Kingdom: New Lands in IOS

How long will you last?

Walkthrough, Guilds, Tips on this special game

Our Site Score

92/100

Kingdom: New Lands is a hauntingly beautiful exercise in minimalism and discovery. You are a monarch on horseback, armed only with a bag of gold and the ability to drop coins. The game gives you almost no instructions, forcing you to learn through failure and observation. This sense of mystery is its greatest strength. Watching your small campfire grow into a fortified stone city, protected by archers and knights, is immensely satisfying.

The 'New Lands' expansion adds layers of strategy to the original 'tower defense' loop by introducing mounts, hermits, and the need to eventually rebuild a ship to escape to the next island. The pixel art is breathtaking, with reflections in the water and changing weather that affects gameplay. It’s a slow-burn strategy game that demands patience, but once it hooks you, the 'just one more day' feeling is inescapable. It is a masterpiece of atmosphere and design.

Reviewed on: Mon Feb 24 2025
Dinsun Avatar

Dinsun Review

Dinsun here. Kingdom: New Lands is proof that you don't need a hundred buttons to make a game difficult. You move left, you move right, and you drop coins. That’s it. It’s refreshing, but it’s also infuriating. The game refuses to explain itself, which modern gamers call 'mystery,' but I call 'lack of documentation.'

The pixel art is stunning, and the sense of dread when the sun sets is genuinely well-crafted. However, losing hours of progress because of a mechanic the game never bothered to hint at is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s a slow-burn strategy that respects your intelligence but occasionally disrespects your time. If you have the patience of a saint, you’ll find a lot to love. If not, you'll likely throw your phone across the room.

Overall Stats

Pros & Cons

  • Masterful atmosphere and sound design
  • Elegant, minimalist control scheme
  • Highly rewarding sense of discovery
  • Frustratingly vague mechanics
  • Slow pace can feel tedious on repeated runs
  • Permadeath can feel unfair due to RNG

Technical Report

Performance: Well-optimized, though the transparent home indicator on newer iPhones is a welcome fix for the UI.

Accessibility:
  • Simple two-button controls
  • Visual cues for gameplay phases

Audience Fit

Buy if: You value atmosphere and discovery over explicit tutorials and fast-paced action.

Skip if: You hate 'losing' progress or prefer games with clear instructions.

Similar Games:
  • Kingdom Two Crowns
  • Bad North
  • Terraria

Reviewer Context

  • Reviewer: Dinsun, 40-year-old conservative critic
  • Hardware: iPhone 13
  • Playtime: 30 hours
  • Status: Escaped first three islands

The Game

Available on: Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iPod

Version 1.3.4Tue Jun 02 2020

Fixed an issue with Cloud Save


The award-winning and IGF Excellence in Design nominated game Kingdom is now available on Apple TV! This is the same exact critically acclaimed PC and console experience hundreds of thousands have come to enjoy but now optimized for Siri Remote, not a watered down version!

Kingdom: New Lands asks you to puzzle things out on your own. You'll come across items, NPCs, and mysterious statues to help you but you'll have to figure out just how exactly they'll aide you in building and defending your Kingdom.

Kingdom: New Lands builds upon the award-winning gameplay and mystery of Kingdom by introducing an abundance of new content to the IGF-nominated title while maintaining the simplicity and depth that legions of monarchs have come to experience and enjoy. Travel to the New Lands and welcome the deluge of new mounts, merchants, and vagrants that call these isles home, but be wary of the new obstacles that threaten your arrival -- for not just the greedy creatures block your way but even the environment itself can defeat you.

Be brave, ruler, and fight to the bitter end, lest these New Lands conquer you instead.

Kingdom: New Lands features:

● One ruler, their horse, and a bag of coins

● Greedy creatures trying to take your coins and crown every night (stop them!)

● Loyal subjects who will help build, attack and defend your Kingdom

● Multiple upgrades for your homestead, different unit types to attack and defend, and secrets littered throughout the land

● Beautiful soundtrack that has received two honorable mentions from the Independent Games Festival


Requires iOS 10.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

** Nominated by the Independent Games Festival for Excellence in Design. **

** Two IGF Honorable Mentions for Music **

In Kingdom: New Lands, you take on the role of a monarch struggling to build your kingdom up from nothing. Explore the lands for resources, recruit loyal subjects, and shore up your defenses — but make haste, for when nightfall comes, a dark and greedy presence awaits…

Kingdom: New Lands provides a welcome yet challenging & strategic experience for newcomers and longtime fans alike. Building upon the award-winning twist on tower defense gameplay and mystery of classic Kingdom, New Lands introduces an abundance of new content to the IGF-nominated title while maintaining the simplicity and depth that legions of monarchs have come to cherish.

Travel to the New Lands and welcome the deluge of new mounts, merchants, and vagrants that call these isles home, but be wary of the new obstacles that threaten your arrival - for not just the greedy creatures block your way, but even the environment itself can defeat you.

Be brave, ruler, and fight to the bitter end, lest these New Lands conquer you instead.

-----

“The fact that it’s far deeper than I could have imagined has easily pushed this into my Best of 2017 list.” -Touch Arcade

“A cryptic, gorgeous, and righteously frustrating way to spend time.” -PC Gamer

“I am in love.” -Destructoid

-----

EXPLORE

Traverse the land on horseback to discover all the wealth, secrets, and unlockables that you can use to your advantage.

RECRUIT

Across the land, wandering vagrants await your orders. Spend gold to recruit them as loyal subjects to help build and bolster your kingdom.

BUILD

Do you need sturdier walls, or taller sentry towers? Farming plots or bakeries? As the leader of your people, shape and sustain your kingdom as you see fit.

DEFEND

The wisest of monarchs know that the night brings danger. Make sure you’re safe and well protected from the insidious Greed when the sun sets - if they steal your crown, it’s all over!

STRATEGIZE

Time and gold are both in limited supply. The army of Greed grows stronger with each passing day. The land, while plentiful, can also be harsh. Will you make the right choices of when and where to devote your resources?


Ratings & Reviews

4.5 out of 5 with 1228 Counts
Age Rating 9+

Screenshots

Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 1Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 2Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 3Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 4Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 5Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 6Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 7Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 8Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 9Kingdom: New Lands screenshot 10

Kingdom: New Lands is an award-winning strategic survival game. Take the role of a monarch and build your kingdom by recruiting loyal subjects and fortifying walls. Explore the land for resources and mysterious statues, but be prepared for the Greed that attacks every night. Travel to new islands to find new mounts, merchants, and challenges.

Features

1

IGF Nominated Design

2

Minimalist Strategy

3

Breathtaking Pixel Art

4

Procedural Islands

5

Diverse Mounts and Hermits

Tips

Promotion Videos

Kingdom: New Lands Release Trailer - YouTube

Related Videos

News on this game

Xbox Game Pass Just Added A Unique Side-Scrolling Strategy Game For Two

'Kingdom Two Crowns' brings its hands-off multiplayer twist on strategy games to Xbox Game Pass.

Inverse - Sat Mar 29 2025

The Mystery and Magic Behind Ray Fury’s KINGDOM Series

Each week on Twitch and Alpha, hosts Erika Ishii and Trisha Hershberger talk video games with special industry guests, insightful coverage...

Nerdist - Tue Jan 29 2019

The double-act of Raw Fury and Kingdom shines like a lighthouse across an industry floundering at sea

I still remember it well: I was at EGX 2015 in Birmingham, and one game turned my head like a doorknob. It wasn't one o…

Eurogamer - Mon Jul 29 2024

Kingdom Eighties Review

The Kingdom series has always fascinated me with its blend of simple 2D pixel graphics, surprisingly in-depth micro-strategy gameplay, and.

GameGrin - Tue Aug 29 2023

Raw Fury acquires rights to the Kingdom IP

Raw Fury has acquired the rights to the Kingdom IP, a series that has sold more than four million units for the Swedish indie publisher.

GamesIndustry.biz - Mon Jul 29 2019

Exploring The Quiet Downfall of a Nation in ‘Kingdom: New Lands’

The onslaught of the seasons pushes your farms into bare subsistence, the hordes of monsters that spawn from the portals start knocking down your walls.

VICE - Wed Mar 29 2017

Kingdom: New Lands review: Keeping secrets

Kingdom: New Lands is described as a minimalist strategy game. And when they say minimalist, boy do they mean minimalist.

XBLAFans - Sat Oct 29 2016

Let’s Play Kingdom: New Lands

We are taking a look at Kingdom: New Lands this week, a new side scrolling strategy game from developer Noio and publisher Raw Fury.

Gameindustry.com - Thu Mar 29 2018

Why Raw Fury boss Antonsson thinks indie publishers are more important than ever in 2019

"Making it easier for anyone to self-publish is great, but the challenge becomes how to stand out in the sea of new games"

PC Games Insider - Mon Jul 29 2019

Indie adventure game Kingdom Two Crowns lands on Android for $10

Raw Fury has announced today that it will release the indie adventure game Kingdom Two Crowns on the Play Store on April 28th.

Android Police - Mon Jun 29 2020

Gameplays

Q&A

If the Greed steals your crown, your reign ends, and you must start over from a new generation.

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