King's Orders

About

King's Orders is a single player strategy game. It was developed by AFTERLIFE and was released on October 25, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

WHAT IS KING’S ORDERS?In King’s Orders, you play as a medieval ruler. Your goal is to manage armies and cities on a map of Europe. Give orders by sending letters to your generals and make decisions based on the reports you receive. Re-enact historical events and see how you can change the course of history. Create a dominating empire that shall last for centuries! MEDIEVAL EUROPEFrom the frozen Sc…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 153 reviews

gameplay9 positive mentions

grinding10 negative mentions

The game features a unique mechanic where players must send letters to issue orders, creating a sense of immersion and strategy.
It offers a fun and engaging experience with a good balance of challenge and accessibility, making it suitable for both casual and dedicated strategy gamers.
The developers are responsive to feedback and have shown commitment to improving the game, which bodes well for its future.

The user interface is clunky and requires excessive clicking to perform simple tasks, which can detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
The AI is often incompetent, leading to unchallenging gameplay where players can easily dominate without much resistance.
Diplomacy mechanics are poorly implemented, making it difficult to form alliances or understand the motivations of other factions.

gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
63%
9%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a unique letter-based mechanic that allows players to send and receive orders and information, which many find intriguing but not fully realized. While the core mechanics are solid and enjoyable, some players feel that the user interface is tedious and lacks depth, leading to a repetitive experience. Overall, the game offers a fun and original concept, but it may require a time investment to fully appreciate its complexities.
- “Very fun and original mechanic.”
- “The game is interesting and offers a unique style of gameplay where everything is done through letters.”
- “The core gameplay mechanics are very solid.”
- “From the UI to the mechanics, it is very tedious to play.”
- “I feel that the dispatch mechanic is too formulaic and hasn't realized its full potential, and there isn't enough fog-of-war, overall leading to a slightly more boring experience.”
- “Big campaign map and plenty of factions to play, but there is no mechanic or flavor difference between any of them; therefore, once a playthrough is done, there is little reason to try another.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players consistently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and frustrating, with many noting that the user interface and mechanics contribute to a lack of enjoyment and strategy. The slow pace and cumbersome handling of tasks, particularly in managing mail and giving orders, detract from the overall experience, leading to a feeling of it being more of a chore than a fun activity. Despite the game's potential, the current execution leaves much to be desired in terms of engagement and replayability.
- “The slow messengers don't really affect gameplay; it just makes playing the game tedious and slow with no strategy behind it.”
- “It just wasn't fun (as good of a concept as it is); it felt more tedious than anything.”
- “The UI design behind giving orders is incredibly tedious, and as players get more playtime, they will realize that it doesn't feel good; it feels like an unintuitive chore.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the aesthetic and simplicity, while others criticize the quality, particularly the AI-generated artwork that detracts from the overall atmosphere. Many agree that a more stylized approach, such as pixel or low-poly graphics, could enhance the experience. Overall, while the graphics may not be groundbreaking, they are deemed sufficient for the game's engaging gameplay.
- “I love the aesthetic of the game as well.”
- “Amazing game, five stars! If there was to be one flaw, it would be my computer's rubbish graphics driver. Absolute masterpiece and definitely worth the small price, so much potential.”
- “The graphics are pretty simple.”
- “Surely the most glaring cases like the siege outcome pictures can be replaced by actual artwork at a cost that wouldn't hamper development.”
- “The graphics are not good.”
- “This is a map painter, but even so... they should've gone with pixel graphics or stylistically low-poly -- something to better embrace minimalism.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The game's story is praised for its unique integration of strategy and immersive storytelling, drawing inspiration from true events. However, players feel that the lack of clear statistics and guidance on choices detracts from the experience, as informed decision-making is crucial for rulers. Additionally, the simplistic representation of messengers diminishes the perceived importance of their missions.
- “It is very unique in how it ties strategy with storytelling and how immersive it can be.”
- “Try out this game, people! It feels great when playing, going from story to grand strategy—a wonderful blend of elements.”
- “Based on a true story.”
- “Chances of success and other statistics are not available, say, for the success of spy missions and the odds of winning a battle and success of diplomatic choices, making it rather unclear what choice to choose: rulers never made choices without an informed decision, and statistics or an advisor narrating the action would fix this issue.”
- “The messengers are basically just a red dot moving quickly across the map, so something feels lacking to appreciate the criticality of their mission.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is well-presented and complements the overall experience, enhancing navigation and immersion.
- “The music perfectly complements the gameplay, enhancing the overall experience.”
- “The soundtrack is incredibly immersive, making every moment feel more intense.”
- “Each track is thoughtfully curated, adding depth and emotion to the game.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game currently lacks significant replayability, with many users finding it tedious and unengaging after the initial playthrough. However, there is hope that future updates could enhance its replay value.
- “It just doesn't have any replay value.”
- “Game is tedious after a while and offers no real replayability.”
- “As soon as that gets ironed out, I think the game will become replayable.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been criticized for being buggy and difficult to navigate, leading to frustration among players. Many users report issues with combat mechanics and require extensive troubleshooting to achieve a playable experience, which detracts from overall enjoyment.
- “Unfortunately, this is just way too buggy and hard to navigate to recommend.”
- “Well, shortly... the combat itself is kind of weird sometimes. I don't know if it's buggy or just... weird.”
- “After a lot of troubleshooting, I finally got the game to work.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is consistently described as genuinely funny, contributing positively to the overall experience.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While the game offers an enjoyable experience, the AI-generated artwork detracts from the overall atmosphere, which is otherwise well-crafted and engaging.