Kingdom Builders
- June 24, 2021
- ebb & flow games
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"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.
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a cute art style and is enjoyable for a short period, making it a good casual experience.
- There is potential for the game to develop into something great, with a fun base-building and action combination.
- Some players found the gameplay to be fun and addictive, expressing hope for future updates and content.
- The game has been abandoned by the developers, leaving it unfinished and lacking in content.
- Many players reported that they completed all available content within a couple of hours, making it feel like a demo rather than a full game.
- There are significant issues with AI behavior and gameplay mechanics, leading to frustration and a lack of engaging objectives.
- graphics24 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as simplistic but fitting for its genre, with a charming and cute art style that draws comparisons to titles like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley. While some players appreciate the aesthetic and sound design, others express concerns about performance issues and find the overall graphical quality to be underwhelming. Despite these mixed feelings, the art style is often highlighted as one of the game's stronger aspects.
“The art style is really nice, the controls are simple, the story (what's there anyway) is charming, and the main mechanic is an ok idea.”
“I love the adorable art style and the super fun base building, dungeon exploring, and even mining/chopping trees.”
“The graphics are good for the game type.”
“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.”
- gameplay21 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally described as smooth, fun, and addictive, with simple mechanics that show potential. However, many users express disappointment with the limited content currently available, citing only 30 minutes to a few hours of gameplay, which they feel does not justify the price. Reviewers are hopeful for future updates that will expand the gameplay loop and content.
“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!”
“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.”
“Currently, the game has about 30 minutes of gameplay to offer, which is really nothing.”
- stability12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern for players, with frequent freezing and crashes reported, particularly during critical gameplay moments like entering dungeons or encountering enemies. Many users express frustration over the lack of an auto-save feature, which exacerbates the issue when they lose progress due to these bugs. While some aspects of the game are praised, the stability issues are seen as a major drawback that detracts from the overall experience.
“This isn't to say that what is there isn't good; I think the art is nice and it's not buggy.”
“It's not buggy.”
“The game runs smoothly without any major issues.”
“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.”
- story10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The story in the game is minimal, with most players noting that it consists mainly of an opening cutscene and lacks significant development or expansion. While some find the existing narrative charming and reminiscent of titles like Dragon Quest Builders 2 and New Little King's Story, the overall consensus is that the story is underwhelming and not a strong selling point.
“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.”
“Reminds me of 'New Little King's Story' for the PS Vita.”
“Secondly, there's barely any story besides the opening cut scene.”
“I was looking forward to the story expanding, but development has ended, so do not buy this game.”
“It reminds me of 'New Little King's Story' for the PS Vita.”
- grinding6 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 mules or donkeys contribute to the overall frustration with grinding.
“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 have to do to make it follow me again is craft a weapon again, which is a little tedious.”
“The mule/donkey loading/unloading is kind of tedious.”
- monetization4 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 misled by its initial potential. Many express frustration over the lack of content and the inability to receive refunds, suggesting a negative sentiment towards the developers' approach to monetization.
“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.”
- music4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is characterized by a cute art style and excellent sound design, featuring subtle and relaxing background tracks. 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.”
“The cute art style is complemented by excellent sound design and subtle background music.”
“Relaxing music but quite repetitive.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Users report performance issues despite having capable hardware, suggesting that the game's optimization is currently lacking. While there is hope for future improvements, many find the gameplay unengaging at present.
“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 game is kind of boring at the moment, and I don't understand why I'm having performance problems when my computer can run The Division 2 on high graphics.”
“I don't understand how I'm having performance issues with this game when my computer can handle much more demanding titles.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game is criticized for its lack of replayability, with users noting that for its price of £11.39, which is typical for indie games that often offer extensive playtime or roguelike elements, it fails to provide any incentive to play again.
“This game costs £11.39 GBP, which is a somewhat hefty sum for an indie game. Usually, games for this price are roguelikes or larger games that provide many hours of playability. This game has complete and utter zero replayability.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game has been criticized for falling flat, with users expressing disappointment over the lack of content and features, which detracts from the overall comedic experience.
