Daria: A Kingdom Simulator

Очень душная и неинтересная игра. Персонажи-картонки, нет "экшона", зато очень много статистики. Сидишь как дурачок и щелкаешь "два человека собрать дрова, еще два полить огород..." Подобные игры в виде пошаговой стратегии еще более менее, но когда перед тобой только строчки текста это такое себе.

I actually really like this game and find it more balanced than people are complaining about on here. I haven't yet experienced the dreaded "lost all progress after an update" yet, so I can't comment on that, but I am overall actually finding the game pretty fun. Some people just like to complain, I suppose.

I really enjoyed all of Mike Walter's other games (now learning they are all part of a larger universe, which is pretty cool). This one is very much a kingdom simulator as the name suggests, with a lot of city building, management, recruiting and assigning units. etc. I found it enjoyable (but I like that sort of thing). If you buy this, just know that it does have a neat storyline that is told through events that pop up as your kingdom grows and so on, but it is not comparable to most other CYOA choicescript games you might have encountered, as the gameplay/management is the bulk of the game. If you want more of an RPG/CYOA setup, checkout the author's other games, as they're all quite good. If you think you would like a simulator game or just want to support the author, check this one out. I think the work that went into this could easily translate into another game in the future, providing some really interesting gameplay options to go with a more robust story. Other reviews noted their progress resetting. I don't know what changed, but for at least the last couple months or so (hard to say when it started precisely), Choice of Games/Hosted Games have been resetting all progress when they get an update. Or at least the last few of these I have played close to release have all had their progress reset. Luckily, I waited a bit before playing this one to try to avoid that, but assuming this continues, it might be a good thing to keep in mind for choicescript games on Steam.

TL;DR Decent game and writing; Management sim not RPG; Engine terribly suited to purpose. I'm recommending but with really severe reservations. This game is probably not for most people. (My playtime is only a couple of hours, poking at it here and there; I inadvertently left this running all day and night.) The good? It's a neat little simulation of running a high fantasy Kingdom (not really an RPG at all) that encompasses growth from a handful of people to a large, powerful kingdom that can save humanity (and elves, and dwarves too, if you wish!) The language and story that unfolds is decently-written, even well-written in places, and happily predates the era of AI slop penetrating into games like this. You're basically managing a series of resources, including processing them through one or more stages, and assigning people to different tasks and specializations. The 'game' part of the game is quite competently executed, and reasonably balanced with no glaring faults I could find; enough to be a challenge, especially with a cruel random number generator, or devious developer. (I'd build wood huts; they'd burn down the next turn; I'd build stone huts; they'd be flattened by hurricanes in short order; I'd build stronger buildings and they'd be destroyed by angry people who didn't like the smell, literally the day after construction was complete!) So what's not to like? Well, it's the game engine. It's horribly unsuited to the task. Indeed, I wonder if the game was developed on the basis of a bet made while the participants were 'tired and emotional'; "What's the most ridiculous mash-up of game genre and engine you can conceive of that we can still sell?". It's like porting Doom to a fitness watch; both are great things, but wildly unsuitable for one another. If you are fine with the engine and simply love the idea of a modest depth Kingdom simulator, and don't mind clicking five or six times to do what a normal implementation could do in one or two, and being denied critical information (other than in buried in a page filled with noisy useless text that vanishes forever once you click to move on), then have I got a game for you! Surprisingly, I liked it, hence the recommendation. One nice thing to add; if you have a Hosted Games account, they will grant you access to Android versions (and maybe iOS?) of games of theirs that you've purchased on Steam. The process is slightly clunky, but understandably so given the walled gardens that are app stores these days. Their games, including this one, seem me to be much better enjoyed on mobile devices than on a full-fat PC. (NB-saves do not seem to be portable between platforms).

Personally not worth full price but it is enjoyable, struggling with how to get iron and other materials though

I love it!! Very unique IF, it's pretty hard i'm not gonna lie it takes a bit to get the hold of it. It's not perfect it could have used some more balance, but i really loved the gameplay and even if very reduced compared to the 3 other games of the saga, the lore!

It's purely a kingdom simulator. It's a difficult one, too, but if you like that sort of thing and always kinda get overwhelmed by all the extra visuals a lot of kingdom simulators try to put computers through, this is a good pick. I will say, it is absolutely nothing like any of the other Book-Choose-Your-Own sort of dealios. It's refreshing for me, but I know that it's an acquired taste.

So-so

Such a disappointing ending and the combat is so tedious to do.