Kingsway (video game)

Kingsway
Image of an old operating system window, depicted inside it is an image of a crown with a stylised logo spelling "Kingsway" in front of it.
Steam storefront header
Publisher(s) Adult Swim Games
Designer(s) Andrew Morrish
Platform(s) Windows
Release
  • WW: 18 July 2017
Genre(s) Role-playing

Kingsway is a fantasy role-playing video game developed by Andrew Morrish and published by Adult Swim Games.

Gameplay

Kingsway is a fantasy role-playing video game presented through the interface of a 1990s operating system, similar to Windows 95.[1][2] The role-playing game elements are represented through different facets of the operating system interface. For example, the inventory, world map, and character stats appear in separate window elements. Enemies are displayed in popup windows that move about the screen. Progress bars are used to display the player and enemy turn speeds. Quests are received via email and when the player is low on health or mana an error message will show.[2]

Development and release

Kingsway was developed by Andrew Morrish and published by Adult Swim Games.[1] Morrish and Adult Swim had collaborated previously on his shooter game Super Puzzle Platformer (2013). Morrish was influenced by old computer role-playing games and operating systems. He also noted Lucas Pope's dystopian puzzle video game Papers, Please (2013) as a particular inspiration for his first prototype of Kingsway. In Papers, Please, players would receive more documents and instructions as the game progressed. This created clutter that the player would have to organise efficiently to succeed. Morrish applied this philosophy of creating clutter by making the player have to manage multiple window elements, popups, files and folders. Finding the most intuitive correspondences between the role-playing game mechanics and operating system mechanics was the most challenging aspect of designing Kingsway for Morrish. Due to the familiarity player had with using an operating system interface, Morrish found that players did not require much guidance to play the game.[3]

Kingsway was playable at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017.[3] The game was released for Windows-based personal computers on 18 July 2017.[1]

Reception

Kingsway was well received by professional critics.[1][4][2] It was nominated for "Game, Original Role Playing" at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards.[5][6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Caldwell-Gervais, Noah (24 July 2017). "Kingsway review". Polygon. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Chan, Stephanie (20 July 2017). "Kingsway review — an addictive RPG with deadly pop-up windows". VentureBeat. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 Chan, Stephanie (22 June 2017). "Kingsway triggers a lizard brain panic that only screen addicts can appreciate". VentureBeat. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Walker, John (21 July 2017). "Wot I Think: Kingsway". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "Nominee List for 2017". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Horizon wins 7; Mario GOTY". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.