Kingdom Two Crowns is the third installment in the side-scrolling strategy kingdom building Kingdom series. The game has been named the most definitive game of the series and has featured some post-release content updates.
The game is fairly intuitive from the get-go: you build your kingdom and try to expand it whilst protecting it from some evil attackers named the Greed, who want to take your crown. The goal of the game is the absolute dominance of the five in-game islands, which all pose their own troubles, and maintaining the islands you are not actively playing on. You are able to destroy the greed by destroying their lair on every island and by doing so you might retrieve the things lost to the greed (they stole a person in my kingdom..). The controls are straightforward and well-explained, the game is nice and simple, so you can focus on managing your kingdom best.
The game has a lot of different buildings, different NPCs to help build and defend your kingdom with, and some different mounts to ride into glory with. There are a few different biomes, such as the Shogun biome, Deadlands biome, and the DLC Norse Lands. The shogun biome features mostly visual differences. The dead lands biome is a spookier campaign based on a horror RPG called Bloodstained with extra monarchs and powerful traits that add an extra dimension to the game after finishing the initial two campaigns. The Norse Lands DLC is a campaign based on Vikings, it’s very different aesthetically and has a lot of new features such as you being able to wield the power of Viking gods! So there’s plenty of content to explore and land to conquer. The game has a co-op mode I’ve not been able to play due to a lack of someone to play with, but it looks promising.
So let’s get to my hands-on experiences. As the megalomaniac I am (only in games, don’t worry), I tried to put every penny I had in gaining ground… and got wiped out by the greed on the first night. Second round: revenge! Put every penny in archers to floor those greedy bastards as soon as the first night hit! That worked out for a bit, but the money came in slower than the amount I needed to repair the nightly damage the greed did to my kingdom, so that didn’t last too long either.
By the third try I figured out I needed a different strategy than expansion and sheer aggression, so I started out slow. Having a yellow and blue flag, I aptly named my kingdom “the Kingdom of Ikea” and it was destined for greatness. I put on the Kingdom’s national anthem Valhallelujah (by the wonderful jokester-band Nanowar of Steel) and started reinforcing the core of my kingdom so I would survive at least a week. Subsequently, my kingdom slowly but surely started expanding and I had enough dough in my pockets to start exploring and chopping down the dark forests around my kingdom. Come a few weeks later, the Kingdom spanned the entire first island, and the Greed were wiped out quickly every night. Considering the island didn’t have any stones, and money was literally overflowing the treasury daily, the princess decided that the quest had to move towards a second island. So we built a boat and went to the second island. The sad fact of this expansion was that the Kingdom of Ikea no longer had the access to all the wealth it had on the original island, so we needed to build it up fast and strong. Good thing we brought in a large number of settlers, so in no time the second island had been dominated as well. Now we had stones and money aplenty, some diamonds and even some proper working farms that brought in money faster than I could spend it. The kingdom became stronger than ever! Fast forward: I tried this over and over and managed to get to the third island and got wiped out because of some bad planning and greed. Winter apparently is a bad time to extort farmers for money, since they tend to not have any crops. Yet, the kingdom of Ikea is gaining strength on the second island again and this time we intend to punch through to island five!
In short: I had quite a bit of fun playing this game and building my empire. Although it got slightly repetitive at some points. Also, it hurt seeing my money being thrown in the river because the treasury was full. Freaking peasants don’t know the value of money…
Alright, let’s talk visuals! I didn’t expect too much from the visuals, since it’s pixel-art and a side-scroller. However, the visuals simply fit the game well and it looks surprisingly stunning. The background and the seasons are amazing, and the visuals are exactly what they need to be. The different looks between biomes are beautiful and representative of the eras they take place in. In short, the visuals are simple but lovely.
The in-game music is solid, but nothing too special. It does add to the general atmosphere of the game, but if you decide to put on your personal playlist instead and mute the game, the game is still pretty enjoyable.
In conclusion, Kingdom Two Crowns surprised me in a positive way. The game is surprisingly addictive and has a high replay value. The islands are vast and have loads of varying content, and it’s a lot of fun to build your empire. It was a perfect game to unwind with and play on a lazy morning. Although it got slightly repetitive and a bit of a chore to upgrade the entire kingdom once it grew to obscene sizes, I think this game deserves a spot in many a game library; especially if you like side-scrolling adventure-strategy games.
