- 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - Hier 03:21

The King is Watching – Review

Most of us will be familiar with the uncomfortable feeling of an authority figure checking in to see if you’re not slacking off, whether it’s your boss, your parents or… the king? Okay, that last one may not be a very common occurrence in this day and age, but for the peasants of Hypnohead Studios’ latest game, The King is Watching, it’s a daily reality. The game has been out for a while, but it managed to slip under our very own gaze until now. Is The King is Watching worth keeping an eye out for, or is it as exciting as watching paint dry? Story The narrative elements in The King is Watching are used for flavor and world-building rather than telling an actual story. Given the roguelike nature of the game, the absence of a deep narrative campaign isn’t surprising. The basic premise is that you are the king of a small realm in a medieval fantasy world. Said realm is under constant attack from goblins, orcs, skeletons, dragons, demons, and other monsters. Unfortunately, your loyal subjects are ridiculously lazy, preferring to slack off rather than set up defensive structures or contribute to your military. It’s only when the king looks at them that they get off their lazy butts and do their job. This is the gist of The King is Watching’s story, although the game occasionally fleshes out the world through light, comical interludes. These tie into the game’s mechanics as well as set a fun, slightly absurd tone, but are too minor to contribute anything meaningful to the game’s narrative framework. Graphics Where The King is Watching falls short with its narrative, the game makes up for it with visual storytelling. The game makes use of adorable pixel art to bring your realm to life, fully leaning into its humorous fantasy setting. There are a plethora of different units in the game, ranging from goose riders to mushroom warriors and skeleton hordes. While the sprites representing this menagerie are comparatively teensy, their designs are easily distinguishable, even in chaotic battles. The real stars of the show are the larger character portraits, as these are even more charming and expressive than the tiny combatants. As charming as the art direction is, things are still kept relatively simple as well, which results in a reliable visual performance and a stable frame rate. Sound Depending on which of the game’s duo of maps you play on, you’ll hear one of two very distinct pairs of background music. The King is Watching’s village map mostly brings gentle piano tunes to the table, although things do ramp up when battles occur. Meanwhile, the game’s graveyard map fittingly carries an eerier atmosphere, with the music feeling surprisingly close to that of The Nightmare Before Christmas, albeit in 8-bit form. While we definitely would’ve appreciated more soundtrack variety, what’s present here certainly does the trick. The game’s ambience and sound effects are what really bring the world to life, both through things like spell effects and the clashing of swords, and the hustle and bustle of peasants working. These do most of the heavy lifting for The King is Watching’s soundscape, especially in the absence of voice acting. Gameplay Central to The King’s Watching’s gameplay is the king’s gaze. This mechanic turns what would be a fairly standard roguelike city builder/tower defense hybrid game into something tense and unique. The game takes place across a grid, part of which is highlighted by the king’s gaze. Only the buildings that the king looks at will function, forcing players to shift their focus between different structures constantly. This means that building placement on the grid is important, as only part of those structures will do what they need to do at any given time. With both a wide variety and limited supply of resources, strategic planning of adjacent tiles is crucial, allowing you to synergize and streamline production. Both structure and resource management follow the familiar city builder loop, where early gains are used to unlock more advanced stuff. Of course, the waves upon waves of enemies that attack the kingdom become more advanced as well, resulting in an arms race. Battles don’t require the watchful gaze of the king. Any troops you’ve trained from your barracks will auto-battle against enemies outside of your walls. Your king can still contribute to battles, either through unique abilities, like summoning peasants or applying buffs to your forces, through combat spells, or one-time scrolls. Battles occur in timed waves, with a prophecy mechanic allowing you to determine upcoming enemy types, difficulty, and rewards. This results in a risk/reward tradeoff, with harder enemies leading to bigger payouts. Over time, you’ll start to accurately assess the risks, leading to easier battles. Early runs usually end in failure, but even a failed run earns you coins and crystals that can be spent toward permanent upgrades for subsequent runs. There are seven kings to unlock, each offering unique abilities and a different playstyle. These are further supplemented by unlockable advisors, which offer passive buffs, further deepening the strategic layers available. While early runs of The King is Watching are likely poised to meet an early ending, once you find your footing, a typical run will take between 30 and 60 minutes. That’s fairly long for a roguelike game. With no mid-run saving, this does mean that the game requires you to sit down and commit rather than sticking to the quick pick-up-and-play approach that most roguelikes offer. Because of how long a playthrough is, it’s unlikely you’ll go for “one more round” either, because as enjoyable as the core mechanics are, things do tend to get repetitive after a while. Fully completing the game with each king will require some serious dedication. This is the kind of game that most players won’t binge but will return to every few months or so. While the €14.99 RRP may seem a bit steep at first, given that the game is fairly limited in content variety, over time, The King is Watching will give you plenty of mileage to justify that price tag. Conclusion By interweaving familiar gameplay features with a unique mechanic, The King is Watching succeeds in delivering a standout entry in both the city builder and tower defense genres. The king’s gaze adds a surprising amount of strategic depth to the standard gameplay that we know and love. The charming visuals and comedic narrative elements contribute to the game’s quirky atmosphere, even though the story is lacking in depth beyond the game’s initial premise. Prolonged time under the king’s gaze may end up feeling drawn-out and repetitive, but if you stick to one run at a time, then The King is Watching is definitely worth a look.