There aren’t many franchises that are as silly and easy to play as Reigns. Since the titular first entry, we’ve had a handful of new entries (including a Game of Thrones spin-off that was more than whatever Season 8 cooked up) and it seems like the series is doing well for itself, as it’s now having a customary Three Kingdoms spin-off. If your IP is in any way successful, then it will probably get a spin-off based on ancient Chinese dynasties — those are just the rules.
Releasing on Steam following its mobile debut, Reigns: Three Kingdoms, in its broadest terms, plays similarly to previous entries, with players choosing one of two dialogue options like some kind of weird dating app that might kill you in order to proceed. Reigns in general is best played on something like the touchscreen of a Steam Deck, which is how I experienced it, as you can swipe left or right. Whichever choice you make will determine how much a handful of distinct meters that govern things like citizen happiness, military, and religion fill up or deplete. Be too benevolent or too malevolent and your reign will be over, with you being killed by spears, burned alive, or any of the other super fun ways people usually commit regicide.
Once you die, you will then be replaced either by a cousin, spouse, or heir, with you then able to pick up almost exactly where you left off. It’s a shame there isn’t much of a roguelite mechanic similar to Rogue Legacy in which your heir takes on randomised personality traits, but there are many layers to your interactions here that could get very messy if your successor randomly started using slurs, read words backwards, or whatever.
The main objective in Three Kingdoms is to conquer all 13 regions by building your army, completing story-based objectives, and, um, making rice wine. There’s a whole bunch of goofy scenarios in Three Kingdoms to enjoy and while it’s always fun to experience them, it can quickly get frustrating when it’s not entirely clear what kind of reaction your choices will provide. Reigns: Three Kingdoms is as much about smart strategy as it is learning from how many times you die. That may get a bit frustrating for some.
Reigns: Three Kingdoms is also perhaps guilty of not peppering in enough of its card battles in a more even way. The smart new system sees you swiping left or right to choose one of four cards to attack, with the main goal of defeating enemy cards until you can attack the empty spaces left behind and ultimately win the battle. It’s deceptively simple, as you actually have to think multiple steps due to the fact that you can only move left or right once each turn. Do you use your attack-heavy but health-light card to try and brunt force your way to victory, or do you chip away with the lighter cards to then use the glass cannon later? There’s a surprisingly brilliant weight to each movement within the card battles, but they really don’t seem to come around often enough. I played an hour without encountering a single one, though the introduction of multiplayer does mean players can jump right into it with others away from the story.
Reigns: Three Kingdoms may not have quite the same magic that the first entry did, but this is still a novel idea that can be picked up and played by anyone, especially those looking for a Horrible Histories version of Ancient China at a super low price.
Steam key provided by PR
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