Kingdom expands into co-op with Two Crowns

[Glasgow]

You may remember Kingdom – it was an odd and meditative little colony management game that mixed roguelike elements with base-building, somehow pulling this all off on a one dimensional playing field. As the monarch, you’d ride back and forth collecting coins and then using those to recruit followers and build up your castle. This week, a new rendition of the game launches that adds a brand new biome and co-op functionality.

While deceptively simple to play, the Kingdom games have been adding layers of depth since the first one – now called Kingdom Classic – appeared back in 2015. Since then, the format has gotten quite a few updates: with Kingdom: New Lands, players could set sail from their starting areas and discover new worlds to civilize, finding new subjects and organizing them to fight off the dark hordes who appear at night and attack settlements.

Two Crowns takes all the groundwork laid by Classic and New Lands and expands it again. This time, you’ll get to see a new biome inspired by feudal Japan, a brand-new campaign mode, and you’ll be able to bring a friend along (hence the “two” bit in the title, I suppose) in local or online drop in/drop out co-op.

Kingdom Two Crowns comes out on Steam December 11. I’ve gotten a chance to check it out a little, and I’ve quickly sunk back into the satisfying loop of riding back and forth across my little fiefdom, worrying about how many archers and farmers I’ve recruited and wondering where my next upgrades will come from. Now that there’s even more game to look forward to, I think it’ll become my go-to laptop title for the next couple months.