Tag of Joy’s Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit drops you into the moderately-customisable shoes of Chicago-born Milda, whose chaotic adult life is further complicated when she receives an inheritance letter from her Lithuanian grandfather. What was meant to be a simple trip to Europe to sign off paperwork goes awry when she discovers an attempted break-in at his house, a set of mysterious letters and notes left for her to find, and a threatening call from someone after the documents.
The somewhat comical characters, cringe-worthy but funny dialogue, unusual setting, and a mix of myth and history make the narrative elements of Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit a highlight. After a brief learn-the-ropes section in Chicago, you’ll soon find yourself travelling throughout the city of Vilnius, conducting research, solving puzzles, avoiding inept villains, and exploring old religious buildings for clues to an ancient crown. There are even two brief forays further afield but the action mostly stays grounded, allowing you to immerse yourself in each location and get to know the locals.
If I have one issue, it’s that despite the cartoonish and playful approach to most of the game, the heroine’s family drama and many references to real-world events referenced feel too dark for an adventure that pushes a light-hearted and goofy tone.
Traditional – for better and worse
When it comes to the gameplay loop, Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit has a few great ideas in the opening hour that subtly influence later events. However, considered in its entirety, it follows a classic point-and-click template to a fault.
Starting with the good, there’s plenty of dialogue and choices in the opening hour that allows you to tailor Milda to your preference. Her career and skillset, her love interest, and even her outfit – which you can change throughout the game – can all influence later conversations and puzzle solutions. It’s not that the story is wildly divergent, but several key encounters offer alternate paths forward based on your earlier decisions. It’s a smart way to personalise the experience despite the defined protagonist.
When it comes to the puzzle-oriented gameplay, Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit does a good job of mixing up dialogue, clue-hunting, clue association, item management, brainteasers, and more stressful timed activities. Given the modern setting, Milda always has her phone on hand to read emails, contact her friends, and compile notes based on the information you’ve found. Perhaps most significantly, those notes need to be combined to create new research or dialogue opportunities, along with your typical “use X on Y” challenges.
A potential problem – dependant on how much patience you have for the genre – is that Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit still retains several old designs. You can highlight hotspots and interactable parts of documents are obvious but, apart from the career-specific options, it’s a game of single-solution puzzles and some feel a little too convoluted. Inventory item combinations are logical but the research-based and clue-combining approach can be an issue – it took me ages to realise I could combine inventory items with images in a document to create an association for new clues or dialogue.
Fumbling around to find associations would be fine were it not for many in-game animations taking forever to complete (e.g. initiating dialogue or requesting an NPC perform a task). These issues are never game-breaking, but they add to the frustration whenever you’re stuck on a puzzle.
Great presentation but…
Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit looks good and sounds great. The voicework – even during the most cringe-worthy exchanges – sound professional and believable. The soundtrack from Daniel Pharos is excellent, complementing the visuals to create an impressive atmosphere.
That said, I never found the hand-painted visuals particularly striking and the 3D character models – which often look and animate like they came from a recent release of The Sims – can stand out from the backdrops. This was most noticeable when specific events use a simulated “dynamic camera”, think zooming in or panning across backdrops. During these moments, the difference between the smooth, high-poly 3D models stood in stark contrast to the pixelated backdrops. I can’t deny they look attractive and vibrant, but the backdrops did little for my aesthetic preferences.
Fun and charmingly inoffensive
Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit, even if that meant a few frustrating roadblocks as I tried to figure out what item or clue combination I had missed. The characters, setting, and blend of myth and history made for a compelling hook; while the research, clue-hunting, and puzzling elements were both logical and fun – at least 80% of the time. If I had to be critical, I’d say the gameplay doesn’t deviate much from genre norms and the narrative feels charmingly inoffensive, despite referencing some darker content.
Developer: Tag of Joy
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems
Publishers: Tag of Joy, Thunderful Publishing, Thunderful Group
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