The Touhou Empires Is A Touhou Project-Inspired Classic Multiplayer RTS Game

If you’re an anime fan who likes playing real-time strategy games, then we’ve got just the game for you. The Touhou Empires is a new Age of Empires-like indie game featuring characters from the widely popular Touhou Project series of bullet hell games and music from Elden Ring and Dark Souls composer Yuka Kitamura.

Long-time RTS players will undoubtedly be familiar with the game’s core mechanics. You’ll start out with a pair of hero units, Marisa and Reimu, a small shrine, and several worker fairies that you can send out to gather resources to build facilities to increase your population cap, train combat units, and research upgrades. You’ll eventually also be able to build defensive structures like walls and towers to help repel attackers.

The game’s controls are also similar to classic RTS games where you use the left mouse button to select units, the right mouse button to issue move commands, and keyboard hotkeys to efficiently construct buildings and train more units. You’ll also be able to set waypoints to tell your units exactly where to go an what to do without the need for micromanaging.

You’ll also be able to unlock other Touhou Project characters with unique abilities that can be used to turn the tide of battle. Each playable faction will also have their own advantages and disadvantages. The Hakurei Shrine faction, for example, excels in base defense, while the Scarlet Devil Manor has the ability to summon powerful units early in the match.

The Touhou Empires will offer a 20-stage single-player campaign and online multiplayer with multiple modes that can support up to six players. It’s still missing a released date but a limited-time demo is available on Steam until February 12 as part of the platform’s ongoing Steam Next Fest event.