After covering The King is Watching in my February Month in Review, I thought I was done with it. I had an OK time playing the game, but didn’t feel like it had enough variety to where I’d want to keep plucking away at it.
Less than 2 weeks after I published that post, developer Hypnohead released a massive free content update alongside a paid DLC for the game. I then received an email asking if I’d like to check out the DLC, which lured me back for all of the new content, and quality-of-life changes that were added in the latest update.
And you know what?
I have never been so swiftly corrected after publishing an opinion on a game.
Regardless, let’s get into all of what has changed in the latest update to The King is Watching, and also cover the particulars of the Crowns of History expansion.
The easiest place to start is with the big ticket item from the free update: the Dark Realm. It’s the game’s fourth map, which is loosely based on Lovecraftian horror. That means there’s a whole lot of tentacles, and other abominations that players will need to fend off from their castle if they wish to succeed. It also means there is a bevy of new enemies, bosses, and events to encounter, which is something that I’m always a fan of.
That said, the thing that really differentiates Dark Realm is the unique mechanic of the map. Unlike in the other 3 maps, enemies don’t actively march towards your castle walls. Instead, they pop out of the ground, and wiggle ceaselessly in an invulnerable state. From there, players can choose when to launch their counter offensive by focusing their gaze on a randomly placed structure called the Imprisoned Tentacle. This causes all of the hostile abominations at your doorstep to gain a corporeal form, which allows them to be cut down.
As far as map mechanics go, I’m a really big fan of Dark Realm’s central gimmick. I appreciate how it asks the player to consider how they’re orienting the rest of their key buildings in relation to the Imprisoned’s static location. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to the Volcano and Graveyard, which both ask the player to dedicate a portion of their resource gathering efforts to a unique, map-specific resource in exchange for additional troops.
On top of the new map, there are also a handful of new relics, and an overhaul to what are now being called Offensive Structures. Basically, all of the buildings that could damage enemy units have been placed in their own category of building – Offensive Structures – and they’ve been buffed. The previous 3 towers are now joined by half a dozen newcomers, and all of the existing towers have lower operating costs when compared to the previous version of the game.
If I’m being perfectly honest, this change to attacking towers is my favourite of the patch. Namely because it addresses the single biggest problem that I had with The King is Watching: a lack of variety specifically as it relates to army composition. Ranged units tend to perform quite well, so I’d oftentimes find myself stacking my army full of them. This led to many of my runs looking strikingly similar to one another by the time I finished.
However, with these newly added towers, that’s no longer the case. There’s basically an additional 9 different types of ranged units that have been added to the game, so I’m far less reliant on rolling and deploying Archers, or Hunters to get through the early game. New additions like the Timber Launcher, or Dovecote do just as good of a job at supporting your melee units through the early game, and they even have some utility in the mid to late-game.
This is a great change. My runs now look quite different depending on what combination of Offensive Structures, and units I roll with my various pulls. This was exactly the shot in the arm that The King is Watching needed, and I’m very pleased to see it.
Though, it isn’t just the free content that more than addresses my biggest gripe with the game because the Crowns of History DLC also adds a ton of extra variety into the mix. This 5 dollar DLC adds 3 new commanders, all of whom play fairly differently from the base cast of 6.
For starters, there’s Cleopatra who collects a unique resource from any units that die on the battlefield. This can then be spent to summon several units that are completely exclusive to her, which give her runs a radically different feel when compared to any of the other available commanders. For this reason, she was easily my favourite part of the DLC. It’s just really nice to have a bevy of unique units to build around within each run.
Next, there’s Taizong of Tong who specializes in Offensive Structures. He also has a collection of archers at the gate to his castle, which players can invest in throughout their run. However, the cost of increasing your battalion progressively rises over the run, and these upgrades spend a ton of wood. As such, you’ll have to balance upgrading both your archers, and your army depending on whichever feels more valuable to your overarching success.
Finally, there is Xerxes who I don’t have a ton to say about because I’m too shit to play him properly. His whole thing is that all of his units are glass cannons. Every one of them has 10% of their normal health, but their damage is increased by 400% to compensate. Ergo, every skirmish will be lightning fast ending when either you, or your foes are turned into a skidmark. Evidently, I usually find myself on the wrong end of this exchange, though I was having so much fun with Cleo, and Taizong that I wasn’t too bothered by it.
As far as my general assessment of the DLC is concerned, I rather enjoyed the 3 new commanders. They all feel distinct from the base roster, and I had a lot of fun playing 2 of them. For a fiver, Crowns of History is an easy recommendation, doubly so if you already enjoyed what’s on offer in the base game of The King is Watching.
And, credit where it’s due, the most recent update is fantastic. The new content and quality of life changes alone have dramatically improved my play experience with The King is Watching. This game easily gets a thumbs up recommendation from me now. The premise was already an interesting spin on Tower Defence, but it actually has the variety to support a Roguelike structure now thanks to several key additions.
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Frostilyte Writes 