9 Kings lets you build a kingdom so broken that breaking the game is part of the plan
Raise an army of imps
- Choose from nine kings with different card sets
- Steal enemy cards to build absurd combinations
- Challenge rivals in asynchronous multiplayer
Release dates have a habit of slipping, so it’s always nice when one drops exactly when it said it would. 9 Kings was announced for mobile back in September with an October 12th date attached, and here we are.
The roguelike kingdom builder is out now on iOS and Android, courtesy of Playdigious, after selling over a million copies in early access. It’s also one of the few I’ve seen that lists breaking the game as a feature, which is a refreshingly honest thing to put in writing.
You pick one of nine kings at the start of each run, and each one brings his own cards for buildings, units and spells. One stockpiles gold to hire mercenaries. Another sides with nature, one warps time, and one just raises a horde of imps, which seems like the least effort of the lot.
You lay those cards down to grow your citadel, upgrade towers, recruit troops and stack spells on top of them, then the fighting plays out on its own. Beat a rival king and you get to loot his cards and add them into your own deck. Mixing his cards with yours is how the game-breaking builds happen, apparently.
From there it’s about how long you can hold out against increasingly nasty enemies and the odd random event, across decades of war. Quest Mode adds set challenges, and you can take on eight rivals in async multiplayer for the title of King of Kings.
The mobile version of 9 Kings has been rebuilt around touch, with its own interface, achievements, cloud saves and cross-progression between devices.
The full version of 9 Kings costs $8.99, though it’s free to try and 10% off during launch week.
Check out our list of the best strategy games on iOS, which has a few more kingdoms to run.
