Nine kings, one throne, and only one way to settle it. Growing a kingdom from a humble village into a citadel capable of surviving decades of war means building smart, fighting harder, and finding the perfect chaotic combination before your rivals do.
9 Kings is a fast-paced roguelike kingdom builder from developer Sad Socket, blending deckbuilding with kingdom management and massive battles. Choosing from 9 kings, each with their own starting deck of buildings, troops, and spells, you’ll grow your empire through endless combinations of units, spells, and positioning, looting rivals and stacking chaotic perks in pursuit of becoming the King of Kings.
What Makes It Different?
- Choose from 9 kings, each starting with their own unique deck
- Grow a capital from humble village to massive citadel over time
- Command dozens of unique units, from knights and warlocks to sentient mushrooms
- Loot rival kings you defeat to add their cards to your own deck
- Make peace or declare war depending on which kings suit your playstyle
- Compete in async multiplayer against 8 rival kings to see whose kingdom survives longest
- Take on Quest Mode’s mechanics-bending challenges or push your limits in Endless Mode
Break the Game With Your Own Combos
The heart of 9 Kings is chaos, and the game openly encourages finding ways to break it. Buildings, units, and spells can be stacked together in endless combinations, and discovering a perk or combo that snowballs out of control is very much part of the intended experience. Whether that means stockpiling gold to hire an army of mercenaries, raising the dead with dark magic, or harnessing nature itself against an enemy, there’s rarely just one right way to build an unstoppable kingdom.
Steal From Kings You Defeat
Every rival king carries their own deck into battle, and defeating or looting them opens up access to cards outside your own starting set. Deciding who to make peace with and who to go to war against becomes a genuine strategic choice, since the tools acquired from a defeated enemy can unlock entirely new combinations of stacking buffs and modifiers. Over enough runs, no two kingdoms end up looking, or fighting, quite the same way.
How Long Does a Run Take?
An average run typically lasts between 15 and 30 minutes if playing through to the standard victory conditions. A normal playthrough consists of a 33-year campaign, usually taking about 20 to 30 minutes to complete, while surviving those 33 years opens up an Endless Mode that can stretch a run to an hour or more. Highly optimized, quick strategies on lower difficulties can be finished in under 10 minutes.
Controller Support
9 Kings features Full Controller Support for Xbox Controllers, PlayStation Controllers, and the Steam Input API.
Good If You Like…
He is Coming and Super Fantasy Kingdom both sit in very similar territory here. Fogpiercer is also worth a look if this style of roguelike kingdom building has you hooked.
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