With The Elder Scrolls 6 still a mere speck on the horizon and Starfield still at the forefront, those of us who favor Bethesda’s fantasy realms have a separate opportunity to return to the world of Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim in The Elder Scrolls: Castles. A management and strategy game in the vein of Fallout Shelter, it puts you in charge of the right hand of the ruler. It’s up to you to make the critical decisions that will define your dynasty for years to come.
In The Elder Scrolls: Castles, a real-world day translates to one year passing in the game. It’s described as a spiritual successor to Fallout Shelter, and you’ll have full control over your castle layout from a side-on perspective that will feel very familiar to anyone who’s played the post-apocalyptic management game. That means organizing the facilities and living spaces to ensure you can support all your subjects, and deciding how they can best benefit you and your kingdom’s prosperity.
That means bringing in newcomers, keeping them fed and satisfied, resolving disputes, helping them to find love, and even giving them spaces to raise children to continue the dynasty. Some might live out their days as castle helpers, while others will train as heroes that you must equip to head out and do battle against a range of classic creatures from The Elder Scrolls series.
Being in charge isn’t easy, of course, so you’ll have to make lots of tough decisions. Fail to resolve disputes, or do so in a clumsy fashion, and you might find yourself with sick, unhappy, or even revolting workers on your hands. In particularly bad cases, someone might end up dead – perhaps even the king or queen themselves. You’ll also have to deal with neighboring kingdoms, and determine whether to aid them in times of need or keep those valuable supplies for yourself.
The Elder Scrolls: Castles launches globally on Tuesday September 10 via the App Store and Google Play. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on if or when we’ll see it arrive on PC – it might not be The Elder Scrolls 6, but Fallout Shelter was a surprisingly satisfying offering that eventually made its way over to PC as a free Steam game, so there’s always hope that we’ll see the same happen with Castles eventually.
For now, then, you’ll have to satisfy yourself with the best games like Skyrim instead. Or, if you’ve got a mind for a more tactical approach to matters, here are the best strategy games on PC in 2024.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.