The game focuses primarily on conquest and expansion through military pursuits but also has prominent economic and infrastructure development elements.

[5] A remaster subtitled Definitive Edition was released on 7 November 2023 for Windows by Firefly Studios, 2 years after the company was acquired by Devolver Digital.

However, an inpatient Longarm sends secret instructions to begin testing de Puce's defenses.

The player pushes further into de Puce's lands thanks to help from minor lords rising up against him, and Beauregard.

Following this, the player and Longarm begin to take Beauregard's lands, while Woolsack opens a second front against Truffe.

Longarm leaves the front to negotiate for the King's release, and while he is gone Truffe captures and kills Woolsack.

The player manages to take Volpe's castle and stabs him in the stomach before pushing him off the walls, seemingly to his death.

The goal is to create a stable economy and a strong military to defend against invaders, destroy enemy castles, and accomplish various mission objectives.

The backstory to the campaign explains that the king was captured and held for ransom while invading a neighboring barbarian kingdom.

The player has to defeat each of the four lords in the campaign, receiving help from the king once he has been successfully ransomed mid-game.

Fire plays a main role in the Stronghold storyline, as in certain missions, igniting pitch is almost necessary for survival.

[11] It received a "Silver" signification from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA)[12] for at least 100,000 copies sold in the United Kingdom.

[13] On Media Control's sales chart for the German market, Stronghold launched at #1 among computer games for the month of October 2001.

[14] The Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) presented it with a "Gold" award in late 2001,[15] indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

[20] In the United States, Stronghold debuted at #6 on NPD Intelect's computer game sales rankings for the week of October 21.

[24] Stronghold ultimately sold 220,000 copies and earned $7.8 million in the United States by August 2006.

[25] "At launch Stronghold: Definitive Edition became a critical and commercial success for Firefly Studios.

[27] Carla Harker reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Both sim and strategy players will find something to like in Stronghold, whether it's a long military campaign or just creating the largest, most well-run castle ever.

"[37] GameZone gave high praise to the graphics, saying that the environments were "wonderful" and commenting on the good animation of the characters.

"[34] GameSpy was neutral on its review of sound, saying that "...the music is nice, if not especially memorable", but also commenting on the "poor voice acting.