Stronghold Kingdoms is a strategy based building/warfare game developed by Firefly Studios and based on the long running Strongholds PC game series. Players will be tasked with building their own settlement and watching it flourish. This settlement advancement follows paths similar to other Strongholds titles in that players will research advancement paths of their choosing to open up new build options and new technologies. Stronghold Kingdoms adds in a card mechanic that allows players to use cards as modifiers when building, trading, and attacking or defending their own Stronghold. As in previous titles though, diplomacy is a key aspect of success in Strongholds Kingdoms. Trading, negotiating, and working with thousands of other players through the game’s world is the key to taking over land and working your way up to a leadership role. Be careful though as working against the wrong alliance could spell the end to all of your hard work very quickly. Stronghold Kingdoms gathered early praise when it launched in 2012, but recent player reviews lean more towards the game becoming more pay to win than most players would like. With well-established alliances in game already, starting out can be hard for new players looking to try out the game for a bit prior to spending real life money. A certain amount of “join us or die” mentality seems to pervade player reviews and new players may log in to find everything they’ve been working for gone rather quickly. Quests and achievements provide the meat of the solo play experience and guides new players through the ropes of the game’s core mechanics.