When you play the game of thrones, you swipe or you die.

September 16, 2016 6:33 AM

Reigns (for iOS, Android, and Steam): Called "Tinder for ruling a kingdom", make decisions as a king by swiping left or swiping right, while being careful to keep the church, the people, the army, and the treasury from getting either too weak or too powerful. You'll also romance courtesans, get lost in dungeons, die (often), and, if you're lucky, figure out why your family has been cursed by the devil.
posted by Cash4Lead (30 comments total)

I've been playing this a bunch! It's a lot of fun but really quickly gets repetitive (there's only so many cards) so short bursts might be better than long stretches. I keep meaning to go back to the do the thing with the magic numbers (I don't want to spoil it for anyone like I did for myself) but it was definitely worth the three bucks.

Also, if you have a swipe-device definitely use that; according to the RPS review, the mouse version is a bit of a pain.
posted by griphus at 6:36 AM on September 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

Here's an op-ed on it written by the developer.
posted by griphus at 6:44 AM on September 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

I agree, this was absolutely addictive for a bit, and worth the money/time.

Ultimately, it ends up feeling a bit unsatisfying by trailing off than progressing to something interesting. This is because there is often a right answer to certain game events, and you find yourself repeating the same activities again and again for smaller and smaller rewards (in terms of new events or story progression, such as it is). There are a lot of good ideas in the game, and it is exciting to see a new combination of genres that work. The inevitable sequels or copies building on this game will be exciting.
posted by blahblahblah at 7:02 AM on September 16, 2016

Reminds me of the old DOS game Castles, where in between building and defending a castle you had to meet with various petitioners and decide how to respond to their requests and advice. My favorite was the way it was basically impossible to arrest the head of the Thieves' Guild, since he'd simply escape immediately.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:17 AM on September 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've been playing this off and on for a couple of weeks and it's great. I bought it based on a description on MefightClub as "a version of Crusader Kings that I can actually understand how to play". It has the same tell-your-own-story feel as CK2, but in a short game with very simple game mechanics. It's clever.

(From reading the op/ed, it's heartbreaking that $3 is now called "premium pricing" for games.)
posted by Nelson at 7:45 AM on September 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

Also interested to see the developer highlight Devolver Digital, their publisher. That name never really registered in my brain before but they have a hell of a game portfolio. Serious Sam, Hotline Miami, OlliOlli, Hatoful Boyfriend, The Talos Principle, Downwell, Enter the Gungeon, and now Reigns, those are all games I know and respect. Makes me wonder about the other games they've published I've never heard of! Block'hood looks like it will be interesting.
posted by Nelson at 7:53 AM on September 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

Oh man this was really tough. I got to the late game and now it's complex enough that I can't make it 4 or 5 years without dying.
posted by rebent at 8:01 AM on September 16, 2016

It sounds kind of similar to Long Live the Queen, except with less influences from anime and visual novels.
posted by FJT at 8:06 AM on September 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yay! Really liked this game - essentially a procedurally generated choose-your-own-adventure where you have to keep a set of resources balanced. As noted, it loses some charm when it starts to repeat itself but it's still well worth checking out.
posted by Artw at 8:08 AM on September 16, 2016

I've been enjoying this as well! It really is charming. Pretty light in structure and prone to repetition, but games are also short and fast so it balances out well. I managed to die of old age yesterday which was pretty exciting.
posted by cortex at 8:16 AM on September 16, 2016 [5 favorites]

Definitely worth checking out but I got about a day or two out of it and, yes, repetitive. But worth the three (?) bucks, for sure.
posted by josher71 at 8:19 AM on September 16, 2016

Nice thing about a game like this is that, especially considering all the buzz and success, there's a really good chance they'll put out content updates and expansions to add more variety to the game.

So if you've burned through all the content now just give it a few months and hopefully they'll have added in some more interesting stuff to play around with.
posted by Neronomius at 9:00 AM on September 16, 2016

If you'd like something deeper and more complicated, Fallen London's out on iOS and Android now.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:04 AM on September 16, 2016

I've got this and really enjoyed it as well. Great for when you're indisposed, but enough of that.

What's the other good things (games or not, similar or not if a game) that I should spend my google credit from doing surveys for them from these days?
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:05 AM on September 16, 2016

What's the other good things (games or not, similar or not if a game) that I should spend my google credit from doing surveys for them from these days?

Oh yeah, if you don't know and are willing to give Google more information than some folks want to, Google Opinion Rewards offers Play Store credit for answering questions about yourself to let Google tailor ads to you.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:08 AM on September 16, 2016

I played Sort the Court earlier this year, which seems like a simpler, more cartoony version of this game. It was originally made in 72 hours for a game jam (Ludum Dare 34); no idea if the developers have expanded it since then.
posted by invokeuse at 9:09 AM on September 16, 2016

Oh yeah, if you don't know and are willing to give Google more information than some folks want to, Google Opinion Rewards offers Play Store credit for answering questions about yourself to let Google tailor ads to you.

I know some folks are paranoid about this stuff but it's really nothing that I would consider even close to registering on my 'big brother' or 'big data' scale. Payment seems to align with how long it takes you to do the survey/how many clicks or if you send a picture or do any typing. Ranging from 12 cents to nearly a dollar per survey and never taking more than 45 seconds, usually more like 20 seconds. All are able to be opted out of but I've never had the urge to so I'm not sure if they give you less later for opting out. Payment is in google play store credit and expires 1 year after being granted I think? I don't know if it can be used for things like Google Play but would like to know more, I've just used it for apps here and there to reward developers who I might not drop a few bucks with otherwise.

The surveys basically fall into one or two categories, unless I'm forgetting something, for me at least and I've been doing it for about a year now on my Google Fi Nexus 6, and I get anywhere from 0 to 10 a week:

1) 'Do you snowboard?', 'When was the last time you went?', 'Do you subscribe to any magazines related to snowboarding?'.... This may range from topics like hiking, snowboarding, being a foodie, or if I like seafood or listen to NPR. Payment ranges from 12 to 40 cents or so.
2) "Here is a list of places, have you been to any of them recently?", "Oh, Publix? When did you last go to Publix?", "How was your experience (1-5 stars) and do you want to write them a review on google?". Payment ranges from 20 cents to 70 cents. Rarely I've been asked if I want to take a picture of my restaurant receipt and submit it for analysis. Payment then goes up to 80 or 90 cents I think?

Not a bad gig if you buy any apps. If you're super paranoid, sure, but otherwise you're probably exposing yourself far more with your casual google search terms and/or anything you post or click on on a site like this even.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:18 AM on September 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was fairly disappointed by the lack of replay value myself, but I definitely let myself play obsessively for a day or so.
posted by sibboleth at 10:45 AM on September 16, 2016

It's such a rarity, in my opinion, to find a mobile game that actually has depth versus (at best) a decent or better play mechanic that you can revisit in snackable bursts. Just tried this and it seems to have both. Now, if only people will pay money for it.
posted by foxywombat at 1:21 PM on September 16, 2016

It got me 3$ of survey reward money...

I too welcome other paid game recommendations from the playstore!
posted by el io at 1:51 PM on September 16, 2016

I haven't quite got the good ending yet, but a brief hint: pay attention to the timeline, it's more than just something neat to look at between death and reincarnation.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:02 PM on September 16, 2016

Welp, there goes any semblance of an attention span that I might have been developing. Can't talk, trying to undercut my military.
posted by redsparkler at 4:12 PM on September 16, 2016

"You eat so much that you end up choking. Everyone is drunk so your death is only noticed the following morning." - how many of my rounds end

I don't like what that says about me.
posted by brundlefly at 4:15 PM on September 16, 2016 [5 favorites]

It took me FOREVER to figure out that maxing out one of the four factors is just as deadly as hitting zero
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:30 PM on September 16, 2016

It took me FOREVER to figure out that maxing out one of the four factors is just as deadly as hitting zero

So you thought the game was jusr killing you arbitrarily in true rougelike fashion?
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:23 PM on September 16, 2016

That's not an entirely unfair characterization ^^;
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:49 PM on September 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

This game is amazing - I played it through last month and got one ending, and now I'm replaying it again to get other endings. Love the art and the humor and such.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 10:38 PM on September 18, 2016

Gay marriage keeps resulting in my premature death.

WORTH IT.
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:09 PM on September 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I too welcome other paid game recommendations from the playstore!


Leap of Fate (twin-stick shooter with a 90s White Wolf/Shadowrun aesthetic) and Severed (dark Mexican fantasy from the creators of Guacamelee) are great.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 9:22 PM on September 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Fun, but I have to say I don't care for the absurdly complex route to actually winning the game.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:24 PM on October 2, 2016