RATINGS:
Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 6
Sound: 0
Overall: 6
Pros: Long-term gameplay requires players to strategise much in advance for what they like to achieve.
Cons: Not for everybody due to its slow pace, no noticeable sounds in beta (at least not by default).
We’ve recently dedicated some of our time check out Thirty Kingdoms, Bytro Labs’ latest strategic empire building MMO. This free-to-play browser-based game set in the Middle Ages turns players into the leader of their personal kingdom (presumably one of 30) and tasks them with collecting resources, advancing their towns and settlements, setting up their own military, and expanding their borders.
After registering, which was a quick and simple process, we were immediately in the game and already playing. A short tutorial marked the beginning and explained how to construct buildings in your towns, of which we began with 5, and train up units and what to use the premium currency Emeralds for.
The map, which we started on, consisted of 2 large continents made up of hundreds of different individual provinces that were under control of various player- and AI-controlled Houses as well as barbarian villages, all of which we could either try to engage in diplomacy and trade with or attempt to plunder.
The tutorial as such was quite restricted and after being shown how to build things and access our province menu, we were simply left with a big “okay, now go and play”. So we were in for looking for our starting area which was situated at the southern coastline of one of the large continents and surrounded by barbarian villages. We therefore presumed our first course of action should consist in setting up a military force to seize those barbarian provinces and incorporate them into our own empire.
Thirty Kingdoms most definitely is a casual long-term strategy game, as it takes hours and days to complete the construction of buildings or training of units and just as long to move your troops from one area to another, making the specifically attractive for those who like to log in time and again to see what’s going on.
As the tutorial quest had provided us with a large amount of Emeralds, we were able to use them for buying missing resources and quickly constructing some fortifications by upgrading our palisade to a fortified wall. Nevertheless, we quickly found ourselves running low on resources so that there wasn’t that much we could build, which forced us to wait for more wood to be harvested, which, as everything else, took a pretty large period of time.
Morale is seemingly one of the game’s key features and affects both military units as well as the city inhabitants in different ways. An interesting fact was that your citizens’and units’ morale is already below 50% when starting out, so that you have to immediately take measures to enhance that circumstance. Players have various buildings and features at their disposal in order to increase morale while unit fatigue and war will have a negative effect on it. They are moreover able to spend Emeralds in order to slightly increase morale.
One quite thrilling feature we really appreciated was the opportunity to check the News for your continent, which informed about what was going on, which buildings have lately been erected, attacks that have been launched, battles that have been fought or alliances that have been forged. This sort of information so often remains well hidden in strategy games, leaving players unconscious of how other players’ cities look like in regards to the constructed buildings, which we definitely think is pretty unrealistic, thus we consider the News feature a highly welcomed addition.
However, there was even more to the game; on the one hand an espionage section which allowed players to hire spies and assassins to do their dirty job, on the other a marketplace enabling them to buy missing resources and sell surplus goods that they might find they have (which undoubtedly will only occur in the later game stages, as we had absolutely nothing we could have spared).
Thirty Kingdoms offers an optional VIP subscription players are able to purchase, which grants the High Nobility status, providing them with access to certain features such as their own private High Nobility chat and queued building among other things. It’s also possible to separately purchase Emeralds though.
On the whole, the MMO seems pretty promising providing you’re having the patience for playing such a long-term strategy game. You would be disappointed when expecting quick thrills or instant action you could jump into, as Thirty Kingdom’s definitely targeting a specific audience, which isn’t necessarily meant to be a negative aspect.
The graphics and animations are well designed and the whole gameplay experience evokes a sort of Crusader Kings feel, which absolutely isn’t terrible at all.
You may check out our first look video right here and also activate the INFO button below in order to find out more about Thirty Kingdoms.
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