If you like strategy and simulation games, you’re going to love Kingdoms Reborn. Do you want to turn your small village into a vast kingdom? Of course, you do! Inspired by the likes of Banished, Anno, and Civilization, Kingdoms Reborn takes this genre of gaming to another level.
Starting with a small population, this Kingdoms Reborn review will show you how the game offers challenging gameplay which includes resource management, tech trees, upgrades, and lots more. Kingdoms Reborn can be played as a single-player game or real-time co-op with your friends and other players.
Is Kingdoms Reborn Yet Another Early Access Game?
Technically speaking, yes. Kingdoms Reborn is in early access, however, in comparison to many of the early access games I’ve played and reviewed, Kingdoms Reborn is a giant leap ahead of what’s out there. This one-man band game developer is known as Earthshine, and boy does this guy know how to develop games!
Kingdoms Reborn was released into early access in November 2020. Since then, the developer has consistently provided players with updates, and insight into what’s coming next.
Many early access games like Kingdoms Reborn have built themselves a reputation for being released just to earn a quick profit. I don’t get this impression at all with Kingdoms Reborn; you can tell the developer has worked hard for his achievements, boasting an already “very positive” review status on Steam.
Kingdoms Reborn Map
As I mentioned, you can start a single player or multiplayer game in Kingdoms Reborn. Setting up a multiplayer game is very easy, offering a number of options for the type of game you want to play.
Your friends can join you in Kingdoms Reborn by selecting multiplayer, then finding the game on the list. You can password protect your game if you only want your friends to join, keeping it casual and less likely for other players to steal your villagers and coin!
If you choose to start a large map, you’re in for a nice surprise. The map is incredibly vast, offering plenty of space for numerous players to create their own settlements away from others. You can hover over the icons on the map to locate good spots for farming certain food or materials, such as grape, iron ore, etc.
When you start Kingdoms Reborn, I highly recommend choosing a starting location that offers plenty of foliage, trees, and a little stone if possible. Wood is one of the major resources in this game, and without it, you won’t be able to build your settlement up.
Kingdoms Reborn Gameplay
I can honestly say I haven’t had so much fun playing a game in a long time. Kingdoms Reborn is the kind of game that’s hard to pull away from. It’s so easy to find yourself lost in the challenges this game presents, where hours go by without even realizing.
When you start your map, you’ll need to place your town hall. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be presented with some cards to choose from. Cards come up in Kingdoms Reborn regularly, giving you the opportunity to purchase new or existing buildings like Pig Farms, Archery Barracks, Forester, and so on.
Cards cost coin, but can also be sold if you no longer require them. You can stack up a certain amount of cards before you’ll have to ditch some to make room for more. Once a card is used, you can place the building down in your settlement. If you want to place another building down of the same type, you’ll need to wait until the next card selection to see if it appears again.
There are certain objects you can place down at any time, without the need for a card. These include farms, houses, bridges, dirt roads, and storage space.
To grow your population, you’ll need an immigration building to attract new residents. Some of the buildings can be further upgraded to offer perks, such as, increased attractiveness, productivity, etc. You’ll also come across cards that have a global effect, like increased productivity, which you can place in the town hall.
Building Up Your Settlement
Your main priority is to ensure that your villager’s needs are met. You’ll need to make sure they have enough food, medicine, resources, and housing to keep them happy. If your villagers don’t have access to medicine, they’ll die, if they don’t have enough food to eat, they’ll starve. You get the picture.
Kingdoms Reborn features seasons and different climates depending on where you choose to build. Jungle areas provide warmer temperatures, and houses that are insulated with stone will offer a place where your villagers can warm up.
If you enjoy micro-management kind of games, Kingdoms Reborn will surely suck you in. As the game progresses, you’ll unlock more buildings and opportunities to expand. You can manage job priorities, purchase new land with coin or influence points, and start taking over the kingdom.
As you progress through the eras and complete quests, you’ll unlock different levels of tech trees. These give you perks and bonuses, allowing you to advance even further.
Every so often, a trader will pass by allowing you to sell some of your items and produce. If you have a lot of wheat farms, for example, you can sell your excess wheat for coin. If you get the Trading Post or Trading Port card, you can initiate trades directly from your town (which is incredibly useful).
Other Players And Expansion
When you set up your Kingdoms Reborn game, you can choose to play with your friends, and/or set a limit to the number of AI players. Over the course of your game, you will come across cards that will allow you to poach residents from other Kingdoms, as well as stealing their money or resources.
You can choose whether you want to play this way or not. So far, I haven’t opted to cause havoc in my Kingdom, yet. I’m still getting to grips with the game myself, learning new techniques on each play-through.
What I have come to learn is that it’s important to scout out regions nearby for valuable resources. You can zoom in/out of the map at any time, allowing you to see what’s around. The resource crates are invaluable; in my time of need, I came across some that gave me 300 wood – yes!
Each region has the opportunity to provide different resources. My current location has iron ore, which is great for smelting into iron bars to make steel tools. These tools allow my workers to work efficiently, which is a key aspect of Kingdoms Reborn.
Final Thoughts
Even though I’ve sunk many hours into Kingdoms Reborn, I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of what’s on offer. I can see myself playing Kingdoms Reborn for a long time, especially with the regular updates from the developer.
For an early access game, it’s well worth the investment. It’s an extremely enjoyable, yet challenging city-builder that’s like no other. Graphically, it’s a pleasure, and the oversized chunks of meat that are sprawled across my village make it comically endearing.
