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A few weeks ago, the indie game Kingdom New Lands was given free of charge by Epic Store. How it was announced by the platform along with the horror hit Amnesia, many have not even thought of downloading it. I know that people take a lot of Epic games and leave them in the backlog, so that, on some distant day (which never comes, let's face it), they can enjoy some forgotten titles in the chest. As I couldn't find practically any Spanish review of the game, I decided to do it myself.
The game was released in 2016, just a year after the release of its predecessor, Kingdom: Classic. The main difference between the two games lies in the main objective of the campaign: in Classic, your monarch needs to destroy the portals responsible for creating enemies, the Greed (greed, in free translation) and… that's it, basically. In Kingdom New Lands, the monarch's mission is to escape from a system of islands, each one more difficult than the last — there are 6, 5 of which are part of the “campaign”, if you can call it that, and the last a challenge.
To do so, the player needs to develop his kingdom in a 2D world of highly pleasant and at the same time intimidating. As it is a strategy and micro management game, it is not very easy and can give a little headache for those who have never come into contact with this type of style. Still, it's a very interesting experience, which you'll find out more about following this read.
beauty in pixels
the art of Kingdom New Lands it's simple — the developers bet on a 2D horizontal pixel-based world. Fortunately, that doesn't mean the game is ugly or runs poorly, quite the opposite. The details are very neat, such as the slow change in the appearance of trees as the seasons are left behind, or even the texture of the water, which perfectly reflects the pixelated environment.
The wooden or stone towers are beautiful, the statues scattered around the map are imposing, the black portals menacing and the colors of the flags flashy. Knights and archers carry the colors of their emblem, as well as the monarch himself, who can be a king or queen — the former wears a cape in these colors, the latter wears a dress. The animals present are cute too, whether they are hunting or riding (which, as I will say later, is not restricted to horses).
The background looks simple, but is very eye-catching, with a implicit subtlety of details. For example, clouds actually move and can cover the moon, rain leaves traces even in the water and, after a rainy day, it is normal to have very strong fog spots. Kingdom New Lands bets on these details to make the player's experience more enjoyable, but that doesn't make the game easy.
The only problem here is that, in order to customize the emblem, the player needs to look for a guide on the internet, since it is only changed through codes, almost like a syntax tree. In the options there is space to enter these codes, but it is a lot of work to do something that could very well be solved on the home screen. And being hostage to randomness can be a bit ungrateful, especially when the game gives you an emblem with a red background, orange borders and a pink symbol.
About the soundtrack: it's relaxing and well done, despite not having any music that I would call memorable. It is worthy of a mobile game and, considering that the game is also available in this format, it completes what it proposes to be quite successfully. But don't expect an Oscar-worthy score.
Gameplay, enemies and the kingdom
When playing Kingdom New Lands on the computer, you will only need to one of the hands. Depending on your preference, probably less than 3 fingers. There are three commands: go to the left side, to the right side and distribute coins. Simple, right? Well, this simplicity of controls is offset by the need to think long term, and fast, especially in the last islands.
You start the game without many tips on what to do, approaching, guided by the ghost of the past monarch, of a small camp with the fire extinguished, some coins on the ground and two Vagrants (beggars, in free translation, but I prefer to call them wanderers). ). By handing coins to these wanderers, you make them become citizens of your realm, or commoners, as you prefer. Thus, it is possible dispense tasks to them by purchasing tools, such as bows, which serve to hunt and protect, hammers, which serve to build and operate catapults, and ballistae and scythes, for farmers.
Thus begins his reign. At dusk, small teal enemies with stinging purple eyes will run towards your castle (or village, at first) to steal as many coins and tools as possible. It's worth mentioning that when they find your citizens unprotected, they steal any loaded tools and a coin, the one you used to turn them into your subjects.
The premise was pretty easy to understand, right? Well, as the days go by, a greater number of enemies appear and, after 20 days, more or less, two other types of creatures appear: a winged one, which manages to steal its citizens from towers, and a bombed version of the Greed that can spit out smaller enemies and take much more damage. In this sense, the player Kingdom New Lands need to face some natural events, such as the red moon, which makes opponents stronger and doesn't run away at dawn.
If these annoying little creatures catch you outside the castle or without protection, they will steal all the coins you have in a bag (which has a limit, even, which is quite challenging in terms of economy) and, finally, your crown. You lose the game if you lose the crown, so the tip is not to run away at night and take cover until the danger passes.
This mechanic works well, but one thing bothered me: once you build a barricade, tower, or any structure, you can't delete it. This means that it is necessary to draw up a plan from the beginning, in view of the escape with the ship (which, by the way, also needs to be built and is where the funds go the fastest). On the first two islands, this was not a problem—from the third, however, Kingdom New Lands offers very little room for error, even more so because the map is randomly generated and it grows a lot as you progress on each island.
NPC's and other unusual encounters
Throughout the game, you will notice the presence of some characters. On the first two islands, for example, there is the merchant, who, in exchange for one coin a day, brings others that he has collected. This is good because it guarantees a bit of stability in the beginning and helps to better understand the mechanics involved with money and borders. Just don't get too used to it, because then he disappears and you have to turn around.
Your archers can hunt rabbits and deer to build your fortune, but this is a bit fickle given that the seasons change and you need to cut down some trees with the builders to make rabbit holes appear and deer flee. A tip I learned the hard way: when you find a wanderer's camp or the merchant's camp, NO cut down the trees that are directly connected to it, otherwise that camp will disappear and you will have trouble finding manpower.
In any case, the main income of the kingdom is the farms. Separate a space, preferably INSIDE of its walls, which can be used for this purpose. Extend your borders if necessary, but don't leave the tier two farms out, as the farmers spend the night there and become easy targets for the Greed. The game doesn't explain any of this, in fact, it's also necessary to find out what the hell a random NPC that appears on the fourth level of the castle does. I don't know if he's an administrator, banker or whatever, but he collects his coins and deposits them in a safe.
It's important because you might encounter difficulties, even more so on the final islands, and find yourself stuck there until winter. And it's in winter when things get really bad: the animals disappear, their farmers don't plant anything anymore and their only source of income is money in the bank. In a way, it's the way to Kingdom New Lands show you that you need, at the time, new lands (new lands, in Spanish), that is, leave that island, because winter is permanent.
As you progress through the game and build the boat (which still needs to be carried to the pier by the builders), you can go back to some previous islands to unlock something left behind, like mounts, a dog, and different types of hermit. The hermit is a character who lives in a secluded hut that you can take with you for 5 coins. They can turn fully upgraded turrets into special turrets, such as a ballista, which shoots large, strong arrows far away, a bakery, which attracts wanderers, and a knight turret, which allows the player to recruit one more knight from the side where the tower.
Personally, I haven't seen much use for the knights other than destroying the portals. They require up to four archers for protection, which cripples some of the hunting force, and above all, they don't help in defense. I wanted it to be possible to “undo” a knight after having destroyed the portal, because the investment is high and the return is low. But that's part of it — without a specific tower, you can recruit 2 of them for each side.
Conclusion
Kingdom New Lands is a very fun game that can hold you for a long time, even more if you are a fan of strategy games. Its simplicity is attractive and, at the same time, it doesn't make the game any easier, which is surprising given the limitations offered. There's plenty to explore, return to, and explore again - unlocking mounts, for example, is a lot of fun, especially when you can ride a bear or a unicorn, each with their own special characteristics.
The bad part is not being able to go back and demolish some buildings, as well as having to prepare early on without even knowing the size of the map and which way you should expand your kingdom. Unfortunately, you'll learn this sort of thing through trial and error, because the game doesn't bother to explain. I find this fun, but not everyone likes it, which can alienate potential players from the world built by Kingdom New Lands.
Overall, I highly recommend it, even more so for those who got it for free at Epic Store and you're looking for a hobby for those late nights where competitive gaming doesn't appeal to you or when your friends have gone to bed and you're alone at 4:30 in the morning with nothing to do. Just try not to get too angry with him, because, as the slogan of Kingdom New Lands — nothing lasts.
You can see where the game is available through the official website. Also be sure to check out our reviews section, where I hope I'll post more about free Epic games that aren't talked about as much.
