Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit

more of a neutral rating than positive. i was pretty stocked for this game after playing the demo, but the game itself was overall as disappointing as i couldn't even bring myself to play through it. after few hours gameplay the story revealed itself as quite bland. but what really turned me off was the game pushing onesided politics while i just wanted an adventure. there are so many good adventures out there, no real need to put up with this one.

[h2]Introduction[/h2] Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit is a point-and-click adventure game that features charming graphics and a manageable number of interactive objects. If you are not a fan of this genre, you may not find much appeal here. … If you are still interested, let's delve into the aspects of the game that I found less satisfying. … [h2]Game Duration[/h2] The length of the game is relatively short, taking between six and eight hours to complete. For a point-and-click adventure, a more appropriate duration would be around ten to twelve hours. [h2]Story and Plot Issues[/h2] The narrative is problematic—not in terms of writing quality, but in the pacing and structure. Some sections feel rushed and would benefit from additional development, while the introduction feels more like filler than a meaningful start. There are also illogical moments, such as the protagonist traveling without ever having money in the inventory or the grandfather acquiring a moped while being chased on foot, with no explanation of how he managed to do so without being caught. [h2]Puzzle Design[/h2] Certain puzzles lack sufficient explanation, making them difficult to solve through logic. Instead, players may have to rely on trial and error or consult a walkthrough. Specifically, the selection of the three places of worship for the keys, the hockey game (which assumes knowledge only hockey fans would have), and the riddle involving eight statues all suffer from poor clarity. For example, the hint "follow the leader" is unhelpful when the leader is only identified by a finger pointing down, which is far from intuitive. [h2]Other Gameplay Frustrations[/h2] Some actions, though not entirely illogical, end up wasting the player's time and often lead to consulting a solution. For instance, the requirement to pick up an old jersey at grandfather’s house in order to be recognized as a hockey fan seems arbitrary. Similarly, the presence of a cat in the library, which serves no purpose at that moment, can be misleading. [h2]Replay Value[/h2] There is nothing in the game that would motivate me to play it again. [h2]Recommendation[/h2] Would I recommend Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit? The answer is not straightforward. Steam would benefit from a "meh" rating, as my opinion falls somewhere between yes and no. If you are a dedicated fan of point-and-click adventures, you might enjoy this game, but do not expect it to reach the heights of classics like Monkey Island or the Sierra adventures of the ‘80s or ‘90s. For everyone else, there are better ways to spend your time.

Would only give this 2/10. Wants to be a Broken Sword, but doesn't come anywhere close. Short game only spun out with tedious fetch quests and nonsensical inventory item combinations.

Very little to complain about from a game play standpoint if you are use to the point and click style games like this. A hint feature could have been nice as some answers are not obvious. Now to where I felt the game could improve, it was so close to being a really interesting story. I think the issue was not feeling connected to the lead. SPOILERS AHEAD: Throughout the game, we see small portions of her family dynamic (her struggling relationship with her mother and her father and grandfathers absence from a young age) so narratively you think it is a slam dunk for her to share how that has shaped her life and lack of identity (given we pick nearly everything about her from dialogue, style, even her job) and how her motivation to get the crown is to gain the family she has lost and hopefully bring her father back in her life. The major draw is we never see that. Her reunion with her grandfather who she thought she was DEAD was summarized by her in text as a lol XD omg so crazy story. They take the seriousness out of the situation which, in my opinion, waters down her character and our motivation. Making her big confrontation scene with the villain of the game so lack luster. It's not an awful story line, but it is so mid compared to what it could have been with some narrative changes. It seems like someone made a killer plot and then the publishers took all the negative stuff out to make it #relatable and consumer friendly. Okay for the price but could have been so much better in my opinion.

Intriguing premise, and notable for being the first adventure game I've played set in Lithuania. Unfortunately it falls into some classic point-and-click traps: slow, unskippable animations and many tedious steps to accomplish simple tasks. I got bored in an extended sequence of trial and error trying to distract a librarian. Advice to all adventure game developers: streamline the exposition, skip straight to the exciting parts.

You can clearly see the influence of genre classics like Broken Sword and Syberia on Crowns and Pawns (and not just because you can feed the goat and wiggle the mammoth in this game). The graphics are cute and playful, the voice acting is fantastic (except for a few lines from one specific individual in the final scene that sound… not dramatic enough - let’s leave it at that), and every character is just bursting with personality. Dialogues flow nicely, and Milda’s comments are often genuinely funny and perfectly timed. Pair that with multiple options in conversations and some puzzle solutions, and you’ve got a really cool and unique take on the classic point'n'click adventure formula. Story-wise, it’s very good. I'm not familiar with Lithuanian history, so this version of "chasing a mysterious manuscript across Europe" (that even our boy George Stobbart wouldn’t be ashamed of) brought back fond memories of my favorite adventure games. Still, it didn’t quite hit the same home run as the Templars did - probably because the Holy Grail is a bit more familiar than the story of the lost Lithuanian crown. Regardless, Crowns and Pawns is a fantastic game, with very logical puzzles, top-tier voice acting, witty humor, and plenty of clever nods to the golden age of adventure games. We need more of this! Oh, and more scooter scenes!

Fun game, but ridiculously hard to figure out. Had to use walkthrough help for almost EVERY situation. Kind of a rip off of Broken Sword.

Empieza como otras aventuras gráficas en las que un personaje se ve envuelto en secretos y tesoros antiguos, lo cual me estaba pareciendo muy interesante. Incluso hace referencias a otros juegos legendarios y tiene momentos potentes . Pero sí que se me hizo un poco corto y sentí que esa fuerza se diluía un poco. Al menos han querido añadir decisiones que cambian algunos recursos con los que se cuenta y eso modifica la resolución de algunos puzles, por lo que puede ser rejugable. Y mola que se le pueda cambiar la apariencia y eso ayude a avanzar de distintas formas.