Kingdom: New Lands on Switch is a whole new kind of management sim

Kingdom: New Lands on Switch is a whole new kind of management sim. Published by Raw Fury, ported by Coatsink, and made with love and care by Noio and Licorice, this is the kind of Indie title I love. Something unassuming, subtle, and absolutely layered with depth and mystery. Like GoNNER, Kingdom: New Lands is a bit of a roguelike, and bit of a city management sim, mixed with mystery and RPG elements. In short, it’s bloody awesome, and worth the paltry sum it costs on the Nintendo eShop.

You begin the game as a random Queen or King, with nothing but a few coins, your horse, your torch, and a bag of coins. The spirit of kings past guides you in your first steps, then it’s up to you to explore, defend and grow your kingdom as it’s assaulted at night by a malicious and greedy race of beings. If you let them take your crown, it’s game over. And here’s the thing about Kingdom: New Lands – failure is expected. You’re not just losing, you’re learning with each time the crown is taken. Your next time through, with a new world to play in, you’re a bit smarter, gain a few more ideas how to spend your coins, and maybe – just maybe – you’ll make it to the new lands when you rebuild the ruined boat sitting on your little island.

The beauty of Kingdom: New Lands is that while it’s frustrating, like all the best roguelikes, it’s also addictive and you never feel cheated. You just realize you’ve got to try things differently. I’ll never forget feeling so confident in an early start of Kingdom when suddenly my merchant left and never came back. My daily flow of coins was gone. I had to learn a new way to play. You only use two buttons and walk left or right across the stage, but that’s all there needs to be. The game isn’t the controls – it’s the deciding what and how to do things in your little hamlet.

It’ll take you many many tries to get a full build going and get off the island, but when you do it’s so rewarding in a way that feels like a true victory. Kingdom: New Lands on Switch is probably the best version of the hit indie game. Once you’re in the new lands, thinking you’ve already done so much to get there, suddenly the game becomes even bigger with even more things to do. For $15, it’s well worth the spend, and comes highly recommended.

Kingdom: New Lands on Switch Review Score – 8/10

PROS:
  • Beautiful retro visuals
  • Deep strategic gameplay
  • Amazing soundtrack
Cons:
  • Little to no explanation
  • Frustrating at times

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