Review: Diplomacy is Not an Option

When diplomacy fails, only the catapult remains.

INTRO

Diplomacy Is Not an Option is one of those games that takes the classic real-time strategy formula and focuses entirely on one essential point: survival. Here, there are no treaties, negotiations, or inspiring speeches. There is only a slightly overwhelmed feudal lord, thousands of enemies ready to tear your fortress apart, and a desperate need to turn resources into walls, towers, magic, and defensive structures.

GAMEPLAY

Diplomacy Is Not an Option stands firmly on a set of very clear pillars: economy, construction, defense, and survival. Every element of progression revolves around these fundamentals.

The economy revolves around the essential resources of your fortress: wood, stone, iron, food, gold, available population, free workers, and the all-important soul crystals, which allow you to cast spells and build magical monuments. Everything is designed so that the player must balance production, stockpiling, and expansion while new waves of enemies approach.

One of the game’s greatest strengths is its pacing. The campaign works almost like a guided showcase of the game’s mechanics. Instead of dumping you into a giant map and telling you to “build a city,” it introduces systems gradually, teaching you how to defend, expand, and handle recurring problems within your population. Chain missions take you from one conflict to another as your uncle, the king, or the common folk create small political situations that shape your route.

There are moments in which you can choose between supporting the king or helping the people, and these decisions shape small narrative branches in the missions. You can also clearly see where the hordes will come from on the map, allowing you to prepare defenses in advance.

Construction and management follow a simplified but efficient logic. Some traditional RTS mechanics are streamlined to avoid unnecessary micromanagement. Instead of manually creating villagers, you focus on upgrading houses to increase your population. Part of the micromanagement is also eased by active pause, which allows calm planning during critical moments.

When combat begins, the game transforms. Hundreds of enemies grow into thousands, then into tens of thousands. Catapults, archers, towers, barricades, and trenches become your entire world. Creating funnels, kill zones, and escape routes becomes the essence of the experience. And if everything goes wrong, there’s always magic. Spells, monuments, and summons can flip entire battles when used wisely.

Outside the campaign, the game offers extra modes that expand its longevity even further: Endless for testing survival limits, Sandbox for total freedom, Challenges for extreme scenarios, and the Map Editor for creating entire maps and sharing them with the community.

But there’s one important detail: at least on normal difficulty, the AI leaves quite a bit to be desired. Many times enemies ignore previously opened breaches and continue blindly hitting reinforced walls. In other moments, clear weaknesses in your defense go unexplored. This limitation makes some assaults easier than they should be, especially in larger waves.

VISUALS

Diplomacy Is Not an Option features a simple but charismatic visual style. Animations are minimalistic yet well executed, matching the game’s humorous tone. Despite being modest, they convey the chaos of thousands of enemies clashing against your walls and reinforce the game’s medieval-fantasy charm.

The HUD design is clear, showing all essential resources at all times. In moments of massive battles, the interface can look a bit busy, but it never becomes confusing. The game was visually designed to be readable even during absolute chaos, and it succeeds.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The game’s achievements are a whole chapter on their own. The developers built a strong mix of basic objectives and truly advanced challenges. Some achievements are simple and tied to your early hours, such as building your first barracks or defeating 150 enemies on a single map.

Others, however, require complete mastery of the game’s systems. These are challenges designed for experienced players who intend to explore everything the game offers, from monumental battles to ultra-efficient economic management.

There is an interesting balance between introductory achievements and extremely difficult ones, but all of them remain tied to gameplay. Nothing feels artificial or out of context. Everything is a natural extension of the game’s systems.

Achievement hunters beware: you’ll need many hours and nerves of steel to survive the most devastating waves.

TRAILER OFFICIAL

RESUME

Diplomacy Is Not an Option is a surprisingly well-structured hybrid of management, tower defense, and real-time strategy. Its humor works, its visuals fit the proposal perfectly, and the variety of modes, campaign, challenge, sandbox, endless, map editor, and tutorial, gives it excellent longevity. Battles are intense, defenses are satisfying, and the sense of developing your city is genuinely fun.

However, despite all the good, the AI can be a weak spot for more experienced players. On normal difficulty, it overlooks obvious openings, ignores clear defensive gaps, and sometimes insists on attacking random walls while other entrances are wide open. It doesn’t ruin the fun, but it reduces the level of threat the game seems to aim for.

Still, the whole package is strong, honest, and delivers a solid dose of strategy for players who enjoy surviving absurd waves of enemies while trying to keep their economy alive. It’s a game worth playing for both newcomers and veterans, as long as veterans understand that the AI may behave a bit silly at lower difficulties.

Review by Gamertag: Scoulz

SCORE: 86/100