Long Live The Queen

Long Live The Queen is a narrative strategy game about a young heir preparing for her coronation. After her mother's death, the fourteen-year-old Elodie must learn to hold her kingdom of Nova against court intrigue, political rivals and supernatural dangers. Instead of real-time combat, the focus is on which skills she learns in time and how you decide in critical situations.

Long Live The Queen first appeared on computers in 2012. The Steam version launched on Nov 8, 2013. In July 2022, Ratalaika Games released console versions with reworked HD backgrounds and additional interface languages: PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on July 14, Nintendo Switch as well as Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on July 15.

The game was released for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. PC covers the original versions for Windows, macOS and Linux. PlayStation offers separate PS4 and PS5 versions within a single digital purchase. On Xbox, the release supports both console generations. A standalone Switch 2 version is not part of these releases.

You accompany Elodie week by week and decide which topics she deepens in her lessons. Her knowledge affects whether she survives political talks, dangerous encounters and decisions at court. Some events lead to completely different outcomes depending on preparation. Mistakes can end Elodie's reign, so new attempts with different priorities are a key part of the game's design.

The PC version is technically undemanding. Hanako Games lists a 1.2 GHz processor and 256 MB of RAM for Windows. The originally supported systems are listed as older Windows versions, plus macOS and Linux. The historical operating system details say nothing about the current support from the respective platform providers.

Elodie can develop diplomacy, courtly manners, economics, military knowledge and magical abilities, among others. Lessons compete for limited lesson time. Focusing on one direction means initially giving up other knowledge. In later events, a specific skill often decides whether Elodie spots a danger, wins over a person or controls a political development.

Elodie's mood affects how well she learns certain subjects. Free-time activities change her emotional state and therefore her learning opportunities. The challenge lies not only in choosing the right subjects, but also in timing new skills. This connects the story with a small but important planning system.

Nobles, neighbouring kingdoms and people around Elodie pursue different interests. Conversations and decisions change relationships and can open or prevent later scenes. The political layer remains closely tied to skills: whoever understands languages, history or intrigue gets different options in certain encounters than a princess trained purely in military matters.

Alongside the worldly conflicts, magical powers play a role. Elodie's training can help her recognise related threats and deal with them. How much she learns about them depends on decisions and lesson priorities. The fantasy element expands the political conflicts without changing the basic lesson and decision system.

Long Live The Queen has numerous possible endings. A seemingly small decision can make itself felt weeks later, while other plans fail for lack of a particular area of knowledge. If you lose Elodie in one attempt, you can choose a different education, different allies or a different political course in the next playthrough.

Long Live The Queen is a single-player game. The focus is on reading the story and choosing lessons, free time and dialogue decisions. Achievements and cloud saves are available on Steam. The Switch version also supports touchscreen controls.

The original PC version on Steam has English on-screen text. The console version from Ratalaika Games additionally supports German, French, Spanish and Japanese. A German-language console version therefore doesn't mean the Steam version contains the same translation. The consoles also add revised HD backgrounds.