Kingdom, Dungeon, and Hero
- July 1, 2024
- Kraken Studios
- 380h median play time
Get on Steam"Kingdom, Dungeon, and Hero" is a fantasy strategy and adventure game with a board game feel, allowing 1-2 players to form armies, manage resources, negotiate agreements, and explore dungeons in a hex-based map. Players can build and configure armies, hire heroes, and research tactics to increase their kingdom's power. The game offers the ability to create an infinite number of maps with the integrated editor, and supports both co-op and PvP modes in split-screen.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a clean and intuitive UI, making it easy for players to navigate and understand the mechanics.
- It offers a unique blend of strategic wargaming and RPG elements, providing depth and replayability through its dungeon crawling and hero management.
- The developer is highly responsive to community feedback, frequently releasing updates and improvements, which enhances the overall experience.
- The AI is poorly designed, often failing to defend its cities and providing little challenge to players.
- There are limited options for city expansion and faction customization, which can lead to a repetitive gameplay experience.
- The game suffers from various bugs and incomplete mechanics, making it feel unpolished and lacking in depth compared to other titles in the genre.
- gameplay21 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its solid mechanics, intuitive interface, and enjoyable blend of RPG adventuring and kingdom management, allowing for a fun and engaging experience. However, some players noted that the tutorials and guides are inadequate, leading to confusion with certain mechanics, and there are reports of bugs that detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the core gameplay is considered robust, with potential for further refinement.
“The blending of light RPG adventuring mechanics and kingdom management along with a competent and fun war game.”
“Love the gameplay, pacing, and game mechanics.”
“Solid wargame mechanics with a variety of troop types, stacks of armies, supply, and economics.”
“But no, once again, small indie developers prove that good games are such because of the systems, rules, and gameplay mechanics, as opposed to flashy animation and graphics.”
“Conquering the map is entertaining and challenging, but there doesn't seem to be any other kind of objective-based gameplay.”
“The game certainly has potential, but it needs some work on the key mechanics to make them feel more refined, more impactful, and less disjointed from each other.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The graphics received mixed reviews, with some praising their beauty and clarity, particularly in the hex and counter style, while others criticized them as dated and sub-par, reminiscent of early 2000s pixel art. The user interface was noted to be clean and easy to read, but some found it clunky. Overall, the graphics are functional for the genre but may not impress those seeking modern visuals.
“The graphics were beautiful!”
“It also has clean and easy to read graphics and an uncluttered UI.”
“The graphics are very good in the hex and counter style of graphics; every counter is clearly marked in all three possible styles, and the map is pretty and fully readable at a glance.”
“But no, once again, small indie developers prove that good games are such because of the systems, rules, and gameplay mechanics, as opposed to flashy animation and graphics.”
“Interface is clunky and graphics are sub-par.”
“The graphics are very wargame-style - counters on a hex grid, but that's fine.”
- replayability5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability due to its diverse content, innovative ideas, and strong modding potential, allowing players to experience unique gameplay each time. The inclusion of an editor further enhances replay value, making it appealing for those who enjoy customizing their experience. Overall, players find it immersive and rich in replay opportunities.
“Replay value - no game will be the same.”
“A lot of content, new ideas, and the huge potential for replayability makes this the hex wargame of the future.”
“I see a lot of replayability here, along with modding potential for all your favorite fantasy settings.”
- story4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's story concept revolves around the gradual development of an immortal race of heroes, technologies, and cities over time, emphasizing the importance of rich backstories and character names. However, the execution is hindered by weak AI that struggles to navigate the politically complex scenarios intended to enhance the narrative experience. Overall, while the foundational idea is compelling, its realization falls short due to gameplay limitations.
“The idea of playing this game with a blank screen and slowly building up your heroes (an immortal race of heroes who work across the ages!), technologies (alchemists! … give them libraries, names, and backstory?), diplomacy (emissaries! … again, give them names and backstory?), cities (barracks, markets, etc.), and armies, slowly building up across the ages would be awesome.”
“The idea of playing this game with a blank screen and slowly building up your heroes (an immortal race of heroes who work across the ages!), technologies (alchemists! … give them libraries, names and backstory?), diplomacy (emissaries! … again, give them names and backstory?), cities (barracks, markets, etc), and armies, slowly building up across the ages would be awesome.”
“Great design marred by a weak AI that doesn't know how to handle the politically complex multi-agent 'story' scenario that is the capstone for the game.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it horrendous and repetitive, likening it to looped marching band music. Conversely, others praise the phenomenal quality of the limited tracks, highlighting how the music enhances the game's atmosphere and RPG elements.
“The music is phenomenal, even if there are only a few tracks.”
“It's got some good music, with decent writing that adds much flavor to the locations and RPG elements.”
“The music is horrendous; it's just marching band music looped.”
“The soundtrack is repetitive and lacks any real creativity.”
“The audio feels outdated and doesn't match the game's theme.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting frequent crashes, softlocks, and PC freezes that hinder gameplay.
“Constant crashes, soft locks, and PC freezes.”
“The game is plagued by frequent stability issues that ruin the experience.”
“I can't play for more than 10 minutes without the game crashing.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report that the game features quick turns and smooth overall performance, indicating effective optimization.
“The turns are quick, and the game's performance is smooth.”
“The optimization allows for seamless gameplay, making every session enjoyable.”
“I appreciate how well-optimized the game is; it runs flawlessly on my system.”
