All monsters Attack games

It’s been three days since I started building my kingdom. The monsters have been increasing in numbers each night. Our walls still stand, but we lost an archer in the fray. I’ve ventured further into the woods than normal to convert some lowly vagabonds into new recruits. I’ll need to purchase some new bows for them of course, but that shouldn’t be a problem, so long as they pay their taxes. Through a clearing in the forest, I spy a massive stone tablet covered in runic symbols. A prompt to give it the majority of my wealth appears. I have no idea what giving it money will do. It’s just a shiny, massive, very curious stone.

I feel the uncanny desire to splurge.

Kingdom is a sidescrolling exploration and base management game—a collaboration between two developers: Licorice from Iceland and Noio from the Netherlands. You play as an entrepreneurial king or queen. Venture out on your horse, hire some folks, and start building. But choose your purchases carefully.

Death and taxes

It's simpler to play than it sounds. You move left or right, combing the forest for new recruits, uncovering ancient secrets, and looking for new ways to expand your territory and technologies. It all operates on a deep economy. Besides walking left and right, every interaction involves the exchange of coin.

Early on, the most essential resources boil down to followers, equipment, and walls. Followers can be recruited with a single coin, which you can toss by pressing down on the keyboard. Some will wander your way automatically, some are camping deep within the forest. You can assign every follower a job by purchasing them a hammer or a bow in your village. As you progress, it’s possible to develop new jobs. How many total? No clue.

Hammers convert followers into builders, which then carry out build purchases, like walls and fort upgrades, both of which slow enemy assaults. Bows convert them into archers. They hunt rabbits during the day (dead bunnies yield one coin each) and defend your base from monsters at night. My archers have terrible aim and are the worst, but I still love them. They’re too loyal not to.