Door Kickers

Lore & Background

Door Kickers was developed by the Romanian indie studio KillHouse Games. The game was released for Windows in 2014, followed by iOS and Android ports in 2015. A Nintendo Switch version was published by QubicGames on December 26, 2020. The game features a SWAT team from the fictional Nowhere City Police Department. Gameplay is divided into three phases: deployment, planning, and engagement. In planning, the game is paused and the player directs individual trooper movements and actions. During engagement, troopers follow their assigned paths and automatically fire on armed enemies in their line of sight. The player can switch between engagement and planning at any time. The game includes six main campaigns with a loose plot involving the NCPD's efforts against organized crime and terrorism, as well as single missions. A level editor and full modding support are available, along with a level generator.

Reader's Guide

Door Kickers was positively received by critics. Rock Paper Shotgun described it as a 'smashing top-down tactical masterclass' with enough missions and a bundled level editor. Indie Statik called it 'a thing of beauty' that captures the planning and execution of complex strategy games alongside the action of military shooters. Rock Paper Shotgun awarded Door Kickers their Best Tactics of 2014 award. The game's success led to a spin-off, Door Kickers: Action Squad, released in 2017, and a direct sequel, Door Kickers 2: Task Force North, which entered early access in 2020 and fully released in 2025. The sequel departs from the law enforcement setting for a special forces counterinsurgency setting in the fictional country of Nowheraki.

Did You Know?

• Door Kickers was developed by Romanian indie studio KillHouse Games.
• The game features a level editor and full modding support through Steam Workshop.