Kingdom Two Crowns Review (XSX): A First-Time Experience

As a fan of strategy and simulation games, I have a soft spot for titles that blend challenge, exploration, and meticulous decision-making. Kingdom Two Crowns, the second instalment in the Kingdom series by Noio, is one such game that caught my eye. Initially released in 2018, Kingdom Two Crowns is a minimalist, side-scrolling strategy game that tasks players with building and defending a kingdom from hordes of enemies, all while managing resources, expanding territories, and discovering new features. Although I was vaguely aware of its premise, I was intrigued by its simple yet elegant art style, the promise of a cooperative experience, and the deeply strategic nature of the game.

Game Name: Kingdom Two Crowns
Platform(s): PC  PlayStation 5, Series X|S (reviewed), Switch
Developer(s): Fury Studio
Publisher(s): Raw Fury
Release Date: 11th December 2018

Upon loading up Kingdom Two Crowns for the first time, I was immediately struck by the game’s simplistic yet captivating visual aesthetic. The pixel art is both charming and functional, with vibrant colours and smooth animations that bring the world to life without overwhelming the player. There is an immediate sense of calm, despite the impending dangers lurking in the background, and this tone remains consistent throughout the game.

Gameplay Overview

The core gameplay loop of Kingdom Two Crowns revolves around building and expanding a kingdom while surviving waves of nightly attacks from a mysterious enemy known only as “The Greed.” The game progresses over a series of days, each consisting of daylight hours where you can gather resources, expand your kingdom, recruit citizens, and build structures. As dusk falls, the Greed emerge, attacking your kingdom’s walls in a relentless attempt to destroy your progress. To succeed, you must carefully manage your resources and prioritise what to build and upgrade.

You start the game as a monarch—either a king or queen—with a small plot of land and a handful of coins. You’ll need to gather more coins to hire workers, soldiers, and other specialists who will help you grow your kingdom. The pacing is slow at first, but that’s part of the charm. Kingdom Two Crowns doesn’t rush you, and its progression system is all about steady growth rather than rapid expansion. The challenge comes from making careful choices about where to invest your resources and how to balance offence, defence, and expansion.

One of the unique features of Kingdom Two Crowns is the game’s cooperative multiplayer mode. You can play solo, but the option to invite a friend (locally or online) into your kingdom completely changes the experience. My first time playing was solo, but after a few hours, I invited a friend to join me, and it transformed the dynamic. The challenges of managing the kingdom became more complex as we both worked to build different areas of the kingdom and fend off the Greed together. It’s a well-integrated cooperative system that doesn’t feel forced but enhances the game’s already strong strategic foundations.

A Sense of Progression and Exploration

The most immediate impression that Kingdom Two Crowns left on me was how rewarding even the smallest progressions felt. The game doesn’t overwhelm you with too much at once. Instead, it introduces concepts gradually, allowing you to grow accustomed to them before moving forward. As you expand your kingdom, you unlock new technologies and units, such as archers, knights, and merchants. Each of these plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of your kingdom. Knights are essential for defence, archers help protect the walls from afar, and merchants generate coins, which are critical for expansion.

Exploration also plays a key role in Kingdom Two Crowns. As the monarch, you can venture out into the wilderness to discover new areas and unlock new features. This adds a layer of adventure to the game that is often missing from other strategy titles. The kingdom is surrounded by a vast wilderness, dotted with caves, temples, and other points of interest—each offering new abilities or challenges. The idea of exploring the unknown is always rewarding in Kingdom Two Crowns, and the sense of discovery is palpable.

The Balance of Economy and Defence

One of the game’s most engaging aspects is the management of your kingdom’s economy and defence. Early on, you will likely focus more on the economy—gathering resources, expanding your territory, and recruiting citizens—because it’s essential for building your kingdom. However, as the game progresses, you’ll realise that defence becomes just as important. The Greed’s attacks grow stronger each night, and if you neglect your walls or fail to build up your army, you will inevitably fall.

The tension between economic growth and defensive preparation is what keeps the game exciting. Each day feels like a delicate balancing act, where you must assess how many resources you need to collect, how many citizens you should recruit, and how much attention to give to fortifying your defences. You cannot afford to ignore either aspect, as neglecting your economy will leave you without the funds to build new structures, and neglecting your defences will lead to ruin. This balance is crucial, and it’s where the strategic depth of Kingdom Two Crowns shines the most.

The Greed: A Constant Threat

The Greed are the primary antagonists in Kingdom Two Crowns. They take the form of monstrous creatures, and their relentless attacks serve as the game’s main source of challenge. Each night, a new wave of Greed attempts to breach your walls, and the longer you survive, the more intense these attacks become.

In my first playthrough, I was constantly on edge during the night. There’s something wonderfully tense about hearing the distant sounds of the Greed’s approach, knowing that your kingdom’s fate rests on the strength of your walls and the courage of your soldiers. The night is a time of vulnerability, and each wave forces you to reconsider your strategies. Do you invest in more archers, or do you hire knights to protect the walls? Do you fortify the walls or focus on building additional structures that could generate more resources?

In a particularly thrilling moment, I found myself out of coins and unable to hire more soldiers, only for a massive wave of Greed to come crashing through my defences. I scrambled to repair the walls and recruit more soldiers, but it was too late. The Greed breached the walls, and my kingdom crumbled in a matter of minutes. That feeling of failure was difficult to stomach, but it was also part of the game’s appeal. The Greed are an ever-present threat, and while it can be frustrating to lose, there’s always the sense that you can come back stronger, having learned from your mistakes.

Art and Sound Design

Kingdom Two Crowns is a beautiful game, even if its visuals are deceptively simple. The pixel art style is clean and colourful, with a lovely attention to detail that brings the world to life. The day-night cycle, which is crucial to the game’s structure, is visually striking as the world shifts from bright sunlight to eerie moonlight, casting long shadows and adding to the tension.

The music and sound design are also excellent. The soundtrack is understated yet beautiful, with soft, melodic tunes that create a calming atmosphere during the day and build tension as night falls. The sound effects are equally well done, with the creaking of the kingdom’s walls and the distant howls of the Greed adding a layer of immersion that kept me on edge during the night phases.

The Challenge of Kingdom Two Crowns

Kingdom Two Crowns is a game that does not hold your hand. From the moment you begin, you’re left to figure things out for yourself. There’s no tutorial to guide you, and while the game provides the basics of what you need to know, you must learn through trial and error. It’s a rewarding experience, but it can also be frustrating at times.

In my first playthrough, I often found myself overwhelmed by the sheer number of decisions I had to make. Should I build a new camp to recruit more citizens? Should I upgrade my walls to fend off the Greed? Should I focus on exploring the wilderness to unlock new features, or reinforce my existing defences? Every choice feels important, and every mistake can result in the loss of precious time or resources.

Despite the difficulty, I found that Kingdom Two Crowns is never unfair. There’s always a sense of progression, even when things go wrong. The game encourages you to learn from your mistakes and adapt your strategies. Over time, I started to understand the best ways to allocate resources and the importance of timing in defence. This sense of mastery is one of the game’s greatest rewards.

Conclusion

Kingdom Two Crowns is a game that truly shines when you invest the time to learn its intricacies. It offers a unique blend of strategy, exploration, and resource management, all wrapped up in a visually appealing package. The balance between economic growth and defence, the constant threat of the Greed, and the cooperative multiplayer mode make for a deeply engaging experience that can easily suck you in for hours.

As a first-time player, I found Kingdom Two Crowns to be an incredibly rewarding experience—albeit one that requires patience and careful planning. While it may be frustrating at times, the satisfaction of watching your kingdom grow and survive wave after wave of Greed is well worth the effort.

Kingdom Two Crowns is a gem of a game, offering a unique take on the strategy genre that stands out for its simplicity, depth, and challenge. Whether you’re playing solo or with a friend, it’s a game that will keep you coming back, trying to improve and refine your strategies until you’ve mastered every aspect of kingdom-building. It may take time to fully grasp the complexities of the game, but once you do, the rewards are more than worth it.

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