A lot of strategy games around kingdom building require mastering a host of techniques, building up relationships with others, and time. Thronefall does away with most of that, providing instead a minimalist kingdom-building experience, though you’ll still need to carefully plan and manage your resources to get through the waves of enemies that attack.
Thronefall’s gameplay is a mix of resource management, building up a kingdom, and tower defence. At the start of each map, of which there are four, you are given a small amount of gold to build up your resources. You can spend the gold on things like houses, towers, mills, barracks, and archery ranges, with each of them providing different benefits. Houses and mills can provide gold, while towers provide defence. Barracks provide soldiers while archery ranges provide archers. That might sound basic but there is a lot of depth when it comes to gameplay, with each map providing different challenges to deal with.
Each map is split into a day and night segment, each bookending the enemy waves. Â Daytime is when the construction happens and you have to decide how to approach the situation. You’re aware of what enemies will be attacking, apart from one occasion, so that also plays into what you build. Do you build houses so you have gold flowing in, or do you build up the defences? The other option is upgrading what you have already, like the castle, which is the most important building you have. If that falls then it’s game over. The other consideration is how far you expand out. Too far and your forces could be stretched, while too compact and enemies can get closer to the castle easily.
On top of that decision-making, you have to decide what types of soldiers and archers you have. When starting you are limited to the likes of standard archers, but as you level up more units become available, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Choices have to be made as each barrack and archery range will only produce the specific unit you select for it.
Whatever tactic you choose, you will find out at night if it works. This is not a passive experience where you watch the wave come in and let your defences do all the work. As the leader, you’re in the battle too riding around on your horse and attacking enemies. You start with a bow and arrow, and later you unlock a spear and a sword. Just like the soldiers, the leader’s weapons also have advantages and disadvantages. Each enemy wave gets tougher, building up to a final massive attack in the last wave on each the maps.
The four maps offer different layouts and biomes, providing their own challenges. On top of that, each has missions that you can complete to meet 100% completion. This includes using or not using a certain weapon, or having specific buffs and extra challenges active, like enemies being stronger. Levelling up unlocks further challenges as well as more buffs, so there’s plenty of replayability after finishing an initial run, which took approximately four hours. Thronefall’s visuals make coming back a delight, as the game’s minimalist style looks fantastic, while the accompanying soundtrack matches the feel of action well.
The only real bug, though it is not clear it is a bug, was enemies able to run around a wall and get past the defence by running up a hill like Kate Bush, and down it again. The difficulty of some of the waves could put some people off, but that is the core challenge that Thronefall will throw at you to test your strategizing.
Good
- Highly replayable
- Very entertaining
- Easy to pick up, and a challenge to master
Bad
- Enemies running around a wall on one map
- Difficulty spikes may put some off
Thronefall may be a minimalist strategy title, but it is big in heart and has a lot of depth to it. It is a game that is simple to play, but will challenge you at every turn. It is incredibly tough to put Thronefall down as it has that one more turn feel down to a tee. The challenge will be offputting for some, and there is a possible bug of enemies running around a wall, but other than that Thronefall is worth your time.
Score: 9/10
