For The King

The only negative aspect of the FOR THE KING series is that each mission ends with no way to carryover your characters to another--still, the rest of the game is soon amazing that you begin to be able to overlook the aforementioned oddity. The LORE system keeps you wanting to play for new characters to try and since you have to make new ones every save game or mission or campaigning event i.e. mission--well it all works out. Most games predecessors as in with sequels beget forgetting the first, but with this series I'd buy BOTH.

Movement felt awkward as heck, trying to keep the party in range of each other was a chore. Just when I started getting the combat some I got an announcement that the quest timer had run out and my party is now wiped out. Oh. K. Guess I'm done playing.

You know what's fun? Falling far behind your friends in levels/xp in co-op, being almost levelled up - and then losing all your progress to a random event when you are on the clock and have *important events* to attend to soon.

For The King, developed by IronOak Games, is a refreshing and genre-blending title that fuses turn-based combat, procedural exploration, and tabletop-inspired strategy into a cohesive, engaging, and often punishing RPG experience. Originally funded through Kickstarter and released across multiple platforms, For The King is part rogue-like, part strategy game, and part cooperative board game—all wrapped in a charming, low-poly visual style that belies its considerable tactical depth and challenge. Whether played solo, locally, or online with friends, the game provides a thoughtful and unpredictable journey through a grim fantasy world on the brink of chaos. The narrative setup is straightforward but effective: the king of Fahrul has been assassinated, and the realm is descending into disarray. With no one else to turn to, the queen calls upon ordinary citizens—blacksmiths, minstrels, herbalists, and more—to become unlikely heroes and restore order. This premise underlines one of the game’s most compelling qualities: you’re not controlling legendary warriors or mystical prodigies, but regular folks with limited resources trying to survive a world filled with ever-escalating threats. This sense of vulnerability creates a strong connection to your characters and makes every victory feel hard-earned. Gameplay in For The King is turn-based and operates on a hex-grid map filled with towns, dungeons, enemies, and random events. Movement is governed by a character’s "focus" and stat-driven rolls, adding unpredictability to exploration. Combat is similarly reliant on dice-roll mechanics, with each action—whether an attack, skill, or ability—tied to a number of virtual dice. Success is determined by how many of these dice hit, and players can spend focus points to guarantee successes, adding a crucial risk-reward element to every encounter. This system captures the essence of a tabletop RPG without becoming bogged down in overly complex rules. The blend of RPG progression, tactical combat, and procedural generation keeps each session of For The King feeling unique. Characters level up, acquire better gear, and unlock passive abilities, but permadeath always looms. When a party member dies, revival is possible through limited resources, but failure to maintain the group can result in a complete wipe. This difficulty isn’t arbitrary; it forces players to consider positioning, equipment synergy, and when to retreat or push forward. Each playthrough is a campaign rather than a persistent world, so success hinges not on grinding but on adapting to changing conditions. One of the game’s strongest features is its wide variety of campaign modes and scenarios. The core adventure, "For The King," is just the beginning. Other modes like "Dungeon Crawl," "Hildebrant’s Cellar," and "Into the Deep" offer different win conditions, mechanics, and storylines, each with unique twists on gameplay. The modular campaign design ensures replayability and lets players choose how they want to engage—whether through short, intense sessions or longer, multi-hour expeditions. With unlockable content and an in-game Lore Store that allows players to purchase new classes, items, and encounters using a currency earned through gameplay, there’s always a sense of long-term progression, even in defeat. The game's aesthetic is one of understated brilliance. The low-poly art style is clean, stylized, and surprisingly expressive. It feels like playing inside a handcrafted board game come to life. The animations are simple but charming, with just enough visual feedback to make combat satisfying. The world of Fahrul, while minimalist, is filled with atmosphere thanks to its varied biomes, dynamic weather effects, and moody soundtrack. Musically, For The King excels with a haunting and thematic score that enhances the sense of melancholy and danger that permeates the game’s narrative tone. In multiplayer, the game truly shines. Cooperative play is turn-based and asynchronous, allowing players to explore separately or stick together for safety. This opens up a range of tactical possibilities and social dynamics as players debate whether to split the party for efficiency or stay united for survival. Communication and coordination become vital, especially when planning combat strategies, deciding who should carry healing items, or resolving encounters. The multiplayer pacing may not suit everyone—since players must wait for each other's turns—but for those who enjoy methodical, strategic play, it creates a slow-burning tension that is highly rewarding. However, For The King does have its shortcomings. The reliance on RNG can feel unforgiving, especially early on, when a few bad rolls can doom a run. Difficulty spikes are common, and while they serve the game’s roguelike identity, they can also frustrate newer players unfamiliar with the mechanics. Inventory and gear management, while functional, can feel clunky due to the interface, especially when juggling multiple characters. Additionally, while the core gameplay loop is compelling, some players may find the campaign objectives repetitive after several runs, despite the procedural generation and scenario variety. Yet, despite these issues, For The King manages to deliver a compelling and replayable strategy RPG that rewards thoughtful planning, risk management, and teamwork. It’s a rare example of a game that feels equally suited for solo players and groups, with a balance of strategy and unpredictability that keeps each run fresh. The blend of tactical combat, exploration, and tabletop inspiration results in a title that’s hard to put down once you’ve learned its rhythms. For players who enjoy games like Darkest Dungeon, XCOM, or tabletop RPGs, For The King is a worthy addition to any strategy enthusiast’s library—challenging, rewarding, and full of memorable adventures. Rating: 8/10

just good tb gaming,easy to learn,fun to master,playing it with my teens atm and depending on patience and loot hoarding 2 max xD

I'm pleasantly surprised by how much fun this game is, especially when playing with friends. We've already spent around 7 hours playing it together, and we're still only halfway through the first campaign. Everything is just as exciting and enjoyable as when we first started. The weapons keep getting better, and the battles are increasingly intense—it really keeps us on our toes! Many hours of fun for a small price!

Easy to get started, easy to make mistakes, but starting a new game is painless and interesting each time. Has a nice system for adding new features to the game as you progress, lots of main quest lines, lots of mini quests, and interesting character types. Well worth playing if you like a light RPG.

Great game to play with friends (or by Yourself) With a lot of Replayability. {8/10}

Nice graphics and animations, fun gameplay and decent story. Extremely fun with friends. Very boring by yourself.

one of the best RPGs out there. playing with friends is more fun but playing by yourself is also amazing and almost just as good. way better optimized than For The King 2, didn't encounter any bugs in 80 hours of gameplay. the campaign structure is also way better designed than For The King 2. the only disadvantage is the limit to 3 players, since its hard to play with only 2 people controlling 2 characters and impossible to play like most other co-op games with 4 ppl.

Great game. Each game mode has something to offer. Fun with friends or solo. Recommended.

a fun dnd-like game that's fun with friends or solo. several adventures, classes, as well as many areas with loot and enemies to find. worth the $20 but it goes on sale for $4 all the time.

Very fun cooperative strategy RPG-lite to play with a friend or two. Great replay value.

For The King is a whole lotta fun to play with friends and family.

Sehr episches, spaßiges Fantasy-Rollenspiel mit vielen tödlichen Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten, Stratege zu spielen. Mit Freunden macht es sogar noch mehr Spaß. Das Wissensladen-System ist auch sehr genial und gibt einem, neben den Steam-Erfolgen und dem Spielspaß selbst, noch mehr Grund, neue Spieldurchläufe zu starten.

(From an experience of a Remote-Play host of 3) It's a fun questing and strategizing experience with friends. This game is kinda time attack (or turn attack?) so the player has to learn to optimize their progression according to the phase of the game. Players have to repeatedly fail to learn the game or meta hard to succeed, either way, in or out of game, you get to spend more time with your party.

AWFUL game. Ridiculously difficult on the easiest settings and the forced timer (chaos rising) makes it difficult to explore and enjoy the game. It's like a D&D version of the game Perfection but instead of 60 seconds, you have 15 seconds to win. I really wanted to love this game but it is painful to play.

this game is very gooed allthough i like it very much but its fery good however its such a nice game

Terrible design, Terrible combat, Terrible terrible terrible. Utter rubbish of a game. What morons these devs were. Oh just lose 5 hours of game play with no way to return to a save. What a-holes. This game can shove it. RNG is the f'n worst!

Como alguém com mais de 200 horas nesse jogo na Epic Games, preciso dizer que é facilmente um dos meus RPG's favoritos. Todas as campanhas do jogo são ótimas, e o balanceamento é muito bom. Estilo de arte também é bem bonito, e acaba tornando o jogo relativamente leve, podendo rodar em quase qualquer hardware. A Lore Store te permite desbloquear novos itens e personagens pra usar em campanhas futuras, e a geração aleatória dos mundos torna cada nova campanha uma experiência diferente. Uma pena que o For The King 2 acabou não saindo tão polido quanto esse, mas espero que um dia chegue ao mesmo nível do primeiro jogo.

The game is trash. I regret having spent over 32 hours with this joke of a psuedo rouge lite failure. Please do not waste your time with this, and get a real game.

Возможно пройти только на сейвскамах, смена уровеня сложности никак не помогает, враги просто перескейливают а предметы остаются такими же свабыми.

Jogo bom! E bastante legal se voce jogar com os amigos.

This shit cheats and it sucks boo hiss tomato throw

Yeah it's good enough- having a fine time. Nothing truly revolutionary

Game is not that good, rain fucks up you run.

Манчкин с перемещением, без мультиплеера, потому что пошёл я ...

This game is great! Another fun 3 player game

Great game, never buy FTK 2

I bought this game 24 hours ago exactly...

This game's math is not mathing.

Very fun to play with friends

Such an awesome game would die again to a pig thief

you get to beat up a skeleton called Boner

i like the overall gameplay

I like it it is very fun.

Great coop game

Fun with friends

really fun with friends

Sweby Debey Mon Frair Dejobater!

What is this game even about

I LOVE THIS GAME SO FUCKING MUCH

very nice game

Great game

Very fun

nice

good one

6/10

for rthe king

john bow the goat