A Kingdom for Keflings

A Kingdom for Keflings is a video game developed by NinjaBee for the Xbox Live Arcade which was released on November 19, 2008. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows on March 20, 2010.

A Kingdom for Keflings
Developer(s)NinjaBee
Publisher(s)Microsoft Studios
Platform(s)
Release
  • Xbox 360
  • November 19, 2008
  • Microsoft Windows
  • March 20, 2010
Genre(s)City-building game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

In the game, the player takes on a role of a giant in the land of the Keflings. Keflings are a small race of human-like creatures; similar to elves or gnomes. It becomes the job of the player to aid the Keflings in creating their kingdom. This is accomplished by building various structures, collecting resources, and managing the work of the Keflings. The Keflings will aid the player in gathering resources (wood, crystals, wool, and stone) and transporting them to various buildings for use in producing other buildings. Some buildings convert the resources into other products for use in building more complex structures. It is the first Xbox 360 title to allow full avatar player control in the New Xbox Experience.[1] The game has been described as having "dashes of SimCity and Black & White".[2] Its resource gathering system is comparable to The Settlers.

The main goal of the game is to complete the castle, thereby producing a King or Queen of the Keflings. The game, however, does not stop, and appears to officially never end, allowing the player to continue building more structures and gather more resources. There are four characters available for use in the game, all having slightly different starting statistics. As a fifth option, the player may also use their Xbox Live Avatar as their character.

The multiplayer mode is the same as the single player mode, except that up to four players may be in the game at once. The game play is drop-in/drop-out format, allowing many players to be a part of one kingdom. While visiting an online game, players may build banner towers that display their gamer picture for all players who visit that game to view. The host of an online game has the option to kick any other player that has joined the game. When a player is kicked, their game is split from the original hosted game - they get an entire copy of the world as it is, the other players appear to leave and the kicked player is left alone hosting the new game. Only the host may save an online game.

Development, release, and marketing

A Kingdom For Keflings was released on the Xbox 360 on November 19, 2008.[3] On November 13, 2009 Ninjabee announced that the game would be coming to the PC as well, it was released for Windows on March 20, 2010.[4] Sales were close to 610,000 units as of year-end 2011.[5] A Kingdom for Keflings has two DLC packages: Kingdom Pack 1 and Kingdom Pack 2. Both were released on December 9, 2009. Each pack contains two new kingdoms for players to develop. Kingdom Pack 1 contains the Orchard Kingdom and Kingdom Crossroads. Kingdom Pack 2 contains Relic Kingdom and Central Kingdom. The Kingdoms in the second pack are said to be of a higher difficulty.

The game features a set of five different songs that play dynamically according to the current season and the state of the village. They form a set of joyful and relaxing songs, said to be quite catchy and adding a lot of appeal to the game.[6] At the request of fans, the developer has made the songs available for download.[7]

Reception

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[8][9]

Sequel

A sequel entitled A World of Keflings was released on December 22, 2010. The sequel increases the focus on storyline, offers "multiple kingdoms to explore, each with its own climate, resources, and culture" and includes local multiplayer.[21] It sold over 224,000 copies as of year-end 2011.[5] On March 13, 2013, developer NinjaBee announced that the sequel had just been re-released, at the time, for the Games Store on Windows 8, and for the Wii U's Nintendo eShop later in the year.[22]

References
  1. GamesIndustry International (June 4, 2008). "A Kingdom for Keflings". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2008.
  2. Stasse, Terrence (July 23, 2008). "SimCity Lite for XBLA? - A Kingdom for Keflings". Engadget (Joystiq). Verizon Media. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  3. "A Kingdom for Keflings". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  4. Volm, Evan (November 13, 2009). "Hit XBLA Game Coming to the PC". Brave New Gamer. Brave New Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  5. Langley, Ryan (January 20, 2012). "Xbox Live Arcade by the numbers - the 2011 year in review". Gamasutra. Informa. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  6. Dyer, Mitch (November 21, 2008). "A Kingdom for Keflings Review (X360)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  7. Valerie (March 27, 2009). "A Kingdom for Keflings Music". NinjaBee. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  8. "A Kingdom for Keflings for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  9. "A Kingdom for Keflings for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  10. Suttner, Nick (December 15, 2008). "A Kingdom for Keflings (Xbox 360)". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  11. Sterling, Jim (November 29, 2008). "Destructoid review: A Kingdom for Keflings (X360)". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  12. Whitehead, Dan (November 19, 2008). "A Kingdom for Keflings (Xbox 360)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  13. Terrones, Terry (November 23, 2008). "Review: A Kingdom for Keflings (X360)". GamePro Arcade. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  14. "Review: A Kingdom for Keflings (X360)". GamesMaster. Future plc. November 2008. p. 84.
  15. Sapieha, Chad (April 2, 2010). "A Kingdom for Keflings Review (PC)". Gamezebo. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  16. Geddes, Ryan (March 30, 2010). "A Kingdom For Keflings Review (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  17. Geddes, Ryan (November 21, 2008). "A Kingdom For Keflings Review (X360)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  18. Cabral, Matt (December 2008). "A Kingdom for Keflings". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. p. 88. Archived from the original on November 23, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  19. Eddy, Andy (November 21, 2008). "A Kingdom for Keflings Review (Xbox 360)". TeamXbox. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  20. Teti, John (December 15, 2008). "A Kingdom For Keflings (X360)". The A.V. Club. G/O Media. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  21. Hatfield, Daemon (January 28, 2010). "A World of Keflings Announced". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  22. Hill, Andrew (March 13, 2013). "A World of Keflings Comes to Win 8 Today, Wii U Later This Year". NinjaBee. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
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