Reigns: Three Kingdoms

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Reigns: Three Kingdoms review
William Thompson

Review

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Han Dynasty


What was it like ruling the Han Dynasty? If Reigns: Three Kingdoms is anything to go by, it involved answering a ton of questions from the citizens interspersed with the occasional battle. Reigns: Three Kingdoms has a simple premise…players are in a simulation (not dissimilar to Assassin's Creed) and are transported to second-century BC China to take on the role of a potential ruler of the Han Dynasty. Your aim is to grow in power and claim the thirteen regions of the Han Dynasty.

The main part of the game has players confronted by the citizens of the provinces, each posing a simple conundrum to the potential leader. Players will make selections within the story simply by swiping left or right depending on the two dialogue options and how they want to respond. Each choice will then alter at least one of the four indicators at the top of the page, positively or negatively. Maintaining these indicators is one of the main goals of the game and is what gives the game some much needed depth.

Death and taxes


Death does come often in Reigns: Three Kingdoms. If any of the indicators drop too low or go too high, it will spell doom. It did take me a little while to work out what each of the indicators signified, but after several deaths and resurrections, I was able to work things out. Of course, that did not mean that I stopped dying, but it did enable me to travel further in my journey throughout the Three Kingdoms.



Death can also come on the battlefield during combat. Like the story and decision making, the combat is simple but surprisingly complex. Both players have a ring of four cards, which are drawn at the beginning of the turn-based battle. Players will spin the card that they want (by swiping left or right) to the front of the battle and that card’s effects will come into play. Each of the cards have two values - Strength (which is how much damage it will inflict), and Heart (which is the defence amount). Once a card’s Heart rating reaches zero, it is removed from battle. Some cards also have additional abilities, and it is these cards that provide a more strategic approach to the contests.

Additional abilities can include attacking more than one enemy at a time, increasing the Strength counter each time you attack, or a range of defensive abilities. As you gain new combatants into your deck, the strategy does become more involved, particularly with the cards that the additional abilities.

Life on the battlefield


The aim of each battle is to reduce the enemy's resources (the number indicated between the units) to zero. Taking out a defender is the best way to gain an opening to the resource. If there is no-one defending the resource, then an attack will simply reduce the resource value. Deciding on the order of your three turns can be reasonably complex, as you will need to consider your turn as well as the opponent's turn. Finishing your turn with a weakened defender in the front can be cause for worry, so there is a touch of risk and reward for each set of turns.

Apart from the cards representing the characters you converse with throughout the game, there are very few visuals in the game. Indeed, even the combat only has the four cards on each side of the battlefield to speak of. However, all the important details are well laid out, helping with decision making – either on your journey, or in battle.

Simplistic with a touch of strategy


There is plenty of repetition in Reigns: Three Kingdoms and this may deter some gamers from continuing further into the story. Players are posed the similar questions throughout the course of their journey and although answering them in different ways can lead to varied outcomes, it can become grating. That said, the combat portion of the game is highly enjoyable. Although it too is quite basic, the drafting of your characters into battle does allow for a certain level of strategy. The battles are often over quickly and as a result Reigns: Three kingdoms could be a great game to play during your lunch break or during a commute.


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6.2

fun score

Pros

Simple controls and mechanics

Cons

Repetitive gameplay