Raw Fury/It's Time for an Update on Kingdom: Two Crowns

In the award-winning Kingdom series, players took on the role of a monarch struggling to build their kingdom up from nothing. Hundreds of thousands of players across the world explored, recruited loyal subjects, and defended nightly against the persistent threat of the Greed – but they did so in isolation, and as with all things in Kingdom, nothing lasts… until now.

Kingdom Two Crowns builds upon the challenging micro strategy experience with an evolution of the celebrated franchise. Introducing the brand-new campaign mode, monarchs must now work to build a kingdom that stands over time until finding a way to defeat the Greed for good. Recruit new unit types and develop advanced technologies to bolster your defenses. Explore fresh environments to discover new mounts and secrets hidden in the deep. Revisit and revitalize your kingdom in its entirety as you move onward through the campaign.

But you don’t have to rule alone! Introducing a cooperative play experience that is totally unique to Kingdom Two Crowns, monarchs can now choose between a classic solo experience or seek the assistance of a friend, working together locally or online, dropping in or out at will.

A challenge awaits all who seek it here, whether you are a first-time ruler or a longtime fan. So be brave, great monarchs, for in the end Two Crowns shall reign stronger than one!

But first, a recap of what we already know: at GDC 2017, we announced the existence of Kingdom: Two Crowns for Nintendo Switch and PC, but at the time we didn’t say much other than “co-op”. Coolness level = 5.

Later that year, we wrote this blog post which added some more details: basically, that the game was being delayed in order to build it into not just a co-op expansion of New Lands, but into a full-fledged new title. It would include a new win scenario, new tech level, new citizen role, visual overhaul, new soundtrack, local co-op, and would also be coming to Xbox One and PS4. Coolness level raised, now = 7.

You’ve all been very patient, and for that, we thank you. So now we hope to reward that patience. If you’ve been following Gordon’s twitter, you’ve probably seen some cool updates and images from time to time, but let’s just cut the crap and put it all in one spot, easy to find, share, etc., and see if we can’t get that coolness level up to 10 (or maybe even 11?)

Disclaimer: we’re showing some very cool, very much work-in-progress imagery below. Without further ado, here’s what we’ve got cooking:

## Brand-New Campaign Mode

We’re mostly moving away from the roguelike experience and will now have a proper campaign to save your kingdom from the Greed (which can eventually be defeated for good). Every new area you visit will become a part of your kingdom. You will be able to revisit familiar parts of your kingdom and will have to in order to beat the campaign — but you will have to repair the decay and erosion from the time you’ve spent away, forcing you to think strategically about the state you leave your kingdom in. Seasons will rotate properly, with Winter eventually leading back into Spring (yes, there is Spring now). And if you lose your crown, your heir will inherit a kingdom that has been decaying and eroded over the passage of time (much like returning to a part of your kingdom you once left behind).

## But You Said “Mostly” Above…

Good catch! The roguelike experience of past Kingdom games will still exist as single land experiences, separate from the campaign mode. There will be one emulating the Skull Island experience from New Lands, and many others with special rules (like no statues, for example).

## Co-op Is Online, Local, Ad-Hoc, and Drop-In/Drop-Out

Players will be able to visit the kingdom of a friend either across the interwebs or on couch co-op, either to help build their defenses or troll them by knocking down too many trees (lolz). Co-op is also hot join, or “drop-in, drop-out” from the host player, meaning friends can join and leave at will without interrupting the host player’s experience.

## Enter the Iron Age

You can now progress past the Stone upgrades and develop Iron technology. This will enable more upgrades, including some late-game tech that must be used to wipe out the Greed permanently, along with a few other really cool secrets.

## Introducing Pikemen

These units were created to stop the problem of too many Greed bunching up against the wall. Just look how cute they are with their little stabbies (yes that is a technical term).

## Purty New Artwork

What’s the point of a new game if it looks just like the old game? Our thoughts exactly. The game has gotten a complete visual overhaul, from the backgrounds to the vegetation to the monarchs themselves, including a few gender-neutral options. Here’s some eye candy for ya (again, WIP as not all of these monarchs will make the cut):

## It’s Coming Out Later This Year

Mobile will come out sometime after the launch on console and PC. Can’t get too much more specific than this yet. #dealwithit

## But the Biggest Secret of All…

HAH! You think I’m going to tell you EVERYTHING? C’mon, everyone knows the real fun of Kingdom is discovering stuff, and that glorious “AHA!” moment that comes from figuring something out. So we’re not going to tell you everything – some things are just better left as a surprise.

Hope that quenches your thirst for more info on Kingdom: Two Crowns! Did we get the coolness level up to 10? Hit us up at any of the links below to give us your thoughts.

**Give us a shout**

Discord:   discord.gg/rawfury

Twitter:   twitter.com/rawfury

* rawfury.com/time-update-kingdom-two-crowns (ARCHIVED)
* kingdomthegame.com/news/2018/10/25/kingdom-two-crowns-now-available-on-pc-cwt7h (LIVE with no images)

1. ↑ This first part of the text was added to the article on the Kingdom site on 9 November 2018, a month before the game release.