Play Codename Castles Demo Version Online

Codename Castles was a demo version of a strategy game that never saw a full release on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed by a team at Electronic Arts, and it feels like a relic from that experimental period when developers were testing how to translate complex PC genres onto a console. You get the sense of something ambitious but incomplete, a glimpse into a design process that was ultimately abandoned.

You control a small force of knights and archers, moving them across a grid based map to defend a central castle from incoming enemy waves. The main objective is to survive each stage by strategically positioning your units before the attack begins. Signature mechanics include screen by screen exploration to reveal the terrain, setting up archers on high ground for better range, and managing very limited resources to reinforce your defenses between rounds. The pacing is deliberate, almost slow, but the difficulty spikes quickly if your initial placements are poor. It feels like solving a tense, minimalist puzzle with a sword and shield skin.