『An endless onslaught,

How long can you endure?』

💎 First Impressions 

When I was younger, I loved challenging games that were difficult and demanding but gave me a strong sense of accomplishment.

The thrill of finally defeating a boss or clearing a stage after dozens of attempts was exhilarating.

I often found myself staying up all night playing games.

However, as time passed and the gaming landscape changed, so did my preferences.

I even spent hundreds of dollars on in-app purchases, only to realize that I preferred a more relaxed and convenient gaming experience.

I started avoiding hardcore genres like Soulslike games, rhythm games, and MOBAs, which required a high level of mastery.

Then, I came across this game.

It reminded me of an old saying in the gaming world: "A good game is easy to learn, but difficult to master."

This game threw me into many challenging situations, but surprisingly, I found myself enjoying them.

Today’s review is about a game that completely contradicts my current gaming preferences—Diplomacy Is Not an Option.

⌚Gameplay 

『Even if it's not your fault,

The peasants still want to overthrow you!』

<Right now, a dozen or so peasants are rebelling, but as time goes on...>

This game is a mix of tower defense and real-time strategy simulation.

You must command your troops in real time, produce units, and construct defensive structures to fend off the waves of attacking peasants.

If this reminds you of StarCraft, then you’re on the right track!

Unlike traditional RTS games where the goal is to destroy the enemy base, however, your sole objective is to defend against the oncoming peasant hordes!

If the game They Are Billions comes to mind, then congratulations—you’re already a seasoned gamer!

The similarity lies in the periodic waves of enemies that attack, increasing in intensity over time.

The key difference is that Diplomacy Is Not an Option is set in the medieval era.

<Enjoy the game through Campaign, Challenge, Sandbox, and Endless modes! A tutorial is also available for newcomers>

Players who enjoy this genre tend to seek greater challenges as they get more familiar with the game.

For those players, the game offers Challenge Mode, Sandbox Mode, and Endless Mode.

It seems that many players prefer to dive into Endless mode right after clearing the campaign.

Since I’m not yet familiar with either the game or the genre, I started with the campaign.

I’ll explain these other modes in more detail later.

"

Try out the campaign first,

Then dive into Endless Mode for the real fun!"

"

At the beginning of the game, you can choose whether to play the tutorial.

Even in the tutorial description, the game warns: "This is not an easy game."

From my experience, that warning was well justified.

<The story is serious, but the way it's presented is quite humorous>

The campaign was quite entertaining.

Each mission begins with a short story segment.

The story isn't overly dark and is accompanied by comical scenes, making even potentially brutal moments more enjoyable.

The graphics aren’t hyper-realistic, but the simple character designs actually enhance the comedic effect.

To summarize the story without spoilers: A peasant rebellion has broken out, and you must suppress it.

That’s it—simple, right?

<The difficulty selection screen. Honestly, the term "Ultra Hardcore" made me nervous>

Before starting the campaign, you must choose a difficulty level.

Since the difficulty can be adjusted for each mission, there’s no need to feel too pressured by your initial choice.

However, the difficulty names displayed before starting a mission are rather intimidating.

It would be helpful if the game provided more details on the differences between each difficulty level, as there is currently no explanation.

For example, something like "500% more peasants, wave intervals reduced by 30%" would be a nice touch.

<You have two choices: Stand against tyranny, or stand against the peasants...>

Once you complete the introductory campaign, you’ll witness the peasants rising in revolt.

At this point, you are presented with two choices:

"For the King" – Suppress the peasant rebellion and earn the king’s favor.

"For the People" – Join the peasants and fight to overthrow the king.

However, choosing to rebel against the king hints at greater challenges ahead,

so for now, I decided to side with the monarchy and suppress the rebellion.

Looking back, I must say the in-game wording is done exceptionally well—the wording of the choices was engaging enough to make me hesitate before making a decision.

<Construct buildings, train troops, and build walls to prepare for the incoming waves>

The goal of the game is simple: Defend your Town Hall from the attacking peasants.

A countdown timer shows when the next wave will arrive, giving you time to prepare.

Your job is to fortify the defenses around your Town Hall before the enemy arrives.

To do this, you’ll need to construct buildings, gather resources,

train troops and position them strategically along walls and watchtowers.

<Unlock additional features through research!>

But building and unit production alone aren’t enough.

Once you’ve established a basic defense, you can start researching upgrades.

These upgrades unlock various useful features, such as, increasing the efficiency of builders to speed up construction and repairs, or boosting worker movement speed for better resource gathering.

More advanced features are unlocked by upgrading your Town Hall.

It’s easy to overlook these research options if you’re used to traditional RTS games, so I highly recommend keeping them in mind.

I, for one, completely forgot about them after finishing the tutorial!

<The first wave consists of a few dozen peasants, but by the final wave, they’ll come from all directions.>

As the game progresses, waves of peasants will attack periodically.

The first wave is easy—only a few dozen peasants attack,

so even an inexperienced player should be able to fend them off easily.

But as time passes, the number of enemies increases, and they start attacking from all directions.

By the final wave, peasants will swarm in from every side, making it impossible to focus your troops in one place.

So, did I manage to beat the final wave...?

<I was utterly crushed in the final wave>

I lost! It was incredibly difficult.

Peasants were attacking from all directions, and I couldn’t decide where to focus my defenses.

I wasn’t expecting the final wave to be that brutal, so I wasn’t fully prepared—that was my downfall.

Still, I had a great time playing!

<Enjoy the game to the fullest with Challenge Mode, Sandbox Mode, and Endless Mode>

If you’ve finished the campaign and are craving more, don’t worry!

Various modes are here to satisfy your need for more challenges and fun!

Challenge Mode: Custom scenarios with specific objectives at set difficulty levels.

Sandbox Mode: Customize game settings to your preference—whether it’s extreme difficulty or something completely unique.

Endless Mode: Face increasingly difficult waves over time in a never-ending battle for survival.

📌 Final Thoughts 

『The line between frustrating provocation

and exhilarating challenge is razor-thin!』

Any game can be made difficult—all you need to do is increase enemy health or create unfair situations.

But making a game challenging yet enjoyable is far trickier.

Many games fail this balancing act and end up being simply too hard to enjoy.

However, Diplomacy Is Not an Option strikes that balance beautifully.

The tutorial could use a bit more depth, but it doesn’t take away from the overall fun.

It was also great that the game offers various strategies to make dealing with incoming waves easier.

A challenging medieval defense game—Diplomacy Is Not an Option!

▶ Go to Store

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