King and Assassins

About

King and Assassins is a single player and multiplayer strategy game. It was developed by Playsoft and was released on August 8, 2018. It received negative reviews from players.

Discover the digital adaptation of this renowned two-player game. Can you safeguard the King all the way to his castle? Danger abounds in an angry mob controlled by your opponent. Three assassins are planning to murder the monarch! Get ready for a fight – the hunt is on!

Genres & Tags

Strategy

Play Modes

Skip User Reviews

22%

Audience ScoreBased on 65 reviews

replayability3 negative mentions

The game has a simple and easy-to-learn set of mechanics, making it accessible for players of all ages.
The core concept of the game is interesting, involving strategic deception between the King and the Assassins.
The graphics and overall presentation of the game are well done, providing a visually appealing experience.

The game suffers from a lack of content, with only two maps available, leading to limited replayability.
The AI is poorly designed and often cheats, making single-player matches frustrating and unbalanced.
Multiplayer is virtually non-existent, and players are pressured to create accounts for online features that are not actively supported.

gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The gameplay is characterized by a simple 1v1 mechanic that resembles chess but is considered less engaging and more simplified. While the mechanics are easy to learn, they closely mirror the original board game without significant improvements, leading to frustrations with bugs and a cumbersome interface. Players experience a balance in gameplay, though some feel that certain roles, like the assassins, detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “Fun little 1v1 game with an easy to learn set of mechanics.”
- “Mechanically, it functions pretty much identically to the board game, so those familiar with the physical version will grasp all the mechanics easily.”
- “The mechanics handle well and the game feels balanced with each side you play; you always feel the 'other' team has it easier but change your mind when you play the opposition yourself.”
- “Gameplay consists of guiding your 'king' piece around a grid map, supported by 'knight' pieces that push around assassins, who in turn will try to get to the king... which makes it sound like chess but this is much more dumbed down (and less fun) than that.”
- “So here, we have a board game/card game conversion, and the focus of the developers has clearly been to keep and emulate the annoying physical interface, without bothering to improve on the mechanics or put the players closer to them.”
- “Even when playing as the king, the bugs hurt the gameplay a lot, causing weird interactions and breaking the game at times.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The game suffers from very limited replayability, primarily due to the lack of variety in maps and options, with only two boards available. Many users express disappointment, suggesting that additional maps and more flexible starting locations could significantly enhance the game's replay value.
- “With the addition of a few more maps and some more flexibility in unit starting locations (i.e. letting players have some choice), this game would have a lot more replayability.”
- “Almost no replay value due to comments already made.”
- “Limited replayability options.”
- “Only two boards means very limited replayability.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of "King and Assassins" has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, with reviewers highlighting its origins as a mobile app poorly ported to Steam without any significant enhancements. Players feel deceived by the lack of depth and effort, noting that the game appears to prioritize profit over quality, exemplified by careless details like instructions meant for mobile devices.
- “This is just a simple board game that's been ported to a mobile app and then dumped on Steam as an afterthought/cash grab.”
- “'King and Assassins' is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it was a real PC game (it's not)... it's a cash grab from greedy mobile devs. This mobile app looks like it might be some kind of deep and interesting tactical turn-based strategy, but no, there is no limit to just how much mobile app developers can disappoint the gaming industry.”
- “In fact, the developers were so lazy about this cash grab mobile app they didn't bother changing the text where it tells you to tap on your iPhone screen.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The graphics in the mobile app are generally considered good for their intended purpose, but users are frustrated by the lack of options to change resolution or customize settings, leaving them unable to enhance the low-quality visuals.
- “The graphics are good for the purpose.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution for the mobile app or customize the graphics settings.”
- “There's no way for gamers to improve the low-quality mobile phone graphics.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, particularly in multiplayer mode, where users report numerous bugs and a lack of proper coding, leading to a frustrating experience.
- “The game is extremely buggy in multiplayer; it feels like they failed to implement even the basic coding for it.”
- “I encountered constant crashes and glitches that made the game nearly unplayable.”
- “The stability issues are frustrating, with frequent disconnects and lag ruining the experience.”