Seven Kingdoms (video Game)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Seven Kingdoms'' () is a
real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to p ...
(RTS) video game developed by
Trevor Chan Enlight Software is a Hong Kong developer and publisher of video games. The company was founded by Trevor Chan in 1993, and their first project was the economic strategy game ''Capitalism'', which was published by Interactive Magic in 1995. In 1 ...
of
Enlight Software Enlight Software is a Hong Kong developer and publisher of video games. The company was founded by Trevor Chan in 1993, and their first project was the economic strategy game ''Capitalism'', which was published by Interactive Magic in 1995. In 1 ...
. The game enables players to compete against up to six other kingdoms allowing players to conquer opponents by defeating them in war (with troops or machines), capturing their buildings with spies, or offering opponents money for their kingdom. The ''Seven Kingdoms'' series went on to include a sequel, '' Seven Kingdoms II: The Fryhtan Wars''. In 2007, Enlight released a further title in the Seven Kingdoms series, '.


Gameplay

''Seven Kingdoms'' made departures from the traditional real-time strategy model of "gather resources, build a base and army, and attack" set by other RTS games. The economic model bears more resemblance to a
turn-based In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based. Real-time Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisi ...
than to the traditional "build-workers, and harvest-resources" system in games such as ''
Command & Conquer ''Command & Conquer'' (''C&C'') is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' influential strategy game '' Dune ...
'', '' StarCraft'', and '' Age of Empires''. The game features an
espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
system that allows players to train and control spies individually, who each have a spying skill that increases over time. The player is responsible for catching potential spies in their own kingdom.
Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
s built within the game allow players to hire mercenaries of various occupations, skill levels, and races. Skilled spies of enemy races are essential to a well-conducted espionage program, and players can bolster their forces by grabbing a skilled fighter or give one's own factories, mines, and towers of science a boost by hiring a highly skilled professional. For instance, having a skilled
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
general can make capturing and keeping a Persian village much easier. The diplomacy system is akin to a turn-based game, allowing players to offer proposals to another party which they are able to either accept or reject. Each kingdom has a reputation and suffers a penalty for declaring war on a kingdom with a high reputation - making a player's people more likely to rebel and more susceptible to bribery. Diplomatic actions include making war, proposing an alliance or friendship treaty, buying food, exchanging technologies, offering tribute/aid, and forging trade agreements. A ranking system allows all players to gauge the relative military and economic strengths of their allies and enemies, making alliances against the stronger players a natural option. The original game allows players to choose from seven different cultures to command:
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
,
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
,
Mayans The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical reg ...
,
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
s,
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s,
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, and
Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
. Each culture has its own weapons and fighting styles, and can summon its own "greater being", each with different powers. Fryhtans are fictional beasts that hoard treasure and hold "scrolls of power", objects that enable players to summon greater beings. They are quite powerful and may attack human kingdoms. Interactive Magic later released a free patch that added three new cultures - the Egyptians, the
Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
and the
Zulus Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Na ...
- and a new war machine, called the Unicorn. The game was re-released on June 8, 1998 under the name ''Seven Kingdoms: Ancient Adversaries'' with this patch included.


Reception


Sales

Commercially, ''Seven Kingdoms'' was overshadowed at launch by competing real-time strategy titles such as '' Age of Empires'', ''
Total Annihilation ''Total Annihilation'' is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and was released on September 26, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. Two expansion packs ...
'' and '' Dark Reign''. Writing for
CNET Gamecenter ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
, Allen Rausch reported that the game was "buried" by the large number of releases in its genre at the time. The game was particularly dwarfed by ''Age of Empires'', according to T. Liam McDonald of ''
PC Gamer US ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
'', who placed part of the blame for ''Seven Kingdoms'' sales on its "indifferent ad campaign and weak graphics." However, both Rausch and McDonald noted that ''Seven Kingdoms'' had attracted a dedicated fan following by 1999, at which point Rausch wrote that it had sold "fairly well". In the United States, the game sold roughly 35,000 units by November 1999, according to
PC Data PC Data was an American market research and point of sale tracking firm founded in 1991 and based in Reston, Virginia. Its founder, Ann Stephens, had worked previously as the head researcher for the Software Publishers Association. Initially, t ...
. Global sales of ''Seven Kingdoms'', its expansion pack and its sequel surpassed 200,000 units by 2000.


''Seven Kingdoms''

The game received "favorable" reviews according to the
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website GameRankings (though almost all of them belong to its sequel rather than the original). ''Seven Kingdoms'' was the finalist for
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
's 1997 "Best Strategy Game" award, which ultimately went to ''
Total Annihilation ''Total Annihilation'' is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and was released on September 26, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. Two expansion packs ...
''. The editors wrote, "Even in light of fierce competition from this year's other top-notch strategy releases, ''Seven Kingdoms'' stands tall as an inventive, enjoyable product destined to be remembered." However, it won the publication's "Best Game No One Played" award. In a 1999 retrospective, '' Computer Games Strategy Plus'' named ''Seven Kingdoms'' as a runner-up for its "10 Essential Real-time Strategy Games" list. The magazine's Steve Bauman wrote, "Its combat is nothing to write home about, but few RTS games have a better build-up phase, with a slick visual representation of trade and economy."


''Ancient Adversaries''

The ''Ancient Adversaries'' expansion pack received "favorable" reviews according to GameRankings.


See also

*
List of strategy video games Strategy is a major video game genre that emphasizes thinking and planning over direct instant action in order to achieve victory. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, as a genre, strategy games are most commonly defi ...


References

*''Seven Kingdoms II Strategy Guide'', M. Knight, Prima Games,


External links


Official Website
(archive 2009)
Enlight Software

(archive 2008)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Kingdoms (Computer Game) 1997 video games Real-time strategy video games Video games developed in China Video games scored by Bjørn Lynne Commercial video games with freely available source code Linux games Windows games Free software that uses SDL