Reign of Kings

Reign of Kings is a medieval survival game set in a harsh, open-world environment where players must hunt, mine, build, and craft to survive. The game encourages competition and power struggles, with players vying for control of resources and the Ancient Throne. Form guilds, wage war, and decide the fate of the kingdom in this immersive and intense survival experience.

Reign of Kings: Review

Introduction

In the volatile landscape of early-access survival sandboxes, Reign of Kings (2015) emerged as a brutal medieval playground where players could seize thrones, build castles, and decapitate rivals—all before fading into obscurity due to developer abandonment. Developed by Canadian studio CodeHatch, the game promised a gritty blend of Rust’s survival systems and Chivalry’s visceral combat, set in a ruthlessly competitive medieval world. While it captivated a niche audience with its unapologetic violence and ambitious systems, Reign of Kings ultimately became a cautionary tale of unrealized potential. This review dissects its rise, flaws, and fleeting legacy.

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Development History & Context

The Studio Behind the Chaos

CodeHatch, a studio already notorious for the disastrous launch of Starforge (2013), sought redemption with Reign of Kings. The team positioned the game as a spiritual successor to their failed sci-fi project, pivoting to medieval survival—a genre booming in the mid-2010s thanks to Rust and DayZ. However, accusations swirled that Reign of Kings was funded using Starforge’s crowdfunding money, a claim bolstered by CodeHatch’s abrupt shift in focus.

Technological Ambitions and Limitations

Built on Unity, Reign of Kings aimed for a seamless open world with physics-driven siege mechanics and modular building. Yet, the engine struggled under the weight of large-scale battles and persistent bases, leading to frequent lag and instability. The game’s reliance on peer-to-peer servers (rather than dedicated hosting) exacerbated these issues, inviting rampant hacking and griefing.

A Crowded Market

Launched into Steam Early Access in 2015, Reign of Kings faced fierce competition from polished contemporaries like Ark: Survival Evolved. CodeHatch’s lack of post-launch support—only minor bug fixes were released—left the game overshadowed and undercooked. By 2016, updates ceased entirely, and the studio moved on to HEAT, another survival title that met a similar fate.

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Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

A World Without Memory

Reign of Kings ditches traditional storytelling for emergent narratives. Players awaken on a forsaken island with no backstory, thrust into a Hobbesian struggle where “war of all against all” defines existence. The closest thing to lore is the cursed Plague Village, a zombie-infested zone offering high-risk loot, and the Ancient Throne, a supernatural artifact symbolizing absolute power.

Themes of Power and Betrayal

The game’s core theme is dominance. Claiming the throne grants the king divine authority to tax resources and wield the unbreakable Ancient Sword, but it paints a target on their back. This creates a cycle of uprising and tyranny, echoing Machiavellian politics. Captured players face humiliation in stocks or execution via guillotine, reinforcing the bleak, Darwinian tone.

Character Customization: Identity in Chaos

While lacking deep RPG mechanics, players could customize their avatar’s appearance, voice, and guild banner. These choices mattered little in practice, as most interactions devolved into frenzied PvP. The lack of NPCs or quests left the world feeling hollow, a canvas for player-driven chaos rather than a living realm.

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Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Survival of the Cruelest

The core loop revolves around gathering resources (wood, stone, ore) to craft tools, weapons, and fortifications. Early-game survival hinges on clubbing crabs for food and avoiding players armed with steel. Progression unlocks siege engines like trebuchets and ballistae, enabling raids on stone castles—a system praised for its creativity but plagued by janky physics.

Combat: Clunky but Visceral

Melee combat, inspired by Chivalry, emphasized directional attacks and timing. Landing a decapitating blow with a broadsword or impaling foes with a javelin delivered cathartic satisfaction, but hit detection and desync issues often undermined battles. The “orifice slot” mechanic—allowing prisoners to hide lockpicks in their rectum—summed up the game’s dark humor.

Building and Siege Warfare

Building mechanics resembled Minecraft’s block-by-block system, with materials ranging from flimsy thatch to siege-proof stone. Guilds could claim territory using crests, protecting structures from randoms. However, offline raids and hoarding exploits rendered hours of construction moot, fueling toxicity.

The Broken Kingmaker

The throne system was Reign of Kings’ most innovative feature. Kings could tax resources and rename the realm, but server populations rarely exceeded 50 players, making governance irrelevant. Most servers devolved into anarchic deathmatches, with the throne serving as a glorified PvP trophy.

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World-Building, Art & Sound

Aesthetic Ambition

The island’s biomes—forested hills, snow-capped mountains, and murky swamps—were visually cohesive, if bland. Day-night cycles and weather added atmosphere, though texture pop-in and crude asset reuse (e.g., copy-pasted ruins) betrayed the game’s low budget.

Sound Design: Clangs and Cries

Sword clashes and gurgling death rattles sold the brutality, while creaking gallows and crackling fires added immersion. The lack of a dynamic soundtrack, however, left exploration eerily silent—a missed opportunity to heighten tension.

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Reception & Legacy

Launch and Early Hype

Reign of Kings sold an estimated 714,000 copies, buoyed by streamers like FrankieonPC showcasing its emergent chaos. Critics praised its ambition, with Brash Games noting, “It’s like Game of Thrones meets Survivor.” However, its Steam rating languished at Mixed (53% positive) due to bugs and hacker infestations.

The Abandonment Narrative

By 2016, CodeHatch’s radio silence killed its momentum. Player counts plummeted, and servers became ghost towns. The studio’s reputation tanked further when Starforge was delisted for being “literally unplayable.”

Influence on the Genre

Despite its failures, Reign of Kings influenced later titles like Conan Exiles and The Black Death, which iterated on its throne mechanics and capture systems. Modders kept the game alive briefly with RP servers, but CodeHatch’s negligence doomed it to obscurity.

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Conclusion

Reign of Kings is a tragic case of “what could have been.” Its blend of savage combat, feudal politics, and modular building hinted at a groundbreaking sandbox, but CodeHatch’s incompetence and abandonment strangled its potential. Today, it stands as a relic—a reminder that even the most promising worlds can crumble without stewardship. For historians, it’s a fascinating study; for players, it’s a gravesite of wasted hours and broken trebuchets. Proceed with caution—or not at all.