What is King of Dragon Pass?

Introduction to the game

The gameplay mechanics prove to be an interesting and unique combination of RPG-, Civilization managment-, Choose your own Adventure-elements.

The only downside comes from the game's age - The resolution is low. Luckily, the graphics don't matter, everything is represented in still images and the managment UI - It's similar to looking at a picture book. If the small game screen and the font still bother you, you could buy the HD version for iPhone/iPad and support the developers.

The learning curve is laid back, yet engaging; Even though some things can seem overwhelming at first, getting into the game is as easy as trying everything yourself, explorig all the possibilites and exchanging experiences with other people. Understanding the mechanics to optimize your playstyle requires some reading of the ingame Lorebook, the game manual and the inofficial wiki - Which will be taken together & reduced to this guide - for your convenience.

What's the story?

The setting is a low fantasy/magic world where you manage a colony of norse badasses who fled their home country, which was invaded and taken over by an evil warlord who openly allied himself with scum like trolls, and attempts to oppress, or force your people into submission.

Many other clans chose to do the same, and you're to unite them all under your banner - To become the new king of your people. Your main concerns will be taming the wilderness, sending exploration parties to scout out your land claim (Tula) and other landmarks, keeping your clan well fed, interacting with the other clans via peace & trade or warfare, resolving in-clan or inter-clan disputes, leading your people through hardships and getting to know the spirits of the land, your deities and worship.

The mythic, magic part of the game has its roots in real life norse mythology, ancient cultures and other influences. You can read about it here.

Interesting points of Gameplay

You can do all the things mentioned above and so much more. While you manage your leadership, conquer and expand for your clan, you're constantly beset with events you click through like in a Choose-your-own-adventure book, may they be random occurence or a result of a choice you've made earlier in your game.

Additionally, there will always be your council's nobles (The Ring) giving you advice and their opinions of situations at hand. All these nobles have their own skillsets, so having a noble who knows how to take care of livestock will be able to tell you wheter your pastures are plentliful enough or not.

Apart from an entertaining village managment component, KoDP has a rather extensive deity & spirit system. Ignoring your ancestors and the spirits of the lands - There are god-like individuals that are very important to your people.

 As an example, we will take Uralda - The mother of Cows.

You can worship her, sacrifice cattle and goods to her; She will bless your clan with mysteries, knowledge which you can further investigate. When you clan has full knowledge of a story, you will be able to build shrines dedicated to her and introduce annual sacrifices to get her blessings. Uralda has two blessings to provide, one that increases the yield, and the other that increases the fertility of your cattle. Additionally to her blessings, you can perform a Hero Quest. In this screenshot you can see that the Hero Quest for Uralda has several benefits, but we cannot send a Ring member to attempt it because we do not have uncovered enough knowledge about Uralda's story.

Hero Quests, again, can be compared to more extensive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure episodes. Actually reading the stories and lore is important - You are not trying to "win", but rather reenact Uralda's story. You will have to figure out what Uralda would have done, or did, in the situations you are confronted with. Failure is likely, the champion you sent might not have a strong affiliation with Uralda, you got unlucky in persuading someone, or your champion tripped during a combat sequence. Success however is greatly rewarded. Artifacts, knowledge, and other effects, like know-how, conveyed to your champion, are common rewards.

Part of the fun is that you can only squeeze so few things into your schedule. Perhaps you prepare a ritual, then go on a raid - Suddenly the season's over already, and you have to do less manpower-intensive tasks to make sure your clan can focus on the harvest.

King of Dragon Pass is an excellent and captivating time waster, with some depth, random elements, an outlandish settings - with all its customs and kinks - that is yet somehow relateable, uniquely mixed game mechanics and a product of love.

A lot of scenarios, story paths and outcomes will only spawn from failures, depend on your clan's hertiage or randomness, so the replay value, not solely attributed to the fun and comprehensive managment capabilities in this game, is considerable.