I really enjoyed Kingdoms and Castles. I'd say it's like a gentler version of Rise to Ruins.
Eventually, you get to a point where your home base is stronger than any threat, and thus the challenge is over. You will get a few hours of fun time out of the game and then you'll move on. So, I say it's 4/5 because I liked it a lot and it's worth playing.
I hear that a big update to the game makes it fun longer, but Linux users on GOG don't get that update. If you are on Linux, you should buy this game on Itch.io or Steam. The game is updated there for Linux users. The developer is silent after I brought up this issue.
I was surprised by the overwhelmingly negative reviews for this game.
This game is streamlined. No micromanaging nightmare, it runs smooth (it is not dull and tedious like Heroes of might and Magic), and it is not soulless like Tropico. Note that it is NOT a RTS or tower defense game. It is more like Sim City, only that you get raided every now and then.
Now, yes, once you do manage to beat your first viking horde, that is pretty much it. There is nothing more to do, following (but then again, what is there to do in Sim City past the first few hours?). So, yes, you will get to squeeze around 10-25 hours or so of gameplay before it is all "done that, seen that!" However, before you reach this point, this game is solid. And at 10 EUROS, I think that's fine. If you dont, well, get another title.
However, if they update and mods start arriving...
This game takes the basics (like the production chains) from games like Anno to make a defensive city builder that can entertain you for a nice couple of hours. For the current asking price, that is absolutely fine.
But don't expect long-term motivation or real depth - in just those few hours you will have built pretty much anything there is to build, and there doesn't seem to be anything like upgrades, policies or events that would spice things up in the late game.
Still, I'm impressed by what a team of just two people came up with.
We are great, great nation, and these pesky invaders will not take our gold, out timber, nor our women.
e are a nation living on a truly tremendous, a magnificent island, and we will build a wall. A wall so high that everyone around will stare in awe and wonder how we managed to reach outerspace with just stone and timber. Our balistas will have range so high that they will shoot anyone even before they reach our beaches. And beaches are ours and we need to grab them to build a wall.
And some windmills! Because apparently these great, great windmills increase output of sweet, sweet wheat farms!
And do not forget about forestry which cannot plant trees on barren plains but is completely fine with expanding forests which are taking our precious living space... but it is fine because you can give these trees some hot, hot love and turn them into charcoal. A charcoal which you will burn in your houses, because you are so stupid, so, so stupid that you cannot warm yourself up with just lumber.
And there are those beautiful boys, boys and girls whom decided to protect our great, great island nation and joined our military. You are serving us well by blindly following your generals and fiercely protecting square of land on which you are standing because it is to hard to move a foot to attack passing-by enemy. Tremendous, tremendous job you are doing here.
It is great, great game for like 2-3 hours. But when you expand to the point where you can build walls and towers there is not really much to do... just to build higher towers to repeal enemies quicker and peacefully grab all island resources. Not much about survival or any challenge after securing basic needs of your people - first couple minutes of gameplay are great but then it got more boring with every passing year and random events like fire, plagues, vikings or dragon attacks are not really that much a fun but a chore which comes and goes not doing much damage before dying (if you have towers build).
