Stronghold Crusader HD Review (Señor Topaz)
A...no THE castle sim to play. Build castles, follow historic skirmishes, create your own maps, compete with AI or friends, raze buildings and crush your adversaries on your quest to become "The Greatest Lord". What's not to love!? Plus, it's unique from most other castle sims in that it has a desert backdrop (it place in eastern Europe/the middle east instead of the west).
Now, you should know that it is a tad bit glitchy (like Vanellope from Wreck It Ralph), there are no achievements and I assume there aren't a lot of people playing online anymore (I only play single player now). That being said, it's still a very good game. It's easy to get so invested in designing your castle and waging ware that you lose all track of time.
Of course there are pros and cons as with all games, but to answer the is-it-worth-my-time question I'll just say this: it's a 20 year old game with overwhelming positive reviews....still! You can grab it on sale for under $2, plus several new characters and maps have been added since it's original release in 2002. I've got 8 hours in on Steam but probably close to 100 hrs on CD-ROM.
Yup, I'm hooked and I've been so ever since the scribe first told me "gold is flowing into the treasury, sire!" Buy it, definitely buy it. Then check out some of the other games in the series, but steer clear of Stronghold III.