In a 1996 reader poll conducted by "Arcane" magazine to determine the 50 most popular roleplaying games of all time, "Castle Falkenstein" was ranked 45th. Editor Paul Pettengale commented: ""Castle Falkenstein" is one of those games that people tend to either love or hate. It has a unique atmosphere, combining alternate history, Celtic mythology, steampunk and a somewhat whimsical, fairy-tale feel. Likewise, the rulebook itself is quite different from many, being laid out as a novel, with important information pulled out in sidebars, and the rules coming later. This reflects the main thrust of the system, which is heavily geared towards roleplaying and storytelling over game mechanics and numbers, and drops dice in favour of a couple of packs of playing cards."