Open the Gates!

Open the Gates! is a sidescrolling, real-time strategy game and a linear single-player experience. After the emperor loses control of his kingdom, he appoints you to lead a new conquest. You build and manage castles, defend them from sieges and attack enemy strongholds across a campaign of over 26 levels in six worlds, with roughly 15 hours of main-campaign gameplay.

Build your castle

You construct houses, inns, jailhouses, hospitals and other buildings to keep citizens happy, along with lumber camps, quarries and charcoal makers to supply resources. You also manage the castle, hiring falconers to deal with rats and placing guard posts to catch criminals. Villagers speak when clicked, and their opinions of you become clear.

Defend and attack

Walls, towers and traps help stall attackers and keep them out of your castle. You face massive sieges and can upgrade your defenses, combining wall materials with improvements such as firebraziers and towers. To besiege enemy castles, you can use laddermen, catapults and siege towers. You also control a range of units with special abilities, including poisonous darts, exploding bolts and a powerful mace smash attack.

Explore six worlds

You build settlements in varied locations, including green fields, hot deserts and volcanic craters. Hot air balloons let you explore the skies and carry units between floating islands; they can also serve as flying weapons when you place archers aboard. In the Red Depths, fire spreads and is difficult to extinguish, and you face a strong enemy and a ghost seeking to become mortal again.

Game modes

Alongside the main campaign, the game includes 12 siege mode levels. The challenge can be adjusted with difficulty settings, and friendly and villainous characters are fully voice acted.