Kingdoms and Castles Review (wtetris)
Now that I have 100%ed the game I want to edit my review. I went from not liking the game (Early Access), to mildly amused (mid-update), to loving the game (fully updated+DLC).
Things I wish I would have realized earlier:
1. How useful the Pause and FastForward buttons are when city planning. Wasted a lot of time playing at regular speed.
2. Roads have a 3 square build radius, you don't have to connect everything. Wasted a lot of space connecting every doorway to a road.
3. Build Quarry on Day One. Build Treasure Room ASAP. Wasted a lot of time on the early wood phase, then struggling without Gardens and Advanced Buildings.
4. How important Happiness and Water are. Check the Smiley icon and Irrigation regularly. Fires can really rip through town quickly.
5. Focusing agriculture on 'Very Fertile' land instead of 'Fertile' makes a big difference in food yield. Well planned irrigation can make it even better.
I hope the devs keep updating the diplomacy and war aspects of the game to have as much balance as the city building. Maybe an expensive Dragon Pit building to make dragon riders if you have enough meat to feed them. Or a Kennel to train wolves into loyal dogs. Similar to the way you can get Vikings to join you if they are impressed by your Cathedral. The relationship with rival monarchs needs more dimension, but considering how new that part of the game is I can forgive the repetitive nature of it. They do weitd things like ask for supplies to build a medium house even though they have a huge kingdom with more than enough resources. At that level they should be asking for Arenas and Theatres.
Great game, though. Lots of casual fun or tower defense challenge.