King under the Mountain

If you enjoy colony simulation games, then you might want to keep an eye on an upcoming release from Rocket Jump Technology in King under the Mountain. This game has garnered a lot of interest right off the bat from its announcement. While some see an obvious inspiration in the shape of a genre-defining classic, King under the Mountain looks to have enough about it to keep fantasy fans coming back for more.

However, given the similarities that it can hold to other games in the niche, is this Early Access title doing enough to separate itself from the legends of the colony building genre?

A fantasy themed colony builder with some new ideas

The first thing anyone who has played a colony builder before will notice is the visual similarities to Rimworld. Proponents of this game suggest it is trying to find a happy blend between Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress, though others believe it lacks the kind of depth to make that possible.

The change to a fantasy theme as opposed to a space theme, though, does allow for some changes to the way that King under the Mountain operates. You will be expected to build up your own little fortress and society and claim the world slowly in terms of resources. Over time, you will get used to managing your colony people and making sure they are happy, well-fed, and safe should an invasion come along.

Given that King under the Mountain is in Early Access, there are plenty of features that are not yet present. At full release, though, we should have a title with a far more operational process for things like relationships, personalities, and AI. For now, though, King under the Mountain feels a little like Rimworld did when it was an EA title; a great idea, but perhaps lacking in enough polish to start a full save. For those looking for something to experiment within, though, King under the Mountain offers an intriguing enough title that might be suited to what you are looking for.

An interesting take on a well-worn formula (7/10)

From what we have seen of the Early Access features, King under the Mountain shows some promise. However, at the moment, it is just promise. Many of the features you will be used to seeing from a game like Rimworld are not present at the moment. This means that if you come to King under the Mountain as a veteran of other survival games it might all feel a touch bare bons at first.

Pros

• Familiar style that should immediately feel familiar to most people getting started.
• Excellent attention to detail within the settlement building aspect (at present).

Cons

• Not enough fleshed out features and/or features implemented at this moment in time.