I love, love A Kingdom for Keflings. There's something to be said for games that offer a more relaxing experience. I'm a fan of NinjaBee through and through, and this is their best offering yet.
My oldest son summed up A Kingdom for Keflings best by saying, "it's a game about doing chores...that's fun." I've learned to never question the genius of a nine-year-old. I've found my tastes swaying more and more towards the more non-traditional gaming tropes these days. It's not that I don't occasionally enjoy killing terrorists or space aliens, but rather that I have found equal enjoyment when a game challenges me to think differently or expand game play beyond popping a cap in something.
Although my son makes Keflings sound like a devious hard labor simulator, the gaming avant garde would call it a resource management title, distilled to it's core principles. There's no beating around the bush when it comes to Keflings goals; it is to simply build a town for your little neighbors to inhabit. You don't need to fortify your village in defense of stereotypical fantasy monsters or crush a rival kingdom with your economic might; you just build work shops for cobblers and secondary schools, and that's it. It's simplistic, sure; but also refreshing in the fact that it just leaves you to your own devices and embraces creativity.
You're still guided to a degree; the kingdom evolves gradually through the methods in which you build and the materials needed to do so. For instance, you start off using logs primarily which advances to carved wood. You're always using the basic provisions of wool, wood, crystal and stone; you just use more complex versions of it the further you get. When you first bump to the next "level" it feels a bit daunting; but it fades quickly. And that's the extent of what little difficulty curve there is. This isn't the type of game that goes about challenging you per say; unless, of course, you lack patience of any kind.
What's interesting is that, even though you play a giant, you're actually portrayed as the underling. You direct the Keflings in gathering resources; but the majority of the work is done by you. Even with that much sway, you never lay claim as ruler; in fact, you pick one of the little people to move up the rank from mayor to eventual king. There's perspective to be had in knowing you're the most powerful person in the land, and yet you're content with just helping out. There's also a nice sense of accomplishment in finishing a new building, which is a bit strange considering it honestly doesn't take very long to build anything; a few minutes tops. What's even better is that, once you've put the last tower in on your burgeoning castle, you can keep extending your kingdom; land permitting. Which I felt like doing the minute we stopped dancing in triumph. Something I rarely feel compelled to do these days in videogames period.
None of my gushing comes as a big surprise personally; NinjaBee has quickly become one of the top developers on my short list of favorites. There's a certain feel and style to their games that just screams for me to pick them up. And I have yet to be disappointed. A Kingdom for Keflings is one of those titles that relaxes; something that games just don't do often enough. Which is a strange thing to say about a game whose sole game play mechanic is essentially doing work. My son would agree.
Although my son makes Keflings sound like a devious hard labor simulator, the gaming avant garde would call it a resource management title, distilled to it's core principles. There's no beating around the bush when it comes to Keflings goals; it is to simply build a town for your little neighbors to inhabit. You don't need to fortify your village in defense of stereotypical fantasy monsters or crush a rival kingdom with your economic might; you just build work shops for cobblers and secondary schools, and that's it. It's simplistic, sure; but also refreshing in the fact that it just leaves you to your own devices and embraces creativity.
You're still guided to a degree; the kingdom evolves gradually through the methods in which you build and the materials needed to do so. For instance, you start off using logs primarily which advances to carved wood. You're always using the basic provisions of wool, wood, crystal and stone; you just use more complex versions of it the further you get. When you first bump to the next "level" it feels a bit daunting; but it fades quickly. And that's the extent of what little difficulty curve there is. This isn't the type of game that goes about challenging you per say; unless, of course, you lack patience of any kind.
What's interesting is that, even though you play a giant, you're actually portrayed as the underling. You direct the Keflings in gathering resources; but the majority of the work is done by you. Even with that much sway, you never lay claim as ruler; in fact, you pick one of the little people to move up the rank from mayor to eventual king. There's perspective to be had in knowing you're the most powerful person in the land, and yet you're content with just helping out. There's also a nice sense of accomplishment in finishing a new building, which is a bit strange considering it honestly doesn't take very long to build anything; a few minutes tops. What's even better is that, once you've put the last tower in on your burgeoning castle, you can keep extending your kingdom; land permitting. Which I felt like doing the minute we stopped dancing in triumph. Something I rarely feel compelled to do these days in videogames period.
None of my gushing comes as a big surprise personally; NinjaBee has quickly become one of the top developers on my short list of favorites. There's a certain feel and style to their games that just screams for me to pick them up. And I have yet to be disappointed. A Kingdom for Keflings is one of those titles that relaxes; something that games just don't do often enough. Which is a strange thing to say about a game whose sole game play mechanic is essentially doing work. My son would agree.
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4 comments:
Agreed about the popping of caps. A nice relaxing gaming experience is usually where I find the most joy out of this wonderful little hobby of ours, which is probably why I'm always singing the praises of Animal Crossing and can't seen to put down Harvest Moon (which is arguably more stressful than relaxing, but hey).
I've never gotten the chance to play Keflings, but after my little run through Little King's Story it would probably be something I'd enjoy.
Knowing your tastes (as they're very similar to mine), I'd say you'd definitely get a kick out of Keflings. I like your little deviation point on Harvest Moon; eventually you find a pace that feels right, but at first it does actually feel like work.
I actually grabbed this game when it first came out. The trial really left me wanting more, so I dropped the coin for the entire game. The entire time I played the game, I never realized that you really are the grunt, even though you might as well be a god to these tiny folk. My daughter enjoyed watching my avatar walk around picking Keflings up to change their jobs. The music was also a highlight for me.
Yeah, the tunes are most definitely catchy; I'm also a fan of the quick weather changes. Maybe in a sequel there'll be more land deformation to really trick out your kingdom. My son enjoyed watching just to see which structures would go up next, waiting with bated breath for the inevitable castle that finishes the game off.
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