So You Want To Be King is part RPG, part city builder, part economic sim. It’s everything I wanted Hinterland to be. Here’s part 1 of what I envision as a gameplay session:
You start the game, and are presented with some simple options. Map size, difficulty, etc. You choose a small map (this is your first game, after all) and easy difficulty, and you choose to play as a human (there are a variety of races to play as: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Goblin, etc.). You are given a short introduction to the game. After many years of war, your kingdom in in the process of rebuilding. The king has no heir, so he has decided to choose 5 of his subjects and put them to the test. These are people of all different talents, but they all excel in their particular area. You are one of these five subjects, vying to prove your worth so you will be chosen as the next king. Your job is to rebuild one of the ruined cities out in the world and bring it back to life. This is no mere administrative position — you are expected to use your wits, your sword and your leadership ability to deal with threats and bring people to your city to help you rebuild.
You are presented with choices in your character. Having already chosen Human, you are presented with your choice of class. Each class in the game has different strengths and weaknesses, and different abilities in one of three areas: Adventuring, Administration, Leadership. Adventuring skills and abilities are useful when your character is out and about in the world, dealing with threats and exploration hands-on. Administration skills and abilities are useful when building and managing your city. Leadership skills can apply in both situations, and involve how you deal with other people in different situations. Since this is your first time playing, you choose the recommended class: The Knight. The Knight is strong in Adventuring and Leadership, but very poor in administration. This will give you an advantage early in the game, but may hinder you as your city grows.
Next, you are presented with a panel of citizens who are willing to join you as you go forth in the world. Citizens in SYWTBK fill two roles - they can join you in your adventures as you explore the world, dealing with threats and eliminating enemies. Citizens also fill vital jobs in town as well, they are the farmers, the ranchers, the blacksmiths that power the growth of your city. Of the 5 citizens (randomly generated) presented to you, you are allowed to only choose 2. You decide that a farmer and a blacksmith would best suit the needs of a small town with big goals. They are both strong, and proficient with tools and weapons, so they will also serve you well should you need their aid adventuring in the world. The king also loans you 1,000 gold to get you started building your town, but he expects to be repaid (with interest!).
Next, the world unfolds before you. You see the capitol city, and the roads (currently in disrepair) leading to all of the old, abandoned townships of the kingdom. The king gives you your choice of these to rebuild. After some quick examination, you choose New Hartfordshire as your city. It is situated along with coast (which will provide food in the form of fish for your citizens), and there are some mountains nearby where you can see ore deposits (which might hide valuable gems!). You have the option of heading to your new city on foot, or the kings carriage will take you directly there. You choose to get there as quickly as possible to start rebuilding right away. (Had you chosen to head there on foot, you would have had to navigate there yourself, but you would likely have encountered some enemies along the way and possibly arrived with some additional gold and/or items!).
You are taken directly to the city builder screen, and you can see a view of your city. The first order of business — construct a town hall. You choose town hall from the available buildings, and choose a nice spot in the center of the town. Getting food for your town is going to be your first priority, so you also choose to construct a farm. You position it a ways away from the town hall. Once the farm is build, the farmer immediately moves in. If a building is vacant, and there is a citizen who can use that type of building, they will automatically “move-in”.
With the farmer busily planting crops, you decide to take your blacksmith and go on a little patrol around your new township, to get the lay of the land. You switch from the city builder screen to the world map to get a quick idea of where you want to head. You decide to head toward the mountains and see how difficult it’s going to be to get to the ore there. You switch from the world map to the adventure map, which is an overhead view of you and your party (which currently only consists of the blacksmith). You can have up to 4 other citizens in your party. Along the bottom of the screen are hotkey slots for adventure abilities. 4 for you as the main character, and 4 more, one for each member of your party. The members of your party mostly do their own thing, depending on their abilities, but each citizen has one ability that can be controlled by you, and these will automatically show up here. Your character can only have 4 abilities on the hotbar at a time, so choose wisely. Your character is currently only level 1, so you only have 2 abilities available to you: Fearsome Stike (an attack which hits up to 3 enemies) from your Adventure abilities, and Battle Cry (a buff that increases attack power) from your Leadership abilities. You assign each of these abilities to a hotkey. Now, you are ready to stride out into the wilderness!
Part 2: Let’s Do Some Adventuring