The Castle Doctrine

The Castle Doctrine is a massively multiplayer game about burglary and home defense, set in 1991. You have a house and family, and other players may try to take what you own. Build security to stop them, study other players’ houses, buy tools and break in to steal their property. Everything you do is permanent.

Build and defend

Design security systems to protect your house from burglars. If an intruder triggers a deadly defense, they can die permanently and lose everything, then start over. You can retreat through the front door to escape from a break-in. There is no randomness, so deaths result from players’ decisions.

Break into homes

You can study other players’ houses, buy tools and attempt to get past their security. A successful burglary permanently destroys and steals another player’s work. Security tapes let you watch what happens during attempted break-ins.

Permanent consequences

The game is turn-based, and its consequences carry over: players can lose their possessions and progress when they die, while their houses can be robbed and damaged by other players. Your actions affect real players, with no protection between them.