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Hello Steemit!

If you have Discord then you’ve seen that they recently added a game library to their application. For Nitro supporters like me, there’s a now small collection of new and classic games like FTL: Faster than Light and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 available for free download. Among the currently offered games is a new offering called Kingdom: New Lands that I think is worth giving some of your time.

Summary

Kingdom: New Lands is a retro side-scroller resource-management game that puts you into the shoes of nobility fleeing some sort of catastrophic disaster in their former kingdom. The game is simple, with 75% of the gameplay consisting of one of three actions. You are taught the controls and basic mechanics by way of a ghostly mentor and then your would-be companion fades into oblivion leaving you to discover for yourself what the driving objective of the game is.

Without spoiling anything, Kingdom: New Lands is frustrating. It’s a game that is constantly locked on a hardcore mode where the slightest misstep or miscalculation will send you back to the beginning. And I mean all the way back to the beginning. Though the game only has three simple actions, there are sub-mechanics that may not be immediately apparent and require trial and error to figure out. In your first few runs you may find yourself at an impasse and be forced to re-start the game even if you haven’t technically lost.

The beauty of Kingdom: New Lands is in the simplicity, however. The art style is a mixture of 8 and 16 bit graphics. There is diverse weather across the world’s day/night cycle and every decision you make impacts the appearance of the terrain. A simple, melodic soundtrack gives you cues to elements of the game like the turning of the day or...well, I can’t exactly say what else without spoiling some of the fun.

What I Think

My overall experience with Kingdom: New Lands has been filled with discovery and exploration, trial and error, failure and rewarding success when I’ve gathered enough information to overcome a particular obstacle. My latest and longest run so far ended abruptly when I made a poor decision that cost me the game in mere seconds.

There’s a real sense of ‘figure it out as you go’ that is refreshing. You’re left to discover the world and how each thing you interact with responds to your prompting. There is trial and error to every run, allowing you to experience minute successes and game-ending failures as you learn and adapt. The ability to figure out a game like this without your hand being held along the way is rare and rewarding for gamers desiring an intellectual experience as well as solid gameplay.

Kingdom: New Lands is available now on Steam and Discord Games for $14.99, or to Discord Nitro early-supporters for free.

That’s all for now, until next time!

~ Mako

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Thanks for reading!

Check out my most recent posts here:
The Magic of Jeremy Zuckerman
Sherlock Challenge #2 - Win 4 SBI - STILL OPEN

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My Current Ongoing Story:

Kayde's Tale (Part 1)
Alora's Tale (Part 2)
Kayde & Alora's Tale (Part 3)