Developer: Pipa Studios
Publisher: Pipa Studios
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Possessed Kingdom – Review
We’re not sure if we can keep blaming GTA VI, but 2026’s end-of-year release schedule is unusual, to say the least. Our previous review covered a demo for a game that’s already out but isn’t completely finished, and now we’re looking at a game that is completely finished (as far as we’re aware) but that isn’t releasing until next month: Possessed Kingdom. Now, if our review of this strategy game piques your interest, then don’t fret about its release still being weeks away. There is a free demo available for the game as we speak, so you can give it a go today. Don’t rush to Steam just yet though, but read on, as we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Possessed Kingdom first.
Story
There is no in-game story present in Possessed Kingdom. We wouldn’t be able to tell you what the game’s title meant with absolute certainty, though the intense facial expressions of whom we assume to be the king do seem to suggest that he’s the one who is possessed. The gameplay is straightforward enough that we don’t mind the lack of a story.
Graphics
Harkening back to the strategy games of the ‘90s, Possessed Kingdom opts for a low-res, low-poly aesthetic for the majority of its visuals. Maps are presented in a top-down isometric perspective, and the simple 3D models prioritise at-a-glance readability over detail. Soldiers marching on the enemy are depicted as basic geometric shapes. Despite this simplicity, the way battles are resolved comes across as brutal, mostly due to their unrelenting pace and the exaggerated pools of blood that appear as units are slain. Character portraits and card art make use of a cartoonish, hand-drawn art style. While we enjoy the art style itself, the designs lean heavily into fantasy tropes and lack a unique personality. One thing that irked us was that the resolution of the art was on the low side, something that was especially apparent when the in-game camera zoomed in on the pictures. In terms of visual performance, Possessed Kingdom isn’t too demanding, and we didn’t encounter any issues.
Sound
The soundscape of Possessed Kingdom matches the game’s minimalist aesthetic. The game’s music matches the medieval fantasy aesthetic, with string instruments and drums. It shifts dynamically depending on the on-screen action, kicking up when battles happen. Sound effects are crisp, with the satisfying sound of a ringing bell whenever a round ends standing out in particular. Voice acting is present in the game, though it is kept to the absolute barebones minimum. You’ll hear the battle cries of soldiers or the malevolent laughs of sneaky goblins but little more than that.
Gameplay
The recipe for Possessed Kingdom’s gameplay goes as follows: start with a tower defense base and add a roguelike structure. Blend in RTS mechanics and finish off by sprinkling in deck building. The result works surprisingly well, even if our first impression was that the game was cobbled together from radically different genres. A run of Possessed Kingdom sees you take on a series of six interconnected turn-based battles, where the aim is to build and defend your own base, and take down that of the enemy with troops that you recruit from your barracks. The early game is all about resource management: you’ll build structures that generate income and set up defenses. Once you have a healthy economy up and running, you build an army, plan routes of attack, and watch as you send your soldiers to die while whittling down the health bar of enemy structures.
In between battles, you’ll receive random cards, which you can add to your deck. Everything you can deploy in Possessed Kingdom, whether it’s units, buildings or upgrades, is determined by what you’ve managed to squeeze into your deck. This determines your available options, and you’ll have to tailor your strategy to which cards you’ve managed to obtain. Your deck stays with you and evolves over the course of a run, though we found that once you find a strategy that works, you’ll work towards optimising it. We particularly enjoyed spamming gnomes over normal soldiers, for example, as they were cheap, efficient and expendable. Of course, if you’d rather have the lumbering strength of a giant, you’d instead focus on cards that let you optimise your economy to be able to field these expensive behemoths as quickly as possible. Apart from randomised rewards, you’ll also find that there is an in-game shop, which is where you can purchase specific cards. If you skip randomised upgrades, you’ll earn additional currency for these shops, allowing you to further tailor your preferred strategy. While your deck sticks with you over the course of a run, you’ll have to start from scratch with the next attempt.
Individually, Possessed Kingdom’s different elements don’t bring anything new to the table, but they work together seamlessly. Not only that, but because everything felt familiar, we found our footing surprisingly quickly. Usually, it takes us a couple of runs to really get a feel for a roguelike, and it’s rare for a first run to be successful. In the case of Possessed Kingdom, not only did we succeed on our first try, but the fast-paced nature of the game made it so that it was over before we realised it. However, that was just the first run: completing the game requires you to do it ten times, and the difficulty increases with each subsequent incursion. The game is wonderfully paced, and its pick-up-and-play nature really leans into that “one more attempt” mindset. At the time of writing, the game is three weeks from release, and launch pricing is yet to be confirmed, but if you’re a genre enthusiast, we highly recommend keeping an eye out for when it launches.
Conclusion
A surprisingly accessible chimera of vastly different game genres, Possessed Kingdom pleasantly surprised us. Neither the game’s individual mechanics nor its presentation are particularly impressive, but the way everything comes together just works. This is a prime example of a game where the sum is greater than the individual parts. If you like any of the different elements that Possessed Kingdom draws from, chances are you’ll like the entire package.
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