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The King is Watching News

Update 1.0.4, King Leo and Lesson Learned

[p]Noble Kings,[/p][p][/p][p]Today we want to address the recent balancing changes to King Leo the Wise and share some insight into our thinking, alongside a few additional adjustments.
(If you're here just for the patch notes, feel free to scroll down. But we'd really appreciate it if you took a moment to read this message.)[/p][p][/p][h3]A Kingdom Off to a Glorious Start[/h3][p]It’s been just a few weeks since The King is Watching launched, and we’re overwhelmed with the response. Many of you have already poured countless hours into the game, conquered high Threat Levels, and shared your wild, creative builds with us. Your enthusiasm has been nothing short of inspiring, and it makes us even more determined to keep building upon this world: more content, more Kings, more units.[/p][p][/p][p]But before expanding the kingdom, we need to strengthen its foundations.[/p][p][/p][h3]Improving the Foundation[/h3][p]Over the past weeks, we’ve mobilized everyone—seriously, everyone. We’ve spoken with nearly every GameMaker developer we could find, and we’re now in direct contact with the engine’s creators. Together, we’ve made huge strides in identifying technical issues, from crashes to performance. Some bugs still remain, but we’re confident that the new mid-run saving system is a massive step forward for the stability and playability of the game.[/p][p]That said, there are two big areas left to improve:[/p]
  • [p]⚖️ Fixing critical balance issues[/p]
  • [p]🛠️ Clarifying UI and core mechanics[/p]
[p]We started with balance…and that leads us to Leo.[/p][p][/p][h3]The Problem with Leo[/h3][p]We’ll be honest: we didn’t balance King Leo the Wise properly. He was simply too strong. Here's why:[/p]
  • [p]His first ability had an extremely short cooldown, enabling frequent blueprint sales.[/p]
  • [p]Selling blueprints rapidly boosted morale, which in turn greatly increased unit damage and resource production.[/p]
  • [p]Players could bypass early-game resource management entirely, a system that’s supposed to be a core part of the challenge.[/p]
  • [p]On top of that, Leo has one of the best Gaze upgrades and can spawn free units on cooldown.[/p]
[p][/p][p]We want each King to offer unique bonuses and a meaningful challenge. Some will naturally be stronger than others. And we love seeing you break the game with wild builds, whether intentional or not. But Leo was on an entirely different level. Not just compared to existing Kings, but even those we’re planning to introduce in the future.[/p][p][/p][h3]"Why Not Just Buff Everyone Else?"[/h3][p]Trust us, we considered it. But buffing everything to match Leo would cause runaway stat inflation and break the balance of the game in other areas. It would also make it far harder to design future content. So a nerf was necessary.[/p][p][/p][p]We hate nerfing things. And our goal was to do it just once. But after reviewing your feedback, we agree: we went too far. This update includes a revised, more balanced version of Leo and several other changes to improve the experience overall.[/p][p][/p][h3]Patch Notes[/h3][p]King Leo the Wise’s third ability resource costs have been reverted:[/p]
  • [p]1st use: Wheat 200, Wood 200 → Wheat 100, Wood 100[/p]
  • [p]2nd use: Wheat 400, Wood 400 → Wheat 200, Wood 200[/p]
  • [p]3rd use: Flour 250, Metal 250 → Flour 100, Metal 100[/p]
  • [p]4th use: Flour 600, Metal 600 → Flour 300, Metal 300[/p]
  • [p]First ability cooldown reduced from 40s → 30s.[/p]
  • [p]Improved the functionality of artifacts applying productivity seals for Threat Level 8+ runs.[/p]
  • [p]Added Steam achievements for completing the game on Threat Level 10 with each King.[/p]
  • [p]Made various localization and text improvements across multiple languages.[/p]
[p][/p][h3]A Final Word[/h3][p]We want to sincerely thank you for your feedback. Some of it was tough to read, but it showed just how passionate this community already is about The King is Watching. We share that passion with you, and we’re learning every day how to better shape this game together.[/p][p][/p][p]You’ve helped us learn a valuable lesson: don’t nerf that hard. We hope future updates will bring only joy, chaos, and crown-worthy moments.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for your love and support!
~ Hypnohead[/p]

Every game is a roguelike deckbuilder now, but I've finally found a few that have stopped me being a hater




People don't appreciate how challenging it is to be a hater. I often find myself chatting to absolutely lovely people getting excited about a cool game, and I just want to let them enjoy it. But I can't. I am the worst kind of person, and I must make them aware that this thing actually sucks. I am miserable and I must make everyone else miserable too. It's a real burden...
Read more.

The King is Watching Joins Yogcast’s Tiny Teams Event!

[p]Noble Kings,[/p][p][/p][p]We’re proud to announce that The King is Watching will be featured in the Tiny Teams Showcase, organized by the royal folks at Yogscast! It’s an honor to be part of an event celebrating small studios just like us.[/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Each stream will feature three different indie games, and the streamers will choose the order, so keep your eyes peeled for The King is Watching during the slot![/p][p][/p][p]We hope you’ll join the stream and check out our and the other kingly games! HUZZAH![/p][p]~ Hypnohead[/p][p]
[/p]

Mid-Run Saving is here with Update 1.0.3!

[p]Noble Kings![/p][p][/p][p]Today we bring news you’ve long awaited: Mid-Run Saving Is Here![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Each time you complete a wave, the game will automatically save your progress. You can now safely choose “Quit and Save” from the pause menu, then return to your kingdom later exactly where you left off.[/p][p][/p][p]This improvement comes alongside the 1.0.3 Update, with even more balance, QoL, and technical improvements.[/p][p][/p][h2]Update 1.0.3 Changes[/h2][h3]Mid-Run Saves[/h3]
  • [p]Each time you complete a wave, the game automatically saves your progress.[/p]
  • [p]Safely select "Quit and Save" from the pause menu and resume your kingdom exactly where you left off.[/p]
[p][/p][p]Technical Improvements and QoL[/p]
  • [p]Fixed a crash related to particle systems.[/p]
  • [p]Crystal Castle and Balloon Bomber units can now be moved in and out of barracks. The "Comfy Bed" artifact now allows recruiting more of these troops per building.[/p]
  • [p]Alchemists and the Witch boss now correctly apply production slowdown to buildings with thrown bottles.[/p]
  • [p]Corrected the Dragon boss modifier (-50% spell damage) not calculating correctly.[/p]
  • [p]Spell damage multiplier now shows 100% if no modifiers are applied.[/p]
[p][/p][h3]Balance Changes[/h3][p]Spells[/p]
  • [p]Fireworks duration increased from 8s → 12s.[/p]
  • [p]Legendary Fireworks duration increased from 10s → 18s.
    [/p]
[p]Bosses and Troops[/p][p]Graveyard Golem:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 33,000 → 36,000[/p]
  • [p]Attack Damage: 280 → 330[/p]
  • [p]Fallen Soldiers spawned: 8 → 16[/p]
  • [p]Zombies spawned: 8 → 12[/p]
[p]Malathrax:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 23,000 → 26,000[/p]
  • [p]Attack Damage: 300 → 330[/p]
  • [p]Fireball Damage: 70 → 100[/p]
[p]Venoxia:[/p]
  • [p]Attack Damage: 220 → 250[/p]
[p]Bat:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 35 → 75[/p]
  • [p]Attack Damage: 7 → 9[/p]
[p]Whipman:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 60 → 120[/p]
  • [p]Whip Cooldown: 3s → 1.5s[/p]
[p]Madman:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 70 → 100[/p]
[p]All Druids:[/p]
  • [p]Transformation time: 20s → 12s[/p]
[p]Maya Reaper:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 8,000 → 6,000[/p]
[p]Maya Pikeman:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 10,000 → 8,000[/p]
[p]Maya Bamboo Warrior:[/p]
  • [p]HP: 8,000 → 7,000[/p]
[h3]Kings[/h3][p]Brezhnius:[/p]
  • [p]Heal Ability: 500 HP → 1,000 HP[/p]
[p]Leonid:[/p]
  • [p]First quest required Castle HP: 10 → 30[/p]
[p]Leo:[/p][p]Developer Comment:
We don't plan any further nerfs for the Kings. However, we acknowledge that we didn't balance Leo optimally from the start—his ability turned out to be much stronger than intended.[/p][p]We completely agree that buffing underperforming characters is a better approach overall, and that's the direction we'll be taking moving forward. Rest assured, no additional major nerfs are planned beyond this adjustment.[/p]
  • [p]First ability cooldown increased from 1s → 40s[/p]
  • [p]Third ability usage costs increased:[/p]
    • [p]1st use: Wheat 100, Wood 100 → Wheat 200, Wood 200[/p]
    • [p]2nd use: Wheat 200, Wood 200 → Wheat 400, Wood 400[/p]
    • [p]3rd use: Flour 100, Metal 100 → Flour 250, Metal 250[/p]
    • [p]4th use: Flour 300, Metal 300 → Flour 600, Metal 600[/p]
[p][/p][h2]What’s Next?[/h2][p]We’re actively working on further improvements to quality of life. Our next focus will be improving the UI to better explain game mechanics and ensuring that tooltips provide all the information you need at a glance. We’re also planning additional balance changes based on your feedback.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Devs are Watching[/h2][p]We keep a close eye on discussions, bug reports, and suggestions across all platforms. Your feedback helps shape the direction of development, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with us. You can write us here:[/p][p][/p][p]~ Hypnohead[/p]

Keep a close eye on your kingdom in The King is Watching

The King is Watching from Hypnohead and tinyBuild is a unique micro-management roguelite kingdom builder that will suck you right in.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/08/keep-a-close-eye-on-your-kingdom-in-the-king-is-watching/