Kingdom: New Lands Reviews

The game is good, but if you played the secuels, don't buy this one. Feels like a demo of the other games.

If chill is what you're looking for, here you are. Very elementary management of cash, people by job, where to expand and a teensy touch of random things that make you smile and play for one-more-hour. Graphics are 8 bit and not half bad. No buts, this one wins.

Gorgeous pixel art, good tower defense game loop all from the vantage point of a king on their horse. Neigh, neigh

Kingdom: New Lands, developed by Noio and published by Raw Fury, is a side-scrolling strategy and resource management game that distills complex mechanics into a minimalist, elegant framework. As a monarch on horseback, players are tasked with building, expanding, and defending a growing kingdom from mysterious and relentless enemies known as the Greed. What makes Kingdom: New Lands stand out is how it communicates nearly everything through visuals and environmental cues, without explicit tutorials or dialogue, encouraging exploration, trial, and emergent understanding. It’s a slow-burn experience that balances tranquility and tension, giving rise to moments of serenity as well as near-despair as your carefully built kingdom teeters on the edge of collapse. The game begins with little fanfare: you are a lone monarch on horseback, armed with only a pouch of coins. You ride through the wilderness, lighting fires, recruiting beggars, and slowly building the first foundations of your kingdom. Coins are the game’s sole currency and action enabler—used to build walls, assign jobs, buy tools, upgrade buildings, and even bribe enemies. The game’s simplicity in interface is deceptive; while all interactions are done by dropping coins, deciding where and when to spend them becomes the crux of your strategy. Every decision feels meaningful, and because resources are scarce—especially in the early game—every coin spent carries weight. Mismanaging your economy can spell disaster in just a few in-game nights. The core loop revolves around building and expanding by day and surviving by night. During daylight hours, you recruit vagrants from nearby camps, assign them jobs as builders or archers, and expand your borders by clearing trees and constructing new fortifications. At night, the Greed emerge from portals on either side of your kingdom to assault your walls. If they break through, they destroy your defenses, steal your tools, and can even take your crown—ending the game. What begins as a straightforward defense mechanic evolves into a real test of planning and foresight. You’ll need to carefully consider how far to expand, when to upgrade your walls and towers, and when to launch assaults on enemy portals in an effort to permanently push them back. One of Kingdom: New Lands’ most distinctive qualities is its presentation. The pixel art is stunning, with detailed animations, a vibrant day-night cycle, and an atmospheric use of lighting and weather effects that bring the world to life. Whether it’s the calm of a misty morning or the eerie tension of an incoming blood moon, the game communicates mood and danger with exceptional subtlety. The soundtrack, too, is sparse but effective—ambient and melancholic, it enhances the meditative pace of gameplay and reinforces the sense of isolation and quiet responsibility you carry as ruler. As you progress through each island—each referred to as a “new land”—the complexity ramps up. Each new location resets your physical kingdom, but allows you to carry over some items and knowledge, encouraging replay and long-term strategic planning. You’ll encounter new challenges, such as harsher terrain, tighter resource availability, and stronger enemies. Each island presents a puzzle of how to build a kingdom strong enough to defeat the Greed’s portals while balancing exploration, defense, and economy. Horses tire, seasons change, and winter strips you of food income, all of which push you to adapt or face failure. The constant sense of vulnerability, even in the later stages, makes every expansion feel like a gamble. The game’s minimalism is both its greatest strength and potential weakness. For players who enjoy figuring things out through experimentation and intuition, Kingdom: New Lands offers a rewarding sense of discovery and immersion. However, the lack of explicit information can also lead to frustration—especially when small mistakes snowball into irreversible problems. The save system is also limited, making experimentation risky, and at times, the AI behavior (especially from archers or builders) can feel unreliable or too passive, leading to moments where you lose control through no fault of your own. Still, these rough edges are part of the game’s charm, reinforcing the idea that you’re not an omnipotent ruler, but a fragile leader in a harsh, uncaring world. Ultimately, Kingdom: New Lands is a masterclass in restrained game design. It provides a deep, satisfying strategic experience without relying on menus, numbers, or excessive instruction. Every playthrough feels personal, every failure a lesson learned, and every victory hard-earned. It’s a game that respects the player’s intelligence and patience, inviting them to observe, react, and make meaningful choices with limited information. The result is a meditative yet intense journey, one that can be both peaceful and brutal. For players seeking a unique blend of strategy, exploration, and atmospheric storytelling through mechanics, Kingdom: New Lands is a rare gem that continues to reward even after many hours of play. Rating: 8/10

Finally beat the skull island take a lot efforts, improve mechanic a lot there's new item and companion along in another island music, gameplay not change familiar with it

So peaceful & relaxing, and yet so strategically engaging. If you are a patient person and don't mind learning very nuanced mechanics from fucking up and having to start all over again, I highly recommend this serene, blissful little game.

A great continuation of the original Kingdom title. This game feels distinctly ancient and earthy. It is so present it is almost like you could eat or breath it.

I can easily recommend this game. Solid mechanics, very simplistic but very strategic. My Kingdom for a Coin!

Don't have a really good story, but the main point is not the story, but the gameplay. A very interesting game, with a lot of rage on a point, i like it

At first I thought: "What is this weird boring €2 game I found in my steam family library?". Thought of quitting, but you know, let's give it a chance. Now, I bought the game for myself so I could buy the DLC, gonna play classic next and wishlisted the rest.