Kingdom, a fun little 2D game by Noio and Licorice, making their own mark on the indie trade. While the companies are new they do have members from other companies so the talent is a mix, which is shown slightly in the game and marketing. Standing at around £7 most people will pick this game up because it is cheap, but others might also see that price tag and think it is not worth it, I am here to tell you it might be.
Story
Like most indie games, there isn’t much in the way of story. The game just tells you that your character is a Queen or King, as long as they hold their crown, and it is your job to build up a Kingdom and protect it from the enemies that plague the nights… why is it always night time with these indie folk.
The game progresses each day, reaching upwards of 100 days in game, with the enemies gaining numbers and variety. There isn’t much of a story progression however, most of the story is given in the synopsis and intro scenes with a little more added with the achievements you gain.
A “portal” run is where you try and destroy all the portals in the game, this can last 40 days or as short as 10 for the uber hax players. This can take around 3 to 4 hours depending on how many days it takes you. Another stream of achievements is the longest survival, with the last achievement at Day 100, which will last you around 8 hours or more depending.
Gameplay
The game is rather simple to control, left Thumbstick or WASD to move, with S on keyboard or X on the controller to drop gold, your horse can also sprint with Right trigger or shift. As you move about the game you will see villagers who you need to give gold to hire, structures you need to put gold into to build as well as repair if they get damaged in the case of walls.
The game gives you gold whenever your builders cut down trees, hunters kill wildlife or you find treasure chests in the woods, which I have only seen 2 of in a game. You also gain taxes every day on top of being able to build farms to gain a huge amount of gold every so often when you pass the farmers. To outfit those people you need to build up your base and purchase tools, where your villagers will pick up the first readily available tool to them.
The main part of your kingdom is going to be the Archers as they will defend your Kingdom when it comes to night time as Goblins, Trolls and flying monstrosities will attack you and your followers. Filling the ranks with Archers, then later, Knights and catapults will insure you have adamant protection from the night time dwellers. However, even though the game is a pixel art game it will start to become taxing on your computer with so many characters being rendered, prepare for major lag after day 50.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
Kingdom as a game is rather easy if you understand the mechanics at play, hire tons of archers, build slowly and build farms. However if you go into the game blind it will be quite difficult as you will be spending gold on structures you don’t need, expanding too quickly and upgrading when you don’t need to. You will die at least once, either due to stupidity or simply not knowing the game well enough, however your next playthrough will be so much better.
The music in the game is very calming and peaceful, fitting the theme of the game excellently. However the music is on a poor loop, with most of the game being played in silence besides sound effects. If more tracks were added or the loop was shorter the game would feel more “full” of life due to the music in the background.
Overall Kingdom gets a 7/10, the game is amazing to play and experience, giving a breath of fresh air against some of the indie titles currently available. However it is too short and devoid of storyline it is hard to grow attached to it. The upgrading tree is short and once you build something it kind of just sits there in the background, when it should be filling you with accomplishment. The music and themes are great but aren’t used enough. All of this under £7 is a bargain however it will leave you wanting more out of the game.
Get the game – http://store.steampowered.com/app/368230/
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