally in your browser, and the points you earn during a day are kept if you close the tab partway through.