This is probably the best Kingdom's ever been

[Malidictus]

Yes, this is a short game and lacks the "campaign" complexity of Two Crowns. I'm not a huge fan of the 80s theme, either, though I still prefer the modern setting. What makes me say the soundbite in the title, however, is just how much less listless busywork and pointless waiting there is in this one. Here are some of my favourite features:

No more farms! While the game still has "businesses" to make money off of, they don't require land area and so there's no need to worry about placing walls "wrong". More than that, no more farmers. Money-making businesses can be worked by workers, or by tool-less "citizens". No more need to buy pitchforks and commit large numbers of people to just running machinery. Just recruit more kids and they'll work the businesses, then give them tools if more numbers are needed.

Better towers!. Towers no longer require archers, so less need for overly many of them. Towers are actually worth a crap an can easily fire over walls. Towers can easily be converted to other types, such that towers in the back still remain relevant. I've had multiple occasions of a blaster tower up front, a railgun tower farther back and several mortar towers pitching in. Norse Lands solved the archer issue by emptying towers. 80s solves it by letting the towers actually work at longer ranges.

No more hermits! Well, technically. There ARE hermits, they just constantly follow the player around. I still need to find and unlock them, but I don't need to fish them out of a crowd, or remember which is which any more. They follow me and do their jobs. It makes the game feel a lot more interactive.

No more knights! Squires still exist, but their function is greatly diminished. Not only are they no longer needed to attack portals, but the archers who attach to them are no longer permanent. They can leave if the Leader needs them, and they still seem to hunt at least within line of sight. Seems like most of what Squires are for now is as a fallback in case a tower breaks.

The dumpster! I really love the new siege mechanics. It's like the game combined the Bomb, the Knights and the Catapult together. The dumpster has a crap-ton of health and can be repaired between engagements. It actually gives me decent staying power against even tougher Greed. The robot is a pretty nice addition, bringing what amounts to a tower with me.

The retinue I honestly love the idea of having a posse following me around. Not only does it look cool, but it actually gives the game a certain charm that I don't think Two Crowns ever had. The Whiz builds towers, the Tinkerer upgrades them. The Champ pushes the dumpster, the Whiz controls the robot, the Tinkerer repairs them. Everyone has a role, everyone is there for a reason.

Overall, I find Kingdom 80s to be a pretty good take on the Kingdom franchise. It's obviously a smaller, more self-contained game, but it has all the mechanics needed for a full-on Kingdom title. I can just imagine what a game like that could be like in the original setting. Or hell - in a modern setting. I definitely like this one a lot more than any of the Two Crowns biomes.

[Gemma]

Omg. You have no idea how much I appreciate this in-depth perspective. We're taking everyone's feedback on board, so this makes a huge difference.

Thank you <3

[PurpleSphynx]

Oh yeah, i bought every previous game (and on Switch too), but im gonna wait on this one, till it gonna have a coop campaign. Or it have some extra levels or content, because it feels short.
But yeah, this game is actually very different from previous. Cool things - all above, im actually very enjoyed those simplifications.
Bad things - It feels like every wall and archer made - is useless, cause there is no reason to extra build them, just rush to objective and thats it, you not gonna see them ever again, BYE. And with all of those simplifications - game really feels very easy.
And - a posse - is Genius addition ! Im actually feeling like a king with army, not a loner courier))

[thelefthorse]

Originally posted by PurpleSphynx:

Oh yeah, i bought every previous game (and on Switch too), but im gonna wait on this one, till it gonna have a coop campaign. Or it have some extra levels or content, because it feels short.
But yeah, this game is actually very different from previous. Cool things - all above, im actually very enjoyed those simplifications.
Bad things - It feels like every wall and archer made - is useless, cause there is no reason to extra build them, just rush to objective and thats it, you not gonna see them ever again, BYE. And with all of those simplifications - game really feels very easy.
And - a posse - is Genius addition ! Im actually feeling like a king with army, not a loner courier))

The game costs like $10, and here you are bragging about how much fun you're having playing it while admitting you haven't purchased it.


Let's see what we have here:
pirating? check
cheap? check
rocket scientist? signs point to no

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by Gemma:

Omg. You have no idea how much I appreciate this in-depth perspective. We're taking everyone's feedback on board, so this makes a huge difference.

Thank you <3

You're quite welcome :) I was really happy with most of the changes in the game... once I figured out how they worked. 80s honestly feels like what would happen if someone took Two Crowns and stripped out all the timesinks. There are still things to do and decisions to make, but most of them are either directly in the player's hands, or have obvious effects. Two Crowns to me almost felt like it was playing itself, while endlessly run from one end to the other. 80s makes me feel involved, and I love it.

Originally posted by PurpleSphynx:

Bad things - It feels like every wall and archer made - is useless, cause there is no reason to extra build them, just rush to objective and thats it, you not gonna see them ever again, BYE.

True, though that's an artefact of the much smaller scale. It seems to me that 80s is to Kingdom what Chimera Squad was to XCOM - a smaller, cut-down experience experimenting with new mechanics. I imagine a future "mainline" Kingdom title using these mechanics would have island hopping.

With that said... I honestly don't miss gems and backtracking. I thought I would, but I really don't. Two Crowns always made that feel like busywork, I'm starting to realise. I go back to an old island, then set about repairing all the walls and rehiring all the people. It's simple but tedious, and all of it necessary just so I can assault the Cliff Portal. This may be a "me problem", but I usually clear islands up to the cliff portal up until I have Iron, then quickly mop up all the previous islands before heading to the fifth (or sixth, with more recent patches).

Gems and progression feel like a kludge to justify the backtracking, rather than a compelling reason to do so.

Originally posted by PurpleSphynx:

And with all of those simplifications - game really feels very easy.

It's not that the game is easier. It's that Greed aggression doesn't carry over between locations like it does in Two Crowns. Later levels are definitely harder, but it doesn't seem like taking longer on previous ones has an effect. More than that - there is no winter to worry about and towers are actually competent.

To me, though, that's actually a good thing. One of THE worst aspects of Two Crowns for me was winter time. It's not that it was harder, so much as I couldn't travel to a new island during winter - I wouldn't be able to build up. So whenever winter set in while I was still prepping to leave, I'd have to sit on my hands and wait for 40 in-game days. And that's remarkably boring.

Not having to worry about Winter means 80s has no enforced downtime. The islands are smaller, the busywork is less, so it plays much faster overall, meaning the player tends to complete locations before the Greed build up in strength.

Originally posted by PurpleSphynx:

And - a posse - is Genius addition ! Im actually feeling like a king with army, not a loner courier))

Agreed. I honestly don't know that I can play a Kingdom game without this any more :) It only makes sense, though. Imagine a medieval/fantasy biome, where a king is followed by a knight who can fight and shield, a wizard who attacks at range and Commander who builds most structures. Just thematically, it would be awesome.

The one major downside to the posse, though, is it makes multiplayer much more difficult. I suppose you'd have to give each player a copy of the posse, since they're needed for the game to function.

[spike86]

Originally posted by Gemma:

Omg. You have no idea how much I appreciate this in-depth perspective. We're taking everyone's feedback on board, so this makes a huge difference.

Thank you <3

I totally agree with OP!

This game is great, and with more islands and maybe challenges or a random mode to increase play length it will be perfect!
really love what you did, and took my time to finish it, in order to enjoy it fully (around 8 hours)

[Jorri]

Dang, good points one and all

[Zeke]

Originally posted by thelefthorse:

The game costs like $10, and here you are bragging about how much fun you're having playing it while admitting you haven't purchased it.

Let's see what we have here:
pirating? check
cheap? check
rocket scientist? signs point to no

you do remember this had a free demo before release, right?

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by dogsmokespipe:

Just want to say I agree with everyone about the lack of winter being a plus for this game. I have never understood why winter stayed the way it was in Two Crowns, it's the opposite of fun and just seems like bad design to me. I think I'm pretty decent at TC and the optimal solution for winter is to essentially leave the game idle and watch Netflix. Been wanting a rework for years, but taking it out completely is good enough.

I've asked the same question. The reasons I remember people citing is it adds to the challenge, as the player's income is drastically cut down due to lack of farms. What it did for me, though, is exactly what it seems to have done for you - caused me to sit on my hands and wait for it to pass.

80s is definitely simplified relative to Two Crowns and could probably use a bit of extra complexity or some kind, but... to me it just feels like a more fun experience. Most of my time is spent doing things, whereas in Two Crowns, the vast majority of my time is spent on downtime. I'm either travelling extremely long distances, waiting with hands off the keyboard or doing very repetitive tasks. 80s DOES have a bit of that if one wants to push towers all the way out to the extreme ends (which I do), but at least there are more structures to find out in the wilderness.

I guess if I were to make a request for a future Kingdom game, it would be for more buildings with unique and esoteric effects like the bank.

[ALDC]

There are a few QoL stuff that are good as well.

1) Dates are shown with color code: Blue = Normal, Red = Blood Moon, Green = No Attacks that Day
2) Vagrant Camps are replaced by other buildings (except last Chapter) so you don't worry about chopping down the last tree that spawns vagrants.
3) No need for "grass" for your mount, cos you're riding a bike/skate/hoverboard/etc so your Monarch just need to stop and take a sip of water and you're good to go!
4) On the day of Blood Moon, all your Archers will head to the side where the big attack will happen! You should head there too and let your Champ, Tinker and Whiz assist with the defense!
5) All your unlocked "mounts" are located at the Bus Stop. Just need to clear the path to the Bus Stop area and you will see them there if you wanna change your ride.

[spike86]

Originally posted by ALDC:

There are a few QoL stuff that are good as well.

1) Dates are shown with color code: Blue = Normal, Red = Blood Moon, Green = No Attacks that Day
2) Vagrant Camps are replaced by other buildings (except last Chapter) so you don't worry about chopping down the last tree that spawns vagrants.
3) No need for "grass" for your mount, cos you're riding a bike/skate/hoverboard/etc so your Monarch just need to stop and take a sip of water and you're good to go!
4) On the day of Blood Moon, all your Archers will head to the side where the big attack will happen! You should head there too and let your Champ, Tinker and Whiz assist with the defense!
5) All your unlocked "mounts" are located at the Bus Stop. Just need to clear the path to the Bus Stop area and you will see them there if you wanna change your ride.

totally agree!

while 80s is short, those things and the lack of winter make it very difficult to go back to TC.
I seriously hope 80s get new content soon, either payed or free it's OK for me

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by ALDC:

1) Dates are shown with color code: Blue = Normal, Red = Blood Moon, Green = No Attacks that Day
4) On the day of Blood Moon, all your Archers will head to the side where the big attack will happen! You should head there too and let your Champ, Tinker and Whiz assist with the defense!

Yup! I completely forgot to mention those, but they're very good changes. I know ahead of time when a Blood Moon is coming AND my archers tell me which side it's coming from. You know, so I can be there and help defend. Another change along those lines is that... The wave triggered by destroying a portal will come from the same side AS the portal. In Two Crowns, the wave would spawn from a random side and I'd have to guess. The dog does help, but this is better and makes sense.

Originally posted by ALDC:

2) Vagrant Camps are replaced by other buildings (except last Chapter) so you don't worry about chopping down the last tree that spawns vagrants.

I'll be honest - I never understood the design idea behind the original Vagrant Camps. Norse Lands' introduction of Houses was a massive improvement (and not just because I'd suggested it previously :) ) but I think this is better still. Just let us pull the camps into our borders. No need to keep them in the forest. Something else to mention is that 80s has a lot more camps, guarded by portals. That's a very neat addition. Rather than having to find them, I actually have to fight and clear them. It feels earned.

Originally posted by ALDC:

3) No need for "grass" for your mount, cos you're riding a bike/skate/hoverboard/etc so your Monarch just need to stop and take a sip of water and you're good to go!
5) All your unlocked "mounts" are located at the Bus Stop. Just need to clear the path to the Bus Stop area and you will see them there if you wanna change your ride.

Well, there's one mount that requires grass - the Unicorn. But other than that, yeah. I vastly prefer this system. Stop, take a break, keep moving. No need for grass, so exploring inside forests is no longer a massive pain. I'm still not sure what all the vehicles do, though. They don't seem as diverse, since most either have a charging attack or seemingly nothing at all.

[GlitterGloo]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

Yes, this is a short game and lacks the "campaign" complexity of Two Crowns. I'm not a huge fan of the 80s theme, either, though I still prefer the modern setting. What makes me say the soundbite in the title, however, is just how much less listless busywork and pointless waiting there is in this one. Here are some of my favourite features:

No more farms! While the game still has "businesses" to make money off of, they don't require land area and so there's no need to worry about placing walls "wrong". More than that, no more farmers. Money-making businesses can be worked by workers, or by tool-less "citizens". No more need to buy pitchforks and commit large numbers of people to just running machinery. Just recruit more kids and they'll work the businesses, then give them tools if more numbers are needed.

Better towers!. Towers no longer require archers, so less need for overly many of them. Towers are actually worth a crap an can easily fire over walls. Towers can easily be converted to other types, such that towers in the back still remain relevant. I've had multiple occasions of a blaster tower up front, a railgun tower farther back and several mortar towers pitching in. Norse Lands solved the archer issue by emptying towers. 80s solves it by letting the towers actually work at longer ranges.

No more hermits! Well, technically. There ARE hermits, they just constantly follow the player around. I still need to find and unlock them, but I don't need to fish them out of a crowd, or remember which is which any more. They follow me and do their jobs. It makes the game feel a lot more interactive.

No more knights! Squires still exist, but their function is greatly diminished. Not only are they no longer needed to attack portals, but the archers who attach to them are no longer permanent. They can leave if the Leader needs them, and they still seem to hunt at least within line of sight. Seems like most of what Squires are for now is as a fallback in case a tower breaks.

The dumpster! I really love the new siege mechanics. It's like the game combined the Bomb, the Knights and the Catapult together. The dumpster has a crap-ton of health and can be repaired between engagements. It actually gives me decent staying power against even tougher Greed. The robot is a pretty nice addition, bringing what amounts to a tower with me.

The retinue I honestly love the idea of having a posse following me around. Not only does it look cool, but it actually gives the game a certain charm that I don't think Two Crowns ever had. The Whiz builds towers, the Tinkerer upgrades them. The Champ pushes the dumpster, the Whiz controls the robot, the Tinkerer repairs them. Everyone has a role, everyone is there for a reason.

Overall, I find Kingdom 80s to be a pretty good take on the Kingdom franchise. It's obviously a smaller, more self-contained game, but it has all the mechanics needed for a full-on Kingdom title. I can just imagine what a game like that could be like in the original setting. Or hell - in a modern setting. I definitely like this one a lot more than any of the Two Crowns biomes.

100% agree! I wrote a very similar review, and echoed much of this in another thread as well.

My wife and I have had such a blast with this game! We want to keep playing more than any previous titles in the series.

I really hope they continue to add to this, especially a more "arcade style" game mode similar to the previous titles (for more replayability).