Kingdoms and Castles | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Developer(s) | Lion Shield |
Publisher(s) | Lion Shield [lower-alpha 1] |
Platform(s) | |
Release |
|
Genre(s) | City-builder |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Kingdoms and Castles is a city-building video game developed by Lion Shield and released on July 20, 2017, for Linux, macOS, and Windows. In the game, players build and expand a medieval town while defending it from dragons and vikings. The game received mixed to average reviews on release.
Kingdoms and Castles is a city-building game in a medieval setting. [1] [2] Players begin by placing down a castle on one of the game's islands, strategically placing it next to resources such as fertile land or iron deposits. The player has a limited number of peasants who perform jobs such as farming, building and collecting lumber. They can increase their number of peasants by building more homes. [1] The peasants must be fed, which can be accomplished by building farms and granaries that store the food. Other buildings include foresters who cut and replant trees for lumber and quarries that can collect stone used to build larger homes. As the player progresses, they can begin taxing their peasants for gold, which can be used to pay workers and unlock new types of buildings. [2]
Disasters periodically happen in the kingdom such as an annual winter that destroys crops, lightning strikes that cause fires and infectious plagues. [2] Occasionally, enemies such as dragons, vikings and ogres will attack the kingdom. The player must construct defenses and recruit soldiers to fight off these threats. [1]
Kingdoms and Castles was developed by Lion Shield. It was inspired by SimCity , Banished and Stronghold. The game was supported via the crowdfunding website Fig. It made over US$108,000 with an original goal of $15,000. [3]
The game was released for Linux, macOS, and Windows on July 20, 2017. [4] [2] Published by BlitWorks, the console versions were released for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on December 1, 2023, [5] and for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on March 21, 2024. [6]
According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, Kingdoms and Castles received "mixed or average reviews". [7] Rock Paper Shotgun praised the artstyle, and felt as though gameplay was less complex than that of other city-building games. [2] PC Gamer enjoyed watching buildings be constructed, and considered the game to lack significant "depth", but overall felt as though it was "perfectly enjoyable". [1] Kotaku said that he was "hooked" on constructing buildings, and felt as though it traded accessibility for complexity. [8]
Psychonauts 2 is a platform game developed by Double Fine and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game was announced at The Game Awards 2015 ceremony, and released on August 25, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and on May 24, 2022 for Linux and macOS.
Starbound is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Chucklefish. Starbound takes place in a two-dimensional, procedurally generated universe which the player is able to explore in order to obtain new weapons, armor, and items, and to visit towns and villages inhabited by various intelligent lifeforms. Starbound was released out of early access in July 2016 for Windows, OS X, and Linux, and for Windows via Xbox Game Pass in December 2020.
The Sims 4 is a free-to-play social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fourth major title in The Sims series, following The Sims 3 (2009). The game was released in North America on September 2, 2014, for Windows, an OS X version was released in February 2015, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released in November 2017. The game was moved to a free-to-play model on October 18, 2022, monetized by the purchase of various paid downloadable content packs that have been developed since its release.
TowerFall is an action indie video game created by Maddy Thorson through her company Maddy Makes Games. In the game, players control up to four archers in a multiplayer platform fighter. It was released on the Ouya microconsole in June 2013 and was later ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, OS X, and Windows as TowerFall Ascension and to the Nintendo Switch under its original title of TowerFall.
Hyper Light Drifter is a 2D action role-playing game developed by Heart Machine. The Microsoft Windows, Linux and OS X versions were released in March 2016, and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions in July 2016. A Special Edition port of the game, featuring additional content, was released by Abylight Studios for the Nintendo Switch in September 2018 and for iOS devices in July 2019.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a 2018 action role-playing game developed and published by Warhorse Studios, and co-published by Deep Silver. The game is set in the medieval Kingdom of Bohemia, an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire, with a focus on historically accurate content.
The Long Dark is a first-person survival video game developed and published by Hinterland Studios. The player assumes the role of crash-landed bush pilot Will Mackenzie who must survive the frigid Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. The game received seed financing from the Canada Media Fund, and further funding was secured through a successful Kickstarter campaign in October 2013.
Hand of Fate is an action role-playing roguelike deck-building game developed and published by Australian studio Defiant Development for Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, released via early access on 7 July 2014, and then in the full release on 17 February 2015. A PlayStation Vita version was announced but ultimately cancelled due to development issues.
Stellaris is a 4X grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. In Stellaris, players take control of an interstellar civilization on the galactic stage and are tasked with exploring, colonizing, and managing their region of the galaxy, encountering other civilizations that they can then engage in diplomacy, trade, or warfare with. A large part of the game involves dealing with both scripted and emergent events, through which new empires alter the balance of power, powerful crises threaten the galaxy, or event chains tell the story of forgotten empires. It was released worldwide for Windows, macOS, and Linux on May 9, 2016 and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as Stellaris: Console Edition on February 26, 2019.
Fig was a crowdfunding platform for video games. It launched in August 2015. Unlike traditional crowdfunding approaches like Kickstarter, where individuals can back a project to receive rewards, Fig used a mixed model that includes individual backing and the opportunity for uncredited investors to invest as to obtain a share of future revenues for successful projects. At the end of 2017, four projects had begun generating returns, returning 245% to Fig investors.
Undertale is a 2015 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, separated by a magical barrier. The player meets various monsters during the journey back to the surface, although some monsters might engage the player in a fight. The combat system involves the player navigating through mini-bullet hell attacks by the opponent. They can opt to pacify or subdue monsters in order to spare them instead of killing them. These choices affect the game, with the dialogue, characters, and story changing based on outcomes.
Besiege is a vehicle-building sandbox video game based around medieval siege engines, developed and published by Spiderling Studios. The game was released for Windows, macOS and Linux in February 2020 at the conclusion of a five-year long early access phase. A console version for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S was released in February 2022, and an expansion pack titled The Splintered Sea was announced in April 2024. The game has received widespread praise, citing the wide range of experimentation available to players.
Wasteland 3 is a role-playing video game developed by inXile Entertainment and published by Deep Silver. It is a sequel to Wasteland 2 (2014) and was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 28, 2020. A Linux and macOS port was released on December 17, 2020.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Versus Evil. It is the sequel to 2015's Pillars of Eternity, and was released for Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS in May 2018, and for PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in January 2020. A version for the Nintendo Switch was originally announced in 2018, but has been ultimately cancelled in February 2022 after multiple delays. The game was announced in January 2017 with a crowdfunding campaign on Fig, where it reached its funding goal within a day.
Phoenix Point is a strategy video game featuring a turn-based tactics system that is developed by Bulgaria-based independent developer Snapshot Games. It was released on December 3, 2019, for macOS and Microsoft Windows, for Stadia on January 26, 2021, and Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 1, 2021. Phoenix Point is intended to be a spiritual successor to the X-COM series that had been originally created by Snapshot Games head Julian Gollop during the 1990s.
Wasteland is a role-playing video game series created by Brian Fargo. The first game, Wasteland, was originally developed by Interplay Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1988. inXile Entertainment later acquired the intellectual property from Electronic Arts and developed two sequels, Wasteland 2 (2014) and Wasteland 3 (2020), based on crowdfunding and published by Deep Silver. The games are set in post-apocalyptic open worlds and features turn-based combat similar to that of the earlier Fallout games, of which they are a spiritual predecessor. Xbox Game Studios owns the series after their acquisition of inXile Entertainment.
Descenders is a cycling game developed by RageSquid and published by No More Robots. It was released for Linux, macOS, Windows, and Xbox One on 7 May 2019, for PlayStation 4 on 25 August 2020, for Nintendo Switch on 6 November 2020 and Xbox Series X/S on 8 June 2021. A mobile version for iOS and Android was released on 4 August 2022.
Islanders is a casual city-building game developed and published by German indie game studio Grizzly Games. It was initially released on Steam for Microsoft Windows on 4 April 2019, and support for macOS and Linux was added in June that year. A version for consoles was released for Nintendo Switch on 11 August 2021 and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 26 August 2021. This version was published by Coatsink, which announced it had acquired the franchise from Grizzly Games in May 2022.
A roguelike deck-building game is a hybrid genre of video games that combines the nature of deck-building card games with procedural-generated randomness from roguelike games.
Company of Heroes 3 is a real-time strategy game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sega for Windows. A sequel to Company of Heroes 2, the game features new mechanics and modes and is set in the Italian and North African theaters of World War II.