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Castle Crashers

Castle Crashers proves to be one of the best titles to have ever hit the Playstation Network, with the addition of new content, Behomoth's co-op action game is a must buy for any gamer.
Castle Crashers Game Cover
91%Game Brain Score
humor, gameplay
grinding, stability
97% User Score Based on 58,212 reviews
Critic Score 80%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

Playstation 3Xbox 360PCTabletMac OSPhoneXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
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Castle Crashers Game Cover

About

Castle Crashers is a single player and multiplayer casual hack and slash game with comedy, medieval and historical themes. It was developed by The Behemoth and was released on September 26, 2012. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

This four player RPG adventure will let you hack, slash, and smash your way to victory. Featuring hand-drawn characters, Castle Crashers delivers unique hi-res illustrated visuals and intense gameplay action. Play with up to three friends and discover mind-boggling magic and mystery in the amazing world created just for you!

Genres & Tags
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Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
Castle Crashers screenshot
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97%
Audience ScoreBased on 58,212 reviews
humor3.6k positive mentions
grinding375 negative mentions
  • Castle Crashers offers fast-paced, addictive beat-'em-up gameplay with smooth controls and a blend of RPG elements, making it fun and accessible both solo and especially in co-op with friends.
  • The distinctive hand-drawn, colorful, and cartoonish art style combined with quirky, nostalgic humor and an eclectic, memorable soundtrack creates a charming, timeless, and engaging atmosphere.
  • The game boasts immense replayability driven by a large roster of unique characters, diverse unlockables, multiple difficulty settings, and continued community support that enhances long-term appeal.
  • The humor, heavily reliant on juvenile and repetitive toilet jokes, may become unfunny or uncomfortable for some players, detracting from the experience.
  • Gameplay can feel repetitive and grind-heavy, particularly at higher difficulties, with tedious character unlocking and leveling that may frustrate players after initial completion.
  • Multiplayer optimization suffers from frequent stuttering, lag, desynchronization issues, and occasional crashes, which negatively impact the online cooperative experience.
  • humor
    3,637 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Castle Crashers features a distinctive, cartoonish art style paired with a quirky, often juvenile but charming humor that includes lots of slapstick and crude jokes, such as toilet humor and absurd scenarios. The humor is a major highlight, especially in co-op play where it enhances the chaotic and enjoyable multiplayer experience. While some find the humor dated or repetitive, most appreciate its playful, nostalgic tone that complements the fast-paced, fun gameplay.

    • “Castle crashers is an absolute gem of a side-scrolling beat 'em up that perfectly blends hilarious cartoon violence with incredibly solid and fun gameplay. A timeless, chaotic, and hilarious co-op adventure.”
    • “The game's fast-paced combat and quirky humor brought us together in a way we hadn't experienced before. The humor still lands too, whether it’s goats with explosive diarrhea, sandwiches that work like anabolic steroids, or the princess whose face you don’t see until the very end.”
    • “The humor is woven into every detail: enemies react comically to attacks, food items range from sandwiches to ice cream, and even the loading screens deliver jokes. Levels are punctuated by creative boss fights that often mix humor with challenge—like a giant, laser-shooting corn cob or a necromancer who summons waves of skeletons.”
    • “Overall, boring game with very minimal nuance and unfunny, gross humor that is not worth any amount of money, especially not fifteen dollars.”
    • “The game has repetitive humor which quickly becomes unfunny and uninteresting.”
    • “There are way too many poop/diarrhea gags that become uncomfortable and not funny after the first time.”
  • gameplay
    2,403 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Castle Crashers offers simple yet addictive beat-'em-up gameplay that is easy to pick up and enjoyable both solo and especially in co-op with friends. While the core combat can become repetitive over time, the variety of characters, weapons, magic abilities, and RPG-style progression add depth and replayability. Its smooth controls, vibrant art style, humorous tone, and chaotic multiplayer experience make it a timeless classic despite some minor flaws like occasional repetitive mechanics and the best experience being with a controller.

    • “It's cheap, it's genuinely fun, and the mechanics are surprisingly well-built.”
    • “The gameplay blends fast-paced combat with RPG-style progression, allowing you to level up, unlock new combos, and customize your character with weapons and adorable animal companions.”
    • “Castle Crashers delivers chaotic, colorful beat-'em-up fun with quirky humor and addictive co-op gameplay.”
    • “However, the gameplay just feels like every side-scrolling beat 'em up ever with minimal difference from other games in the genre.”
    • “The gameplay is just pressing buttons blindly and has more input lag than my grandma playing Twister.”
    • “Game has surface enemy design and character design (both characters and enemies have same abilities but just textures changed), gameplay gets monotonous after about 2 hours and gets dull; there are no i-frames implemented so if you get hit or jump, good luck getting out of a combo and also art style is lackluster.”
  • story
    2,225 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in Castle Crashers is simple, straightforward, and humorously told without dialogue, focusing on a classic quest to rescue kidnapped princesses and recover a stolen magical crystal. While it is relatively short and can feel repetitive after multiple playthroughs, its charm lies in quirky characters, absurd situations, comedic twists, and a playful art style that enhances the experience, especially in co-op mode with friends. The game prioritizes fun, fast-paced combat and replayability over deep narrative complexity, making the story a light yet entertaining backdrop to the action.

    • “Its true beauty lies in its simple story that takes you on a fun journey without any complexity, and what makes it even better is the multiplayer experience that brings friends together.”
    • “The story and humor: the story of Castle Crashers is straightforward and delightfully absurd, revolving around the rescue of kidnapped princesses from a series of increasingly bizarre and hilarious bosses.”
    • “The story is simple; your princesses are in another castle, and you need to go rescue them.”
    • “The gameplay's mundane, the story is very lackluster and basic, the characters look meh and the overall game is just so boring and truth be told, I do regret buying this and would without a doubt refund it if I hadn't bought it outside of the window for that. Also, don't forget the unnecessary toilet humor that literally nobody above the age of five mentally and physically would find funny.”
    • “The story is almost non-existent, offering little motivation to push through the game.”
    • “The story is very short, you could add more missions, weapons, or level editor or workshop or something, because the game is awesome.”
  • graphics
    2,030 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Castle Crashers features a distinctive, hand-drawn, cartoonish art style that is colorful, vibrant, and full of personality, evoking a nostalgic Newgrounds-era charm. The graphics have aged exceptionally well, maintaining their appeal with quirky, humorous visuals and smooth animations that complement the fast-paced, cooperative gameplay. While some updates refreshed the visuals with higher resolution and frame rates, the core artistic style remains a major highlight, contributing significantly to the game's timeless appeal.

    • “The hand-drawn art style is vibrant, colorful, and packed with personality, giving the game a quirky charm that stands the test of time.”
    • “Castle Crashers features a unique, cartoonish art style with expressive characters, whimsical environments, and humorous animations that perfectly complement its fast-paced co-op gameplay.”
    • “The game's graphics are simple yet striking, with bright colors and smooth animations that capture the essence of classic Newgrounds flash games, delivering a timeless and delightful visual experience.”
    • “But the last update literally ruined the entire art style, and even if it doesn't affect gameplay, I do not want to play a game that looks like this.”
    • “And the worst part is that it's not a bad art style itself, but compared to the original in-game style, I don't have words to describe how terrible it is.”
    • “Game is trash, graphics are weak, gameplay is boring as hell, controls suck, sounds are annoying, and the music is awful. This would have been fun back in 2012 but not now. Waste of money and time.”
  • music
    1,306 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in Castle Crashers is widely praised for its catchy, energetic, and eclectic soundtrack that perfectly complements the game's whimsical tone and fast-paced gameplay. It features memorable tracks, including contributions from Newgrounds artists like Waterflame, and is considered iconic and nostalgic by many players. While some find the music repetitive or less memorable in parts, overall it significantly enhances the game's charm and replay value, making it a standout aspect beloved by fans.

    • “The music, a collaborative effort on Newgrounds at the time, is of such a level of quality and ethereal-like quality that it puts even modern big-budget scores to shame.”
    • “The soundtrack, composed by various Newgrounds musicians, matches the tone perfectly, with high-energy tracks that keep battles feeling fast-paced and fun.”
    • “One of the best soundtracks in gaming, some of the most fun couch co-op you can ask for, Castle Crashers is one of the most well crafted and complete games of all time.”
    • “My biggest gripe with Castle Crashers is and always has been the fact the music is unbearably generic.”
    • “Game is trash graphics are weak gameplay is boring as hell controls suck sounds are annoying and the music is awful this woulda been fun back in 2012 but not now waste money + time”
    • “This game feels horrible, the range is tedious, all the enemies stun lock you, the bosses are stupidly unfair and hard, and the music gets super annoying really quick.”
  • replayability
    982 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Castle Crashers is widely praised for its immense replayability, driven by a large roster of unique characters, diverse unlockables (weapons, pets, and abilities), various difficulty settings including an "insane mode," and engaging multiplayer co-op modes. While the main campaign is relatively short, the progression system, character leveling, and multiple game modes encourage repeated playthroughs, especially with friends, making it a beloved and timeless beat-em-up. Some players note that solo replay value may diminish over time, but the game's humor, art style, and continual content updates sustain long-term interest.

    • “This game already had near-infinite replayability for me, and with the introduction of custom knights, tons of community engagement, and so much meticulous effort put into it, it has now legitimately achieved infinite replayability.”
    • “Castle crashers, despite how short the game is and almost relying on its replay value to be a fun game, is actually the one perfect game to play to hang out with your friends; the workshop is great, the game is fun, the combo system makes my autism go wild, it’s a beautiful game!”
    • “With a huge roster of characters to unlock and train, and collectable weapons and animal orbs, the game has tons of replay value.”
    • “Of course, if you're someone who's owned the game since 2012-2014, you probably forgot about this game, as it may have replayability, but it does tire out after a bit.”
    • “Though, the game is way too boring and repetitive and has barely any replayability, story lines are the same with every character, a few bugs here and there - none that are game changing though, the insane gamemode is very difficult and boring to playing alone; and doesn't really have any incentive to complete the game.”
    • “Generally speaking I just can't recommend it due to its higher price and how I personally don't think it has much replay value because there is no endless mode or some streak type of coop challenge that would make maxing out everything worthwhile.”
  • grinding
    453 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a significant amount of grinding, especially when unlocking characters, leveling up, or tackling higher difficulties like insane mode, which can become repetitive and tedious. However, many players find the grind enjoyable or manageable, particularly when playing cooperatively, as the social aspect alleviates some of the monotony. Overall, while grinding is a prominent and sometimes frustrating aspect, it contributes to the game's replayability and appeal for fans of grind-heavy beat 'em ups.

    • “It's not too grindy, it has so many playstyles available for players to choose, incredible as a party game and just so much more.”
    • “It's got that grindy feel but isn't too grindy.”
    • “Completing the game in co-op and single player was a good experience, though I wish leveling after completion wasn't as grindy.”
    • “The basic enemies are still very repetitive and the game difficulty spike once you reach insane mode is tedious as the only 'difficulty' change is the nasty health pool the enemy bosses have, leading you to either grind out the same level over and over to get minor stat buffs or just juggle repetitively until your damage is enough to eventually deplete them.”
    • “To max level your character, you have to beat the game several times on insane mode which is nothing short of a tedious chore. Plus, unlocking new characters just means beating the exact same scripted game again and again, and some characters unlock after beating insane mode, which means grinding with different characters again and again and again. But really insane mode and grinding to max level kills the game once you've beaten it on normal mode.”
    • “Overall, this is a mediocre beat 'em up with tacked on RPG elements, that turn an okay game into a grindy, frustrating, and tedious mess of a chore.”
  • stability
    102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally runs well on various platforms and offers enjoyable multiplayer experiences, but it suffers from frequent glitches, occasional crashes, and bugs—especially in online play and specific levels—that can disrupt gameplay and cause frustration. Some players find these issues minor or even add to the charm, while others report freezes, lag, and buggy terrain that hinder progression. Overall, stability is inconsistent, with smooth performance tempered by periodic technical problems.

    • “The multiplayer is also fun, both local and online, plus the netcode runs great.”
    • “This game runs great on any computer (I mean it — any), and is good with a keyboard and mouse.”
    • “This runs great at about 60fps on Intel HD integrated graphics on my basic laptop.”
    • “Frequent glitches and occasional crashes disrupt the flow of the game, making it frustrating to play.”
    • “The launcher is terrible and completely freezes my computer or glitches out like crazy, when it finally loads it then half the time gets stuck on a black loading screen.”
    • “It freezes every 20 seconds which completely ruins the entire experience.”
  • optimization
    79 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Optimization for this game is generally praised for smooth performance on a wide range of hardware, including low-end PCs and Steam Deck, with consistent frame rates and low system requirements. However, significant criticism focuses on poor multiplayer optimization, with frequent stuttering, lag, frame drops, and desynchronization issues that heavily impact online play. While single-player and local co-op run well, the PC port suffers from controller and online performance problems that some patches have improved but not fully resolved.

    • “Performance is rock solid across platforms, and the quality-of-life improvements—such as a refined UI, online matchmaking, and cloud saves—make this the definitive version.”
    • “Castle Crashers runs smoothly on a wide range of hardware configurations, ensuring that the game is accessible to players with various system requirements.”
    • “Great game, well optimized for older OS and mediocre specs.”
    • “I have tried to lower quality and texture options as well, it's just how unoptimized this game really is. I'm sorry, hopefully they figure out a way to fix this. It is generally a good game, but for now I just cannot recommend it.”
    • “Once you start multiplayer, the game becomes horribly choppy and stuttering. Your button presses are sometimes ignored, it slows down and speeds up at irregular intervals, and sometimes it completely desyncs from other players (they see something completely different than you, e.g. a dead boss, when you still try to kill it).”
    • “It does not matter whether you host the game or someone else, regardless of good internet connection or high FPS, the game is hardly playable in multiplayer due to horrible and constant stuttering.”
  • emotional
    64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional responses to the game are highly polarized, ranging from deeply moving and heartwarming experiences that evoke tears and nostalgia to intense frustration and distress causing players to regret playing it. Many praise its wholesome multiplayer fun, charming story, and nostalgic value, while others describe it as emotionally painful or boring. Overall, the game elicits strong, often profound emotional reactions, whether positive or negative.

    • “The sheer emotional implications of the thieves having families and lives outside of their 9-5 of killing people... the fact these cold-blooded killers have tender hearts... truly touching.”
    • “The ending of this game was just chef's kiss amazing. It changed my life; the story had twists and turns and heartbreaking moments. I don't think I'll ever look at a castle the same again.”
    • “Palace Wreckers is an emotional heartthrob of a game; I cried multiple times while playing, sometimes to the point of complete sobbing.”
    • “Horribly boring story and horrible combat system”
  • atmosphere
    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game boasts a vibrant, whimsical atmosphere enriched by charming hand-drawn art and a lively, eclectic soundtrack that blends epic and absurd tones. Its comedic, nonsensical humor and simple medieval setting create a fun, casual vibe perfect for co-op play, with an overall lighthearted and nostalgic feel reminiscent of late 2000s cartoons and Newgrounds-style animation. This engaging atmosphere complements the addictive combat and quirky characters, making the experience immersive and entertaining.

    • “The soundtrack sets the pace and creates an atmosphere of epic absurdity.”
    • “With its charming hand-drawn art style and catchy soundtrack, Castle Crashers creates a whimsical atmosphere that enhances the fun.”
    • “The audio design is integral to the game's atmosphere, making it all the more immersive and engaging.”
    • “The vibrant and overwhelming atmosphere, the wacky gameplay.”
    • “Most levels end with a big boss battle, where your techniques, might, and agility are put to the test, as you'll take down numerous tyrants and beasts, all with a touch of humor and creative cartoon-ish atmospheres.”
    • “The story isn't a strong focus, as there is no dialogue, but it makes up for this by creating a strong, comedic atmosphere using immature fart and poop jokes that makes the game friendly for the family (if you turn off the blood of course).”
  • character development
    37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is generally praised for its unique, whimsical, and charming 2D character designs that enhance the humor and overall appeal. While character designs are described as colorful, fun, and memorable, some note repetitive or uninspired designs and limited depth in development. Overall, the appealing art style and comedic characters contribute significantly to the game's lasting charm and replayability.

    • “The game itself looks great, I like the actual knight designs with each color having a different magic type and the fresh coat of paint from the painter's boss DLC makes all the character designs pop even more along with custom characters to add your own or someone else's flair to the game.”
    • “It's a mix of exciting gameplay, a cute art style, unique character design, and a whole bundle of fun (especially with friends)!”
    • “Overall the game was super fun, the character development was awesome and the gameplay took some skill.”
    • “Why are the character designs recycled so much?”
    • “Game has surface enemy design and character design (both characters and enemies have same abilities but just textures changed), gameplay gets monotonous after like 2 hours and gets dull, there aren't any i-frames implemented so if you get hit or jump good luck getting out of a combo and also art style is lacklustre.”
    • “With no strategy and absolutely zero character development, this game will win the hearts of all your friends - at least the ones that love to spam the attack key.”
  • monetization
    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's monetization is primarily limited to a couple of optional DLC characters and some in-menu advertisements, including merch promotions, which some players find intrusive or unnecessary. However, most agree that these purchases are not essential to the core experience, avoiding aggressive microtransactions or pay-to-win mechanics. Overall, despite minor complaints about ads and marketing, the monetization is relatively modest and doesn't detract significantly from gameplay.

    • “The game has no other monetization except the two DLC characters, which are in no way needed for the experience.”
    • “The in-game purchases for extra content are a little much, but I find myself going back to this classic time and time again to get that perfect score on each of the characters.”
    • “10/10 best lootbox card game with microtransactions.”
    • “Game opens with multiple DLC advertisements, the combat and Newgrounds humor doesn't do anything for me.”
    • “The one thing I don't quite get is they added what is effectively an advertisement for their merch store.”
    • “The in-game purchases for extra content is a little much but I find myself going back to this classic time and time again to get that perfect score on each of the characters.”
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80%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews
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16h Median play time
145h Average play time
7h Main story
37h Completionist
6-105h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 115 analyzed playthroughs
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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Castle Crashers is a casual hack and slash game with comedy, medieval and historical themes.

Castle Crashers is available on PC, Mac OS, Phone, Steam Deck and others.

The main story can be completed in around 7 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 37 hours to finish. On average players spend around 145 hours playing Castle Crashers.

Castle Crashers was released on September 26, 2012.

Castle Crashers was developed by The Behemoth.

Castle Crashers has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Castle Crashers for its humor but disliked it for its grinding.

Castle Crashers is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include BattleBlock Theater, Borderlands 2, Dungeon Defenders, Double Dragon Neon, The Adventure Pals and others.