Has anyone else noticed that 2024 has suddenly become a major year for strategy games, with several ready to duke it out for the title of Strategy Game of the Year? Oh sure, it started feeling like it would be an obvious choice withBalatro,which won over many folks and killed their productivity, and which we even declared to bethe greatest strategy game of all time.In the short month and a half since we published that list, though, we saw the releases ofArco,Tactical Breach Wizards,andShogun Showdown,which also came out to much acclaim. And next month sees yet another possible contender for the throne: The rather appropriate Thronefall, from developer GrizzlyGames, which after a successful run in Early Access with nearly a million copies sold and an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam, is now ready for a full release, with the date announced in the trailer below.
Back to Basics
As the clip shows through a quick exploration of the gameplay, Thronefall is a minimalist strategy game (somewhat akin to one of the developer’s previous games,Islanders), one with the simple setup of building a little kingdom during the day and defending it during the night. Whatever buildings you have left standing generate currency, which you can use for new buildings or upgrades to existing ones. Certain buildings create various soldiers to help fight as well, who can defend your kingdom, although you can charge into battle to take the enemy head-on as well. In the end, the challenge lies in being able to find a perfect balance of buildings and units that works for you.
“With the most recent editions and the Nintendo Switch launch, we hope there’s something in it for everyone to enjoy" - Jonas Tyoller
It’s simple yet efficient stuff, and having played the game, this writer can certainly say that it makes for quite the addictive and fun experience, and the minimalism makes for a rather eye-catching style as well. Said experience will be enhanced even more with Version 1.0, which adds three more levels and brings the total up to ten for the campaign mode, more perks, enemies, mutators, and weapons to experiment with, and a whole lot of various quality of life improvements. Needless to say, it looks like those who have already been playing Thronefall will have a lot more to enjoy soon.
Thronefall not only exits Early Access on October 11, but it also makes its Switch debut on the same date as well, allowing fans of Nintendo’s console to get in on the action as well. “With the most recent editions and the Nintendo Switch launch, we hope there’s something in it for everyone to enjoy and brings the game to more people; from the kid who’s playing their very first strategy game to the veteran who simply doesn’t have time to sink hundreds of hours into learning how to play something new.” says GrizzlyGames' Jonas Tyroller. Indeed, we’ll see how well the full game lands with everyone in just less than two weeks from now, so stay tuned.
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