Thronefall (Early Access) Review: A League of Their Throne
Over the years, strategy games have become more and more complicated. Some weave the complexity through overlapping mechanics, deep lore, and fantastical combos. Others, unfortunately over bloat the game into a cacophony of confusion and complexity. Thronefall pushes onto the field as a third option - a minimalist experience that focuses on its strategic gameplay and engaging loop.
The Day Planner
In Thronefall, you play as a small king who gradually and methodically builds their kingdom while defeating enemies and protecting their property. The main thrust of Thronefall is the balance between the two phases of a level between day and night. During the day, you’re building various defensive structures, reinforcing already built items, or organizing your troops. Building and upgrading your various structures can only be achieved by earning gold - which is gained only after completing a successful night. The amount of coins earned varies on the structures you’ve assembled, making it vital to pre plan a few rounds to ensure you’re maximizing each coin. The first two levels of Early Access mostly shower you with coins, even if you don’t optimally plan your constructions and upgrades. I found this really empowering to ensure that I was able to experiment and see the full range of options available to me. The latter levels though… become very methodical.
As you continue to plan the daytime portion of the loop, there’s various icons where the enemies will emerge during the night for combat. This was especially great because I was able to fortify various defenses in certain portions of the map, build a structure that enlists several armament characters to my side, and ensure that all my bases are covered. However, as the rounds go one, the daunting increase of enemies and increased spawn locations became a highlight. I was concerned at first that this game would be too minimalist, especially with the challenge. My concerns were quickly swayed by that notion after getting completely overwhelmed by the enemies a few rounds earlier.
The Dark Knight Attacks
If the daytime portion of Thronefall can be considered the quiet planning part, the night time portion can be considered the chaotic adjusting-on-the-fly-and-quickly part of Thronefall. As you build out your area, you can possess various types of armament characters that you can direct and assign into specific areas of the map. There are strengths and weaknesses to each class, and the game does a very good job at laying it out clearly. Even with those laid out, sometimes the waves of enemies are just too much and you have to completely contextualize your strategy once you get the Game Over screen. Luckily, you still earn experience even in defeat. These experience points raise your level up and unlockables various perks that you can utilize in a future run. There’s also scores for each level, as well as advanced challenges to really push players who want a difficulty spike for the game.
A Few Cracks at Dawn
The visuals of the game further strikes the minimalist aspect of the game - where each character on the map looks like tiny figurines engaging in battle with an almost micro-chibi feel. Audio-wise, the themes of battle in the night and preparation in the day, are both amicable, albeit repetitive after a while.
Though Thronefall is very approachable as an entry point to a tower defense-like strategy game, the accessibility options are very limited. There is a toggle in the options for large font, but did not really increase at all from what I could tell. This was particularly glaring since all the fonts were stylized in a way that it became occasionally difficult to read (both on PC and Steam Deck). Since the game is in Early Access at the time of review, I do hope the team takes some time to really broaden the features here to enhance all players’ enjoyment of an otherwise fun game.
Breakdown
Game: Thronefall
Developer: Grizzly Games
Availability: PC
Reviewed on PC & Steam Deck
Pros:
+ Approachable strategy game
+ Satisfying balance between challenging and overly difficult
+ Vibrant colors to help distinguish characters and terrain
Cons:
-Very small font both on Steam Deck & PC
Final Thoughts
Thronefall is an engaging tower defense game that rewards maximizing your strategy through precision and base-building mechanics. Though the game is in Early Access, the foundation of the game is solid and can only improve from here. With more perks, challenges, and levels in store, I look forward to the continued success from Grizzly Games.
Reviewed by Harry Loizides