|| REVIEW || Thy Kingdom Crumble (PC)
Developed By : Julian Edison Published By : Julian Edison
Category : Indie, Platformer Release Date : September 26, 2019
Every now and then, a game comes along that promises a new and unique experience in hopes of scratching out a new niche in a genre. As often as this happens, it's natural that sometimes it will work, while others will be left flopping on the ground like a fish out of water. Thy Kingdom Crumble seeks to take one of those attempts, capitalizing on the difficulty of popular games like Jump King while bringing a unique twist to the way that you move.
In this game, the premise is simple. You're at the bottom, and you must jump your way all the way to the top. Each level comprises of a screen that stretches vertically, and you need to make it to the top to ascend into the next level. Along the way you'll be faced with plenty of platforming challenges, enemies to navigate around, and hazards rocketing their way down in hopes of sending you all the way back to the start.
So what's new? What's the twist? Movement is entirely done using your mouse. Well...okay not entirely, but if you want to move at a pace that actually means something, you'll want to use your mouse. Your main mode of moving fast and far is jumping, and this is all done by clicking the mouse. You'll notice a line extending away from your character which represents how far away your cursor is and therefore how powerful your jump will be. You can still use WASD to move on the ground, or to fine-tune your movements in the air after you've jumped, but for the most part you really won't be using these.
As you climb, you'll encounter a few differently shaped enemies. Some of them will begin chasing you if you're within a certain proximity, while others will lob projectiles your way. Either way, these guys can be taken out with a couple of Mario-style stomps to the head. The first time you kill them they'll spurt out a few coins, but after an enemy has respawned, that particular one won't give up any more money.
These coins you collect will help you purchase some power-ups along your jump journey. Occasionally as you climb, provided you explore the extremes of the level instead of just short-shooting straight up, you'll see small little rooms. Inside these rooms will be one or two windows with a roman numeral beneath. If you have the right amount of coins, you can purchase these power-ups to (ideally) help you on your journey upwards. These can provide you with abilities such as being able to swing, fly, or teleport for short distances.
While it does provide some fun and entertainment, I found Thy Kingdom Crumble to be more frustrating to deal with in the end. The mouse jumping felt very inconsistent, with some jumps propelling me greatly, while others only went half as far with the cursor kept at the same distance. To top it all off, I kept encountering an issue where the game would randomly decide to have issues, and not know exactly where my mouse was so the cursor would bounce all over with a simple movement. This caused me to have to close out the game completely and start over hoping it would fix the issue, while losing all progress in doing so.
This is a game that sounds better in theory than it does in execution. I liked the game, and the platforming was quite a fun challenge. And while I can applaud the effort on finding a new way to control your character, for this gamer it just doesn't work. It doesn't involve any intensity, so you won't be driving your wrist mad like if you were playing Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, but if you have any restrictions or pain at all with your wrists I'd say this is not the game for you.
Pick up the game HERE on Steam
Game Played on Steam
A Review Code was provided for this game
In this game, the premise is simple. You're at the bottom, and you must jump your way all the way to the top. Each level comprises of a screen that stretches vertically, and you need to make it to the top to ascend into the next level. Along the way you'll be faced with plenty of platforming challenges, enemies to navigate around, and hazards rocketing their way down in hopes of sending you all the way back to the start.
As you climb, you'll encounter a few differently shaped enemies. Some of them will begin chasing you if you're within a certain proximity, while others will lob projectiles your way. Either way, these guys can be taken out with a couple of Mario-style stomps to the head. The first time you kill them they'll spurt out a few coins, but after an enemy has respawned, that particular one won't give up any more money.
This is a game that sounds better in theory than it does in execution. I liked the game, and the platforming was quite a fun challenge. And while I can applaud the effort on finding a new way to control your character, for this gamer it just doesn't work. It doesn't involve any intensity, so you won't be driving your wrist mad like if you were playing Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, but if you have any restrictions or pain at all with your wrists I'd say this is not the game for you.
Game Rating : 4/10
Pick up the game HERE on Steam
Game Played on Steam
A Review Code was provided for this game
