9 Kings is a new game out in Early Access that describes itself as a “fast-paced roguelike kingdom builder”, but which I’m going to describe as “a deckbuilder where everything dies, all the time”.
Choosing to play as one of a roster of unlockable kings, each the leader of a distinct faction, you start the game with a 3×3 grid where you can draw cards–and these can be either units, buildings or effects–and play them on one of those tiles, building or engaging whatever it is you lay down. At the end of every turn some bad guys attack (it’s an auto-battler, with your direct control limited to setting off some special attacks), then you get to draw another card and do it all again. Like this:
While 9 Kings looks like it’s part-city-builder, part-tower defence and might even have some real-time strategy stuff going on, it’s really just a card game, where most of your interest will lie in balancing whatever card you draw each turn with what you think you need (or have space for) in your town.
Space to build–and thus play a card–is extremely limited, so you have to be careful! You might think you need a big army, but loads of troops without supporting buildings (like defensive turrets) can be chewed through in seconds. Conversely, setting down too many fancy buildings can leave you short on manpower when a bigger enemy army comes hurtling at your castle gates.
The beauty here comes from the fact each of the nine available factions are wildly different, and that every time you defeat an attacking force, the cards you have available to you can feature its units and upgrades instead of your own. Throw in the fact that you’ll only be fighting a few of the available roster at any one time, and you can see how each new run can end up completely different to the last, based not only on who you’re playing as but how well the cards of your opponents suit that deck and its abilities.
You start the game with just a single character unlocked, the aptly-named generalist, the King Of Nothing. The more runs you make and the more stuff you do in the game (upgrading grids, building units, etc), the more of the other characters you’ll gain access to, ranging from the vampire and demon-themed King Of Blood to a guy whose units and buildings are based on cash (the King of Greed) to my favourite, the King Of Progress, who decides “fuck it” and instead of relying on fantasy tropes just brings machine guns and gatling towers to the fight.
Because 9 Kings has launched into Early Access there’s still some stuff missing, like promised challenge and ranked modes, but even just what’s there–a basic series of increasingly-difficult waves of enemies, culminating in a “victory” that then triggers something of a post-game endless mode–is fantastic. The creativity at your fingertips, the seemingly-endless possibilities for each run given the possible combinations, the extremely cool pixel art on the cards–9 Kings is great.
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