Steam Challenge: Kingdom
Game: Kingdom
Play Time: 9.3 hours
This really shouldn’t even be a Steam Challenge post because this isn’t so much a case of me clearing a game from my backlog as it is reviewing a new came that came out last week. Anyhow.
If you told me I’d be playing Kingdom this past weekend, I’d probably not believe you. I have only just heard about this game, had no idea it was coming out, was not following it in any way, and just happened to see a video about it on Saturday. I almost didn’t even buy it, but GMG had a 22% cupon, the game was under $10, and it just felt like something I was in the mood for. So, I splurged and I do not regret it.
What is Kingdom?
For a game that is so simple, it’s really difficult for me to explain. This is how the game describes itself:
Kingdom is a 2D sidescrolling strategy/resource management hybrid with a minimalist feel wrapped in a beautiful, modern pixel art aesthetic.
Basically, you are a king or queen (the game chooses randomly). You are given gold as a resource and you have to use it to recruit peasants, provide them with a job, and fortify your kingdom. At night, enemies creep out of the evil red portals and come to attack. If they manage to knock your crown off and you can’t get it back, it’s game over, and you’re back to the start again.
Attacks get increasingly larger, and are super dangerous on the night of the blood moons. But you can also unlock more defenses as you go along. Maps are somewhat randomly generated, so the game is never exactly the same every time.
So, I’d describe it as a pixel art 2D sidescrolling rogue-lite strategy building and castle defense game. Whew. Yes. It’s a super simple game but it’s all these things in one.
Gameplay
What did I think of it? Well, I sat down to mess around with it during lunch time on Saturday. Then, 6 hours later…
Yeah. It’s one of those. I’ve seen folks who say they were bored after a few hours, but for me, I was hooked. The first few attempts were failures, as you might expect from a game that you need to learn from. Then I got a wave of luck, though, and manage to last over 45 days.
Man, does this game rough you up, though. And, I was originally going to come here and grumble about your horse’s lack of stamina (they can only run so far before getting winded, and your kingdom starts to get pretty large if you keep expanding). However, on Sunday, the devs were already patching and tweaking the game, and the new game I started afterwards seems a little more forgiving. Still tough, but a bit better.
This game is new, but I see a ton of potential in it. Even in it’s first released form it was able to hook me for close to 10 hours, and that’s no easy feat. I’m totally on board to see how this game is going to develop in the future.
Should you play it? Check out a video first and see if it’s your cup of tea.
I’d say yes, but YMMV.
Recommended:
Yes!