Not one, not two, but three kingdoms – what a deal! Oops, what? It’s a game? OK then-a game…but it’s still a deal! Like Reigns: Kings and Queens and Reigns: Game of Thrones before it, Reigns: Three Kingdoms is a turn-based strategy game, this time set near the end of the Han Dynasty in China. Your goal is to rise through the ranks and lead the district.
In Reigns: Three Kingdoms, you must make decisions to navigate the local political landscape. Along the way, you learn about history and people as you build a set of allies that appear as cards in your battle deck. The decision making process is mechanically very easy. drag the dialog card either left or right. Each direction will show you in text what your decision is and what your decision means for your position in the game.
There are four stat meters at the top of the screen. These represent your wealth (material resources), popularity (with the common people), strength (military strength) and virtue. The game lets you know, very early on, that the best situation is to keep all four aspects in balance. Indeed, if you let one of them reach zero or max, you will die. If you’re really bad at something, you’re a target. If you get really good at these areas, let’s just say that Emperors aren’t known for their love of competition. Watch your back.
Your stats will decrease or increase depending on how you answer questions or react to situations presented to you by the friendly faces on the cards they deal to you. This is where the game plays with your human nature. Most people don’t like to sound like a crazy jerk, so they’ll respond like a nice guy or in a way that might sound like a reasonable, logical solution that should be good for everyone. Unfortunately for you, an altruist, responding this way will make you very popular with the world. This will quickly max out your popularity rating, which will kill you (even faster).
Sometimes, you just have to be the jerk to stay alive — at least in this game.
Once you answer a few questions and meet a few people, you can add the recruits to your allies deck. Sooner or later, you will face an opponent and then the battle begins. Your followers will appear as cards to be used in a turn-based battle scene. Each card will have two stats — an up arrow indicates how much damage that card will do to an opponent, and a heart shows how many hit points that card has before going out of commission for the current battle. Battle strategy is just as important as the decision-making part of the game. The card representing your character will appear in the battle deck. You don’t have a lot of hit points and, at the beginning of the battle, you don’t do much damage. On the other hand, you take 1 point of damage for every turn you fight, so you have to weigh your options.
When you die (and you will a lot), you will be in the tender care of Synaptic Insight Technology Systems. I can hear you saying “Wow! That doesn’t sound at all like something from the Han Dynasty of ancient China!” You are absolutely right. Where you really are is in a lab at Synaptic, where your consciousness drifts back in time and sinks into one of your ancestors. This allows you to run scripts so that Synaptic can collect data. Welcome to the game, lab rat!
On the plus side, when you die after taking out the emperor, commoners, army, nobles, or whoever else feels like you should die, you just wake up in the lab and get sent back to a new body to try again. Unlike the situation in Edge of tomorrow, you can’t relive the exact same day over and over again. You’ll be faced with new decisions and new encounters, so you’ll have to learn what kind of decision combinations will give you the best chance of survival.
All things considered, Reigns: Three Kingdoms is a pretty good game. The stylized graphics are well done. The game has some interesting story and human interaction elements. You’ll need to strategize, so it’s not just a walk in the park – there’s some challenge to be had. As I write this review, the game can be purchased on Nintendo’s website for $2.99, so there’s great value for money here as well. As you make real progress, the game opens up new options and can set you on a path to rule multiple regions.
Well, even better than three, right?