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0 Looking for the next big game to play with your friends? Wanting to reach a wider community and instil fear amongst them as you look to control the Kingdom? If you have answered yes to any of these, then King of the Castle might just be for you. Developed by Tributary Games, and published by Team 17. King of the Castle sees you taking your rightful place on the throne to lead a fictional Kingdom to a new era or alternatively suffer some catastrophic disasters. All the while entertaining your friends or viewers with witty narration and impressive story telling. All for the grand sum of less than £4, it really is an incredible price to pay for greatness.
I’m The King Of The Castle And You’re The Dirty Rascal
If you could name your own Kingdom, let us know in the comments what you would call it.
Gameplay
At its heart King of the Castle is a narrative driven, streaming led massively multiplayer game set in a fictional kingdom. What it actually is, is so much more. Starting up the game you are given two options, party mode or twitch mode. Both are the same at their core but can be played very differently. Party mode is available for a local game where the players in the game can join in via a web browser. There is also a Twitch mode available, where the players can interact via live chat on a stream. Either option you chose you are in for a treat!
When starting a game as Monarch you get to choose your Monarchly name as well as name the kingdom that you will preside over. Once you are in the game is the time when your Nobles can join the fun. With the game playable for between 3 and 3000 (in Twitch mode, 24 in Party) other players there is a lot of scope for chaos. Let’s be honest the game is a mixture of strategy and chaos, by this I mean that you may well start playing with a specific strategy to work towards. However, depending on who you are playing with (You know who you are PR3) this can quickly descend into chaos!
Nobles vs Monarch
As a viewer of a stream you can enter by typing in a passphrase into chat, this then assigns you a random region out of the 5 available. It’s down to the Monarch to pick the 3 regions for the game. The Grandees of the South, Chiefs of the North, Barons of the March, Counts of the East and the Patricians of the Coast. These regions all have their own colour and feel about their on-screen characters. The characters that you see on screen are also named after the characters you see in your streams or as per they are named in your party mode. So expect a lot of names like Bonkoul, PVB, and SamTributary as well as many many others!
Once you have gone through the initial setup and are into the true spirit of the game, that’s when the game shows its true colours. The game itself has a number of stats that you either need to raise or lower depending on which scheme you pick. Your aim as the Monarch is to get an Heir and also complete your own scheme. These can be anything from increasing your wealth to increasing the military stat across the kingdom. Each comes with its own set of goals. Alternatively, if you are a Noble then you have to complete 3 separate schemes before being able to overthrow the kingdom. These can be anything from lowering the overall stability of the kingdom or raising your faith in the Ninth God.
To complete these goals, there are points through the game where you get to interact and help guide the game through to its inevitable conclusion. These are in the form of votes. Each vote will affect the statistics in different ways, these are clearly displayed on the options so don’t worry, it’s easy to follow along. Just keep a track of what you are trying to do by watching the arrows on the relevant stat.
All Rise
It’s a game that can quickly get out of hand if you aren’t aware of what is going on within each region. That isn’t the only way you can overthrow the kingdom though. If the stats align, you can start a rebellion. This effectively starts a game within the game where the Monarch has to get loyalist points by making the right decisions. Whilst the rebels are getting their own points by going against the Monarch. The first to 5 points wins that battle. The Monarch can try and ask the other armies to come to their aid. Alternatively, those armies also get the choice of whether they want to side with the Monarch or just let the rebels walk on past!
As with any kingdom, there is a lot to do. With over 900,000 words through 950 possible events, there is a lot of work that has gone into King of the Castle, and it’s apparent. The storylines that lead to one of the 80 unique endings mean that no two reigns will be similar. Seeing which way the story unfolds is one of the best parts. With over 17,000 choices to be made, there is never a dull moment in the kingdom.
Graphics & Audio
There have been many a discussion in the King of the Castle discord channel about how one would describe the graphic styling of the game. I like to describe them as illustrative. Essentially the majority of the graphics are 2D images with some slight animations. Although it does have some slight 3D elements when you are on the map selecting which event to enter next. The illustrations on each screen are gorgeously created, each one feeling as if they have come from an intricately designed stained glass window.
Audio-wise, King of the Castle has a great soundtrack. It’s definitely music that you would expect from a game of this style. It’s easy listening and to be honest a bit of an earworm! Aside from the music, there is the odd sound effect for different events, but nothing to really get too involved with. Although when playing the game I never really worried too much about the audio, due to narrating the game for a stream chat.
Longevity
One word springs to mind when thinking about the longevity of King of the Castle, Limitless! With each game taking anywhere up to around 3 (sometimes 4) hours there is ample time for replaying through a reign. Alternatively, you can always just carry on where you left off. Whether it is blown to smithereens in your castle, or even if you managed to survive your reign and crown your successor. Having spoken to the devs at Tributary Games, they are also keen to expand on the King of the Castle world if it becomes a great success.
Final Thoughts
If you enjoy party games where your aim is to kill your friends or family in some imaginative ways then King of the Castle might just be the game for you. Alternatively, if you enjoy narrative-driven games with ever-branching storylines, then again, King of the Castle will be the game for you. If you also enjoy customising your character with over 10 quadrillion combinations and seeing them and your friends on screen with murder in their eyes, then again, King of the Castle will be just for you!
Tributary Games have done something revolutionary with King of the Castle, and I personally can not wait to see how this game develops over time. I have no doubt that this will be a great success, especially in the growing streamer market. I am also incredibly happy to give King of the Castle the Thumb Culture Platinum Award. This game has sunk its claws in and refuses to let go!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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