We have heard many stories of Kings and Queens, with their kingdoms glorious or remembered for their failures, but we were still missing a Monarch who entrusts his destiny to the votes of ruthless Nobles. king of the castle It is this and much more, a game designed to spend an evening in the company of friends willing to see us capitulate trying to bring the kingdom to chaos.
The new multiplayer title Tax Games has officially landed on Steam and, after testing it in a demo version during the Steam Next Fest, we are ready to tell you about it in our review of our noble deeds and our painful defeats as Kings.
Hurry my nobles
King of the Castle offers a fairly simple structure, with only two playable roles: the Monarca, who is the host who plays the game, and I Nobili, other players who join the game and do not need to purchase it to join. The one proposed is an exclusively multiplayer game that requires at least 4 players, although, more than ever in this title, the more the better. After our tests we would like to affirm that the number of Nobles necessary to make everything more interesting is at least 8/9 people, a sufficient number to have the appropriate variety and balance in a game.
For the Nobles to participate in the game you will have to choose what type of game to establish, between Participation via browser or with commands directly through Twitch chat, thanks to the integration offered by the game. At first it is reasonable to think that King of the Castle winks at the streamers since they will also have to show what happens live, but this is not entirely true. If you want to play with friends privately, you can use any app where you can share your screen and have players connect to the lobby by providing them with the password to access.
unfortunately There is no mode where you can play against the PC., and that's a real shame. Although having spectators or friends interacting is undoubtedly more fun than playing alone, having the possibility of playing a game in total freedom with choices managed by artificial intelligence would have only enriched Tributary Games' proposal.
Bow down before your Reign
The title of Tributary Games puts us in the shoes of a Monarch, in command of three territories selectable at the start of the game from a selection of five options. The reference to Game of Thrones is quite evident and it is pleasant to find the glacial kingdoms of the North and the sunny beaches of the South, alongside the imaginative territories of the Coast, the mysterious peaks of the East and the lands of the Barons. .
Once we have chosen how our kingdom is composed, the next phase concerns the Nobles, those who will have the task of putting a brake on our wheels to the point of usurp the throne or kill us in battle. Whether through Twitch or the browser, the game randomly classifies the participants into the three factions chosen shortly before, without the possibility of changing shirts during the game, but nothing prevents them from betraying or plotting against their own lands.
The last phase of preparation involves choosing the Monarch's ambition and defining theobiettivo with which the Nobles will try to make us fail. As for the Queen or the King, you will be able to choose whether to focus on military strength, trade, wealth and other options that determine the values with which we will lead our kingdom. The Nobles, for their part, will be assigned, again at random, a card divided into three phases with an objective to achieve to overthrow the Monarch; The players' task varies from undermining our authority, stability or attempting to empty the royal coffers.
Golden Age or Disintegration?
The game has a maximum duration of 4 seasons, characterized by 3 events each, but if the Nobles know how to play their cards well and reach the objective assigned to them by the game, they will be able to usurp the throne of the Monarch much sooner. deadline. He events They are divided into fixed episodes such as the coronation, the choice of husband or wife, and casual ones, with absurd and funny stories that can upset the tranquility of the kingdom.
In any case, the Nobles, who are part of the Royal Council, will be called to decide by means of vote how to behave in the different situations that King of the Castle will propose: for example, one of the three territories may encounter a monster that causes panic and all players will have to choose whether to kill it, send a delegation of inquisitors or leave the monsters destroyed. poor villagers. The election that receives the most votes is the one that will be made, causing bonuses or penalties to the statistics of the Monarch and the other territories. The Monarch, for his part, does not remain defenseless, letting the Nobles do what they want, but will have events in which he will be the one to choose without going to the vote or exploiting his position by imposing a veto on one of the alternatives discussed. during the vote.
Each of the Nobles' regions has a table, constantly on screen, with values related to trade, agriculture, military, faith and challenge, which they must keep an eye on every time they make a decision. Decisions, especially those of the Monarch, influence these values in each vote and the one we should pay the most attention to is the last one listed above. This level corresponds to tranquility of the territories, all of which starts from scratch at the beginning of the game, but if His Majesty's decisions annoy the Nobles, once a certain level is reached, the latter will be able to start a rebellion. This will take them to the gates of the Capital, thirsty for revenge and willing to do anything to see us capitulate; In our games, we have unfortunately seen the end of our kingdom multiple times, some of them in brave battles and others becoming food for the giants.
The Monarch has a chance of reaching the end of the game still firmly on the throne with just good strategy, but admittedly letting the participants play freely can make the events triggered by King of the Castle more fun. In the long run, however, some of the strange events that happen in the kingdom tend to repeat themselves, indicating that the range of stories is quite limited for the moment, but this does not take away from their originality.
The future of the King of the Castle kingdom
King of the Castle's offering is very limited, but its simplicity makes it a very fun game to play in company. since it is an opera small, even in price, we do not feel like specifying too much about the variety of events, which we trust, however, they may be more numerous in the future, perhaps with the addition of new scenarios with DLC or updates. A little like what happened with Reigns.
The small size, however, does not exempt it from small defects, such as the lack of any type of customization of the voting times, which are set at 30 seconds, a balanced value to keep the pace of the match high, but which often does not. leave time. all players to participate.
Tributary Games has also improved the game with the ability to customize the appearance of the Monarch with different options between hairstyles and royal clothing. Finally, however, we must necessarily mention that the game is exclusively in English and this, together with the need to have a small group of friends ready to play, could turn many away from the gaming experience.
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam Holygamerz.com 7.5 Readers (5) 6.2 your voteKing of the Castle is a decidedly quirky game, and unfortunately its exclusively multiplayer nature might make it less famous than it really deserves. Playing as the Monarch and witnessing our friends' desire to make us fail is undoubtedly fun, thanks also to the hilarious events that unfold during the games. The duration of each of them can vary from one hour to a maximum of three, the appropriate time for an evening in company between one betrayal and another. There are still a few things to refine and something to add, but this could be just the beginning of a new genre of games to interact with through a live stream or to spend a few hours having fun with friends.
PRO
- A simple but fun game.
- Interacting in games is very simple
AGAINST
- The variety of events is quite limited.
- It is not possible to change voting times.
- The Monarch's options are quite limited
