A different kind of adventure, with a steep but enjoyable learning curve.
Some key points that this game offers:
- Survival mechanics different from other games.
- Beautifully pixelated art.
- Strategy and resource management.
Gameplay & Controls:
The controls are fairly simple for the game, being a side scroller, you either move left or right with your character’s horse by using the A and D keys, the S key is used to purchase upgrades for your kingdoms. Shift can be held down while you move to run instead of walking. You can hit the Esc button if you wish to pause, but that’s it for the controls, not much required for the game.
As for the gameplay, you either start with a prince or princess, and your task is to build your kingdom and keep it defended from bandits that come at night to rob you. You can recruit peasants by dropping a gold coin for them to pick up and then they will start making their way to your kingdom, taking up arms or a hammer, it depends on what piece of equipment they reach first, this is one aspect where you need to plan carefully , a bunch of builders can’t defend you.
This however is simple to overcome, you have to spend gold buying the equipment so if there are no hammers to pick up there can be no builders, this way you can control what units to acquire such as having dozens of archers.
The task of the game is simple, either destroy the bandit portals on the edge of either sides of the map or complete the random generated task such as finishing your ship to sail away. The game has the sandbox effect but not really enough room to fully embrace a sandbox mode of gameplay.
Graphics:
The graphics may be pixelated but that has made a major comeback these past few years and if you enjoy the look and feel of these game types then the look and feel of this game will be great to you.
The background colors change as the day passes by from dusk till dawn, and right through the night, at times the moon is high granting you some visibility which you don’t need because when it’s dark out you need to be safely inside your kingdom walls. The detail to the characters, the game world and buildings are beautifully crafted and brought together giving you a pleasant look and feel to the overall game.
Sounds:
Every action in the game has a sound, from the workers building, to the archers firing, accompanied by background sounds such as birds chirping to general musical sounds all coming together very nicely making your in game experience so much more fun relaxing and enjoyable…
Replayability:
The goal of the game is to survive for as long as possible; this is tied to some achievements that you have to work towards. other than that, the game doesn’t really welcome or reward you to replay it, unless you try to finish every game mode or try to win in every random generated scenario.
MGR Gaming’s Conclusions:
Spoilers Ahead:
The game might not be the best there is for its genre and type, but it still delivers a very decent and fully enjoyable game, it has a rather strict learning curve considering your character can only get hit once before losing their crown, but this is easily overcome by dropping some gold coins as you run away. That is the basis of the game, each morning you either go left or right into the forest recruiting some more peasants to expand your army, or to get a few extra builders or farmers.
Farmers help generate coins and builders working together completes tasks faster. So you can always go for recruitment drives, the more people you have the better you can progress, other than that you use coins to activate found bonuses’ in the world or to pay for having your builders clear obstacles such as trees and rocks, so that you can expand your kingdom. Your bane here will be building and upgrading walls with towers behind them so that you can station archers here to fend of attacking bandits as you slowly build your forces up to the point where you can lead a charge to the portals to destroy them.
Coins to replenish soldiers or fallen structures can quickly empty your pouch, be sure to gather coins every day from your archers who gather coins from hunting animals, as well as from the farmers for their farming produce. The game is simple in design and concept but very enjoyable and even more rewarding once you get the hang of things.
Additional Info:
Platforms: PC: Mac: Linux
Genre: Strategy: 2D: Survival: Indie: Pixel Graphics
Censor Rating: n//a
Age Rating: n/a
Developer: Noio, Licorice
Publisher: Raw Fury
Release Date: 21 October 2015
MGR Gaming Steam Curator:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32364038/
