Demo Recap & History of the Kingdom
Welcome new arrivals to the Council!
Come in, make yourself comfortable, put that dagger away, and thank you all for playing the Demo. We'd like to share some data on the Demo and a little lore post, but first...
If you haven't wishlisted King of the Castle, the political party game that's been called "Reigns meets Jackbox", let me just pop this below...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1839880/King_Of_The_Castle
Now you've wishlisted (thank you), let's talk Stats! Though not the type that you fail a 90% Challenge on...
[h2]Lookback at our Steam Next Fest Demo[/h2]
Feast your eyes on some lovely statistics about our Demo:
Some extra facts about our Demo:
We had a ton of superb feedback on the Demo also, both in our Steam Community hub and our Discord suggestions and feedback channels.
Some of this feedback we'll be addressing for 1.0, others will take time to implement. We're a small team so please bear with us! In the meantime why don't we dive into a much requested area of the game, the lore.
[h2]The History of the Kingdom[/h2]
Welcome to the first instalment of the King of the Castle lore deep dives. Only read further if you’re the kind of person who flicks through the Silmarillion for fun. This time, we’re talking about the history of the Kingdom - before the game begins and allows you to write a history of your own!
The Kingdom was once a patchwork collection of squabbling fiefdoms, ignored by the rest of the world as too war-torn and bloody-minded to bother invading. Each of the regions used to be its own kingdom, with its own long lineage of kings, and they all despised each other.
That all changed 350 years ago, when King Arald the Great embarked on his Decade of Conquest. In ten blood-soaked years, he conquered all the regions, slaughtered all their Kings, and brought them all together under one throne for the first time. After a few months of peace proved unbearable for him, he promptly launched an invasion against the Republic of Kirth across the sea, and drowned - along with half his fleet - in a sudden thunderstorm.
Against all odds, though, the newly-forged Kingdom didn’t immediately fall apart. Arald’s only heir was a daughter, Queen Alma the Wise. She faced several rebellions as soon as she took the throne, but managed to put them all down with a combination of shrewd military strategy and savvy diplomacy. After that, she reigned for 60 long years, consolidating the Kingdom. She was advised by a Grand Committee, the precursor to the modern Council - they were made up from Nobles across the Kingdom, but their role was purely advisory rather than binding and they seldom took formal votes.
After Queen Alma died peacefully in bed, she was succeeded by a long line of monarchs who wielded their unlimited power much less wisely. For the next 200 years, the Kingdom lurched from crisis to crisis, including a number of major wars.
Monarchs who reigned during this time included:
By the end of this two-century period, there were dozens of possibly-legitimate heirs to the throne and hundreds of Nobles with powerful grievances against the monarchy. This all culminated in the Succession Wars, a rapid series of short but intense civil wars which dominated the Kingdom for the better part of two decades.
Finally, a conclusive victor emerged from the chaos: Queen Eiga II, known to history as the Reconciliator. The Succession Wars had seen the various Regions at odds with each other once again, and a lasting peace seemed impossible. Queen Eiga II rewrote the constitution to engineer a solution that has endured to this day - the Council, a voting body of the most prominent Nobles in the land. The Council’s constitutional powers include the power to vote on the Monarch’s decisions and, if the Monarch dies before securing an Heir, to choose the successor.
The Reconciliator ruled for 20 years before being struck down by illness. In the century or so since then, notable monarchs have included:
Now it's your turn to take the throne. A wise Monarch plays the Regions off against one another, uses Laws to keep voting under control, makes sure the Region's Defiance stays below their Authority or Stability, and balances the Treasury.
You have the crown, but can you keep it? Or will one of your Regions snatch it away from you? Find out in King of the Castle, coming March 2nd!
And just to whet your appetite, here's a sneak peek at our new Monarch customisations and system for randomizing your characters:
Want to see more of what's in King of the Castle for launch? Join our Discord, where we post updates regularly and where you can set up your own Party Games!
Come in, make yourself comfortable, put that dagger away, and thank you all for playing the Demo. We'd like to share some data on the Demo and a little lore post, but first...
If you haven't wishlisted King of the Castle, the political party game that's been called "Reigns meets Jackbox", let me just pop this below...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1839880/King_Of_The_Castle
Now you've wishlisted (thank you), let's talk Stats! Though not the type that you fail a 90% Challenge on...
[h2]Lookback at our Steam Next Fest Demo[/h2]
Feast your eyes on some lovely statistics about our Demo:
Some extra facts about our Demo:
- The most popular non-Scheme Event was Monster in the East (12% of games).
- 25 Monarchs ran low on cash, but no-one managed to go completely broke!
- Of the 54 players that dealt with the Order of the Gossamer Shield, 15 turned them into a security force, while 9 revived courtly virtues...
- 24 Monarchs learnt to co-exist with giant spiders! With varying degrees of success.
- That 1 game that nearly won with Ashmede needs only one more turn to get the reward. Good thing Demo saves will work with 1.0.
- 1 game burst the jeweled crab market bubble. Line goes up, but also, sometimes line goes down...
We had a ton of superb feedback on the Demo also, both in our Steam Community hub and our Discord suggestions and feedback channels.
Some of this feedback we'll be addressing for 1.0, others will take time to implement. We're a small team so please bear with us! In the meantime why don't we dive into a much requested area of the game, the lore.
[h2]The History of the Kingdom[/h2]
Welcome to the first instalment of the King of the Castle lore deep dives. Only read further if you’re the kind of person who flicks through the Silmarillion for fun. This time, we’re talking about the history of the Kingdom - before the game begins and allows you to write a history of your own!
The Kingdom was once a patchwork collection of squabbling fiefdoms, ignored by the rest of the world as too war-torn and bloody-minded to bother invading. Each of the regions used to be its own kingdom, with its own long lineage of kings, and they all despised each other.
That all changed 350 years ago, when King Arald the Great embarked on his Decade of Conquest. In ten blood-soaked years, he conquered all the regions, slaughtered all their Kings, and brought them all together under one throne for the first time. After a few months of peace proved unbearable for him, he promptly launched an invasion against the Republic of Kirth across the sea, and drowned - along with half his fleet - in a sudden thunderstorm.
Against all odds, though, the newly-forged Kingdom didn’t immediately fall apart. Arald’s only heir was a daughter, Queen Alma the Wise. She faced several rebellions as soon as she took the throne, but managed to put them all down with a combination of shrewd military strategy and savvy diplomacy. After that, she reigned for 60 long years, consolidating the Kingdom. She was advised by a Grand Committee, the precursor to the modern Council - they were made up from Nobles across the Kingdom, but their role was purely advisory rather than binding and they seldom took formal votes.
After Queen Alma died peacefully in bed, she was succeeded by a long line of monarchs who wielded their unlimited power much less wisely. For the next 200 years, the Kingdom lurched from crisis to crisis, including a number of major wars.
Monarchs who reigned during this time included:
- King Tymeon the Mad, a cruel man with a bizarre sense of humour, who ruled for 12 years and whose worst excesses could not be curtailed by the power of the Grand Committee. Resentment against King Tymeon’s excessive power would eventually prove to be a major factor in the Succession Wars.
Upon ascending to the throne, King Tymeon notably eschewed a traditional coronation and instead instructed the commonfolk of the Kingdom to slice open their palms and smear their blood on his boots. He also declared war on the colour blue, ordering an entire regiment of soldiers to fire arrows into the sky (with many casualties). - King Tymeon II the Mercifully Brief. King Tymeon’s son; a sickly boy of just twelve when he ascended to the throne, was quietly murdered at the age of 17 when it became clear that he shared the same tendencies as his father.
- King Tymeon III the Short. A very tall man, and the namesake of Tymeon’s Pox, a disease which causes victims to undergo sudden growth spurts of a foot or more before dying suddenly.
By the end of this two-century period, there were dozens of possibly-legitimate heirs to the throne and hundreds of Nobles with powerful grievances against the monarchy. This all culminated in the Succession Wars, a rapid series of short but intense civil wars which dominated the Kingdom for the better part of two decades.
Finally, a conclusive victor emerged from the chaos: Queen Eiga II, known to history as the Reconciliator. The Succession Wars had seen the various Regions at odds with each other once again, and a lasting peace seemed impossible. Queen Eiga II rewrote the constitution to engineer a solution that has endured to this day - the Council, a voting body of the most prominent Nobles in the land. The Council’s constitutional powers include the power to vote on the Monarch’s decisions and, if the Monarch dies before securing an Heir, to choose the successor.
The Reconciliator ruled for 20 years before being struck down by illness. In the century or so since then, notable monarchs have included:
- King Regnar the Strong, who waged two bloody wars against the Ashmedean Empire over twenty-one years (the first offensive, the second panicky and defensive). Just a few months after the end of the Second Ashmedean War, he died while hunting, dragged off by a crazed bear (his body was never recovered, and legends persist that he killed the bear, wore its skin, and still lives in the woods to this day).
- King Arald III, the father of the player’s Monarch upon the beginning of the first reign in a Dynasty. He was known (behind the player’s back) as the Drunkard. King Arald III has a reputation as a man who tried his best, for a while. He attempted to bring much-needed reforms to the Kingdom and improve its infrastructure, and he became so depressed after the Council defeated his proposed amendments that he turned to alcohol. The last few years of his reign were marred by embarrassment and humiliation as the King ruined important speeches by passing out mid-sentence, or offended foreign dignitaries by vomiting on their shoes.
In the end, King Arald III died tragically young of ‘the bloody flux.’ In reality, he was probably poisoned by a member of the Council.
The player was able to succeed their father largely because the squabbling Nobles couldn’t decide on a better heir, each supporting someone from their own region, and settled on them as a compromise option who they hoped to be able to bring under their control.
Now it's your turn to take the throne. A wise Monarch plays the Regions off against one another, uses Laws to keep voting under control, makes sure the Region's Defiance stays below their Authority or Stability, and balances the Treasury.
You have the crown, but can you keep it? Or will one of your Regions snatch it away from you? Find out in King of the Castle, coming March 2nd!
And just to whet your appetite, here's a sneak peek at our new Monarch customisations and system for randomizing your characters:
Want to see more of what's in King of the Castle for launch? Join our Discord, where we post updates regularly and where you can set up your own Party Games!