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Originally released in 2017 on pc, ‘Kingdom and Castles!’ has finally made its way to the PlayStation console, but is it worth checking out?
Beauty in the Blocks
Developed by Lion Shield Studios, ‘Kingdoms and Castles’! is a medieval city-building simulator that originally was crowdfunded on the now defunct Fig website. At its core, the game tasks with one main goal: create and build a medieval town that can thrive and survive. You begin with creating your own banner and house name for your kingdom which is a fun way to start your journey for what’s to come. What struck me instantly with the game is its beautiful simplicity. The game presents itself in a block-style aesthetic, similar in some ways to ‘Minecraft’ but one that I find both beautiful and striking. The villagers roam as little blocks throughout your land, each brightly coloured so you can watch your town thrive or struggle with the various roadblocks the game throws at you. Dynamic weather is particularly impressive as the game ranges from beautiful summers to harsh winters and vicious rainstorms. The developers have done a fantastic job in creating these seasons within the game.
Long live the king(dom)
In the games main standard mode, the goal is simple: create a town and make it thrive through a variety of challenges. Like any building sim, the interface and UI of the game are vitally important. Through its sleek and simple design, all menus are very easy to navigate within the game. Whether you are finding the right building you need for your town or checking the needs of the town, everything is laid out in easy to follow terms to allow the player enjoyment and a particular amount of freedom in building your medieval utopia. You choose how you want to build and rule, whether you want to focus on the food trade and build lots of orchards or go down into the mines to get iron and stone; the choice is yours.
Complexity begins within the game once you have established a small town of 25 villagers. From there, you need to keep on top of villagers needs such as food or enjoyment, making sure you have built enough houses, farms, taverns etc. This created a variety of challenges for me that I felt were rewarding; making sure I had built and structured my town to enable me to have maximum happiness for my people. Taxing the town creates issues with happiness and makes you balance a fine line of greed and practicality. I particularly love the addition of the job priority bar, allowing me to focus on what I felt was the most important for me and gave me a sense of freedom within the game. The variety of information I can get from the press of a button is impressive, given the small size of the development team.
Dragons, Vikings and Ogres oh my!
Along with the demands of the villagers themselves, the real highlight for me were the combat encounters. Over the years within the game you are given warnings of enemies ranging from Viking invaders to dragons. This creates a combat dynamic I wasn’t expecting within the game. Designing your defences and then seeing these defences blown away from a dragon was both exhilarating and soul-destroying.
I found particular joy in using the ballista towers against the dragon while my standard archers could withstand the Vikings. The real surprise of the combat came when I thought I had beaten the system. I had walled off my city impressively so the Vikings couldn’t breach it. They retreated but after a year had passed in game they returned, this time with an ogre in tow to breach my city walls. This spectacle was a true wow moment for the game.
A calm and commanding presence
The music in this game really shines depending on the situation. A calm orchestral theme occurs when the town is plodding along and living a normal life, creating a real sense of peace within your created kingdom. When combat occurs the score becomes dramatic and has a real sense of battle. The dread of the dragon theme really creates the panic for the player and the urgency required to deal with the beast.
The sound design in general is top-notch with beautiful crisp sounds for planting a new farm and building a new important structure for the town. Hearing the transport ships arrive at the dock or hearing the Vikings flee in defeat really allows the sound and the music to help create and shape your story. You can certainly tell the team have taken their time and poured love and care into game and it is refreshing to see
What lies beyond the kingdom?
The one downside to the game itself is its lack of depth. The game has no in-game missions or side quests which could really help flesh out and create more unique situations. Difficulty modes are not challenging or rewarding for the players and border on the realm of tediousness. Training the soldiers in the barracks on harder difficulties can be particularly annoying as they don’t seem to follow the orders you give them creating uncertainty in your defence strategies.
The other game mode Sandbox is exactly the same mode as the campaign, with the added twist of being able to customise options. Whether you want to spawn multiple dragons on a whim or give yourself unlimited money, the mode provides you with a fun distraction albeit barebones.
Verdict
‘Kingdoms and Castles!’ is a fantastic indie building sim and at a great price. Great yet simple visuals and a beautiful musical score help you really feel part of the medieval era. Lack of depth can hurt long term replay ability but it is a fantastic game – worth checking out if you love a building sim!
