Ah, summer camp! A time where parents can drop off their kids and let them run free and feral. Swimming in the lake, hanging around by the campfire, making friends, and having fun under the sun is what kids should expect. Except, something wrong has plagued the camp and their town. Something dark, evil, and maybe even a little gooey has sunk its corruption deep into the area. With no adults in sight and evil afoot, what’s a kid got to do to enjoy the rest of their summer? Developed by Fury Studios and published by Raw Fury, Kingdom Eighties is a side-scrolling, funky, base-buidling RPG. If you love the vibes from the 80s, with all its neon lights, synthwave music, and reckless kids on bikes, then this game is for you.
Players get to take on the role of the main protagonist called The Leader. This tween is a camp counselor with a family legacy that holds the key to saving their town. Which in hindsight, is a lot of responsibility and pressure to put on a young adult. Kids their age should only be worrying about puberty and poison ivy, not the fate of everyone they know and love. Luckily, The Leader is not alone as the camp is full of kids easily persuaded by coin. Put those little humans to work as there’s nothing better for character growth than unsupervised archery and building construction.
Putting up solid defenses is key to surviving against the enemies called, Greed. These dark gray Minion rejects attack at night and come in different sizes. For creatures with no visible hands or fingers, they love to steal and if given the chance, will take coins and The Leader’s crown. As the game progresses and the days go by, Greed will continue their annoying onslaught, growing stronger and more relentless. With the help and skill set from supporting characters called The Champ, The Tinkerer, and The Wiz, these pests won’t stand a chance. With persistence, careful planning, and knowing what to invest those coins to, The Leader will have their town back in no time.
Kingdom Eighties has some of the most beautiful side scrolling visuals. The shift from day to night, lights and stars twinkling in the distance, and the reflection from the water is a feast for the eyes. Paired this with the great soundtrack makes this game thoroughly enjoyable to play. With that being said, the constant back and forth side scrolling can also become tedious after a while, especially when The Leader can only pedal so far before needing to take a small water break. There is no journal or option to review what the next tasks are, or what certain improvements do. So be sure to not go without playing for months and expect to easily pick up at the last save point.
PROS: Amazing visuals and soundtrack, and somehow makes a base building side scroller work.
CONS: Side scrolling back and forth sometimes takes too long. No descriptions to certain tasks or what improvements were made. Not a game to easily jump back after not playing for long periods of time.
Check out the Kingdom Eighties Launch Trailer:
Kingdom Eighties is available for PC and Mac via Steam. The game also set to arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch later this year.
For more information, visit the game’s official website.
Related: Reviews by Vivian Chen
Video games have always been a huge influence in my life and have definitely shaped me to who I am today . Some of my best memories growing up were the many adventures and stories I was able to experience and become immersed in. If my hands aren't either covered in clay, typing, editing, creating, or helping shoving food in my mouth, they would either be gripped to a controller, tapping away at the screen of my phone, or clicking away on my PC. I am always up for trying something new because why live just one life when you can live many.
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