Kingdoms and Castles

Kingdoms and Castles is a medieval city-building simulation by Lion Shield. You turn a small settlement into a kingdom with farms, workshops and its own castle. Every new road and building affects how well residents are supplied and how well the city can be defended.

The game combines free city design with an economy based on individual residents and resources. Viking raids and dragons can endanger even well-planned settlements.

Kingdoms and Castles was released for PC on Jul 20, 2017. The Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions followed on Dec 1, 2023. The game came out for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on Mar 21, 2024.

The PC release comes from Lion Shield. BlitWorks published the console ports.

Kingdoms and Castles is available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. On PC, the game supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Microsoft offers the Xbox versions with Smart Delivery. There are also console versions for PS4 and PS5.

On all listed platforms, one person plays. Computer-controlled neighbouring kingdoms do not make it a multiplayer mode.

You plan roads, houses and businesses and grow a settlement into a large city. Residents take on jobs, transport raw materials and use public facilities. More housing brings workers but increases the need for food and protection.

You decide where workshops, residential districts and defence structures are built. Placement changes residents' routes and supply.

Parks & Statues has expanded the decoration options of the PC version since May 23, 2022. The pack includes statues, small trees, ponds and other objects for squares and gardens, among others. The base game is required.

The soundtrack, also sold separately, contains music from the game. Both add-on products are not standalone games.

On Windows, Steam requires at least 4 GB RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.0 GHz or an AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+, and 1 GB storage. Example graphics cards include GeForce GTX 260, Radeon HD 5670 and Intel HD Graphics 4600.

The recommended graphics cards are a GeForce GTX 660 or Radeon HD 7870. The original system specs list older Windows versions. The current Steam client supports Windows 10 or later. macOS and Linux have their own specs.

The layout of houses, roads and production sites determines the daily life of your settlement. As the population grows, storehouses and public facilities become more important.

BlitWorks lists more than 80 building types. These include housing, public services, agriculture and fortifications.

Wood, stone, iron, coal, food and taxes form the economic foundation. Farms secure the harvest, woodcutters supply building materials and quarries make larger castle complexes possible. New residents bring workers and increase consumption.

A heavy tax burden can drag down morale. Expansion only works if production and supply are in balance.

Residents need food, shelter and working public services. Poorly stocked supplies can turn into a crisis in winter. Disease, taxes and missing facilities also affect life in the city.

Churches, taverns and other public buildings help with supply and contentment. Unhappy people can leave the city.

Walls and towers are built from individual building blocks that can be arranged freely. The higher the towers are built, the greater the range of the defence stationed there.

Vikings can kidnap residents and steal resources. Dragons, wolves and ogres also threaten your settlement. Good defence has to protect residential areas as well as food supplies.

Besides your city, other computer-controlled kingdoms can exist. Trade, alliances and war affect your relations with these neighbours. This adds extra decisions to city building.

Kingdoms and Castles remains a single-player title. The other kingdoms are not controlled by other players.

Summer and winter affect farming and supplies. The environment features growing forests, herds of animals and a changing cloud cover.

Woodcutters can clear entire forest areas or harvest trees over the long term. Nature is therefore not just scenery but also a source of resources.

The PC version supports Steam Workshop and a level editor. This lets you use your own maps and additional content. Steam also offers achievements and cloud saves.

The workshop features are reserved for PC. They are not carried over to the console versions.

Kingdoms and Castles supports German on-screen text. German is one of the selectable languages on both Steam and PlayStation.

The PlayStation Store also lists separate volume control as an accessibility option.