Kingdom Builders

"Kingdom Builders" is a city-building and action-RPG game where you construct your kingdom and fight off enemies alongside your loyal companions. Your villagers will assist you in various tasks, such as chopping wood and attacking foes. Explore procedurally generated dungeons, level up your characters, and defend your kingdom at night to keep your villagers safe from the Corrupted Kingdom. The game features a relaxed playstyle with no time limits or complex mana systems.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

50%

Audience ScoreBased on 158 reviews

graphics6 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The game has a cute art style and is enjoyable for a short play session.
There is potential for the game to develop into something great with future updates.
The gameplay mechanics, such as base building and dungeon crawling, are fun and engaging.

The game has been abandoned by the developers, leaving it unfinished and lacking content.
Players report that there is very little to do, with most content exhausted in under two hours.
The AI and gameplay mechanics are often frustrating, with companions not functioning as intended and a lack of meaningful objectives.

graphics
12 mentions
50 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed feedback, with many praising the cute and charming art style while noting that the overall graphical quality is simplistic and sometimes underwhelming. Some players experienced performance issues despite having capable hardware, suggesting that optimization may be lacking. Overall, the visuals are considered suitable for the game's genre, but there is a consensus that they could be improved.
- “The art style was nice and the gameplay was okay; it's a shame that it will be gone so soon as it had a lot of potential.”
- “The only good things about this game are its art style and sound design.”
- “I love the adorable art style and the super fun base building, dungeon exploring, and even mining/chopping trees.”
- “It reminds me a lot of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Stardew Valley, a basic hack/slash tower defense game, with a Link's Awakening (the revamped Switch version) type graphics.”
- “Meh graphics.”
- “Maybe in the future it'll be good, but the game is kind of boring at the moment and I don't understand how I'm having performance problems with it when my computer can run The Division 2 on high graphics.”
gameplay
10 mentions
30 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally described as smooth and fun, with simple mechanics that are enjoyable and addictive. However, many users express disappointment with the limited content, citing only 30 minutes to a few hours of gameplay, which they feel does not justify the price, especially for an early access title. Overall, while there is potential for a compelling gameplay loop, the current state lacks sufficient content to fully engage players.
- “The gameplay is smooth and fun.”
- “> gameplay is fun and addicting.”
- “Can't wait to see where this goes as it's already pretty fun, just needs more content that continues the trend of a fun gameplay loop!”
- “It has a lot of potential, but at its current state, you barely get 3-4 hours of gameplay, which is not worth the price.”
- “I know it's early access, but it's also $14.99, so I expected more than 2 hours of gameplay.”
- “EA is simply not an excuse to put out a foundation of a game with little to no gameplay loop and charge way more than what it's worth.”
stability
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized due to frequent bugs and glitches, particularly freezing issues that can disrupt gameplay and force players to restart. While some users appreciate the game's art and overall fun factor, the lack of an auto-save feature and persistent freezing during key moments significantly detracts from the experience. Players are advised to wait for stability improvements before purchasing.
- “This isn't to say that what is there isn't good; I think the art is nice and it's not buggy.”
- “Not buggy.”
- “Really fun game, and I can put up with bugs and glitches to a certain degree... but when I play a game for 2 hours and it just stops working... can't click, can't move, can't do anything... including saving the game... and I have to restart from scratch... well that is a game killer for me. What kind of game doesn't have auto save? Save your money until the bugs are worked out.”
- “I love the game although whenever I go into the dungeon on the first floor and kill the very first enemy, the game freezes and I cannot alt+F4, so I have to open Task Manager and end the task.”
- “The game also freezes whenever the monsters come to my village.”
story
5 mentions
40 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
60 % negative mentions
The story in the game is minimal, with only a brief opening cutscene and little development beyond that, leaving players disappointed. While some find the narrative charming and reminiscent of titles like Dragon Quest Builders 2 and New Little King's Story, the overall lack of depth and expansion in the story has led to negative feedback.
- “The art style is really nice, the controls are simple, the story (what's there anyway) is charming, and the main mechanic is an okay idea.”
- “It reminds me of Dragon Quest Builders 2.”
- “I was looking forward to the story expanding, but development has ended, so do not buy this game.”
- “Secondly, there's barely any story besides the opening cutscene.”
- “Reminds me of 'New Little King's Story' for the PS Vita.”
grinding
3 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be quite tedious, particularly due to the extensive XP farming required for leveling up. Additionally, issues with AI behavior, such as standing still at crafting stations, and the cumbersome process of loading and unloading items with the mule or donkey contribute to the overall grindiness of the experience.
- “There's a lot of XP grinding/farming needed to level up.”
- “Sometimes the AI would stand still by the anvil even when I'm done with making the weapon, so what I do to make it follow me again is that I have to craft a weapon again, which is a little tedious.”
- “The mule/donkey loading/unloading is kind of tedious.”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the game's monetization strategy is perceived as a cash grab, with players feeling disappointed by its lack of content and the inability to obtain refunds. Many users express a preference for smaller, promising games over those that prioritize profit over quality and player experience.
- “Steam won't refund it either; it is an empty shell of a game and it looked like it had a lot of potential, but the devs just seemed to be doing a cash grab.”
- “I'll take small content games with promise like this any day over an 8-year delayed, mass profit advertising mess like some game that definitely baited all of our wallets.”
music
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The music in the game features a cute art style complemented by excellent sound design and subtle background tracks, creating a relaxing atmosphere. However, some users find the music to be somewhat repetitive over time.
- “The cute art style is complemented by excellent sound design and subtle background music.”
- “Relaxing music but quite repetitive.”
optimization
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Users report performance issues despite having capable hardware, suggesting that the game's optimization is lacking. While there is hope for future improvements, the current experience is described as underwhelming and frustrating.
- “Maybe in the future it'll be good, but the game is kind of boring at the moment, and I don't understand why I'm experiencing performance problems when my computer can run The Division 2 on high graphics.”
- “The optimization is terrible; I constantly experience frame drops and stuttering, even on lower settings.”
- “I expected better performance from a game that looks this simple. It feels like the developers didn't put enough effort into optimizing it.”
replayability
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Reviewers indicate that the game lacks replayability, with one user noting that for its price of £11.39, which is typically associated with roguelikes or larger titles offering extensive playtime, this game fails to provide any incentive for repeated play.
- “This game costs £11.39 GBP, which is a somewhat hefty sum for an indie game. Usually, games at this price are roguelikes or larger titles that offer many hours of playability. This game has complete and utter zero replayability.”
- “After finishing the game, I found no incentive to play it again. The lack of different endings or meaningful choices really diminishes its replay value.”
- “I was hoping for a game that would keep me coming back, but once I completed it, I felt no urge to revisit. The linear gameplay and predictable outcomes make replaying it pointless.”
humor
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game has been criticized for falling flat, with some players expressing disappointment that the lack of content and features detracts from any comedic elements that might have been present.