The King’s League – Well This Was Something, Right?

It’s hard to really describe the genre The King’s League is in. It has some RPG and time management game aspects to it, and that’s about all there is to this flash game.

… Okay, that’s not really just it. I mean, there is a little more to the game than that.

You’re tasked with raising a small force and competing in the King’s League, a tournament that will decide the ascendant to the throne. It’s a very simple concept, and is carried out with relatively little effort in-game. Every task requires only a few clicks, then you’re onto the next one. This lack of effort may seem to be a good thing, but what really happens is you end up clicking through menus the entire time. This, to be honest, makes it a little boring.

A management training game?

You spend your time raising money and food to expand your force (up to four units), recruiting new units, train, and taking over new territory. Each month you must compete in one tournament battle, after which you are ranked among other competitors. Between each tournament battle, you can train your units, take on quests, and conquer new lands for more monthly income. Quests are just single battles, as are conquests (with conquests usually being the harder of the two).

They don’t take direction well

What is notable is that battles, despite being 50% of the game, are not interactive. Your squad dukes it out with their opponents with no input of your own. It does make things easy since your only real task is to grind stats and the battles are fun to watch, but at the same time it really does drive home that The King’s League is purely a casual time waster. It does have an end, unlike some flash games that fit the bill. That could be a plus or a negative, depending on your point of view.

Balance? What balance?

I should mention that there is no sense of balance to be found here.  Ever-so-rare unique units will be far more powerful than standard ones. So much more powerful that you will have no problem filling your squad with them and steamrolling everything the game has left to offer, once you get them. In a way, the game’s simple visuals make up for this fact. They might be slaughtering everything they come across, but golly gee they are kind of cute.

The King’s League is basically the definition of a flash game. It’s easy to pick up, the visuals are memorable, the music isn’t bad, and it’s not going to wrack your brain to play. From a design standpoint, it’s certainly up there — but the game’s lack of anything to actually do can make it seem like a drag after you’re playing for an hour and still have another hour or two to go. It’s fun for a while, but once you’ve gotten it down there’s nothing left to keep you going. Truly a flash game to be played while procrastinating, but not one to pass the time with.