Gondor sends its regards: New RTS without the bloat earns only positive reviews

"The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!" – one of the more memorable lines from The Lord of the Rings. In Aldmark Calls for Aid, the developers at Studio Miley are lighting the beacons, too, throwing players into streamlined medieval siege battles where calling for reinforcements is one of the central gameplay mechanics. The RTS entered Early Access on November 9, 2026 and has received an overwhelmingly positive response so far, albeit from a very small number of players. The game is currently available at a 15% launch discount, bringing its price down to just $12.74 from $14.99.

Aldmark Calls for Aid is essentially an RTS, but it does away with the management tasks typically associated with the genre. Players don't have to build a base or manage resources. Instead, the gameplay focuses entirely on defending a besieged city. Troops must be positioned strategically as enemy forces advance with ladders and battering rams. The interesting twist: Between waves of attacks, players can light beacons in true Gondor fashion to call allied forces to their aid. However, the farther away those allies are, the longer the defenders must hold out.

At the time of writing, just two days after the Early Access launch, the game had received only 10 Steam reviews, but all of them were positive. Players particularly praise how easy it is to get into and describe the RTS as a lot of fun. However, the amount of content is reportedly still fairly limited – and the developers don't have much time to add more. The Early Access period is expected to last only around three months, with version 1.0 already scheduled for January 2027. It might be worth keeping an eye on this one.

The following trailer offers a look at the gameplay: