Reigns

About Reigns

Reigns is a unique strategy simulator from Nerial that puts you in charge of a medieval kingdom. Released in August 2016 by Devolver Digital, this indie title works on PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and Stadia. You play as a monarch who must balance power between the church, the army, the people, and the treasury. Every turn brings new requests from advisors that force you to choose a side or face consequences. The game uses a simple card interface where you swipe left or right to accept or deny proposals. It feels like a digital card game mixed with political management. This approachable design makes complex dynasty management accessible to anyone with a smartphone or computer screen.

Gameplay

Each session starts with you holding a single card representing a request from the kingdom. You see four icons showing how this choice affects your resources: military strength, church influence, public support, and treasury funds. A swipe left rejects the proposal while a swipe right approves it. These choices immediately shift the bars on your screen. If any bar hits zero or maxes out, your reign ends abruptly in a funny way like being poisoned or overthrown. You play through random events generated by an AI that creates endless scenarios without a traditional campaign mode. Controls rely entirely on touch gestures for mobile or mouse clicks for PC. A typical session lasts only a few minutes before you die and restart as a new ruler trying to survive longer than your predecessors.

What Players Think

Players on PlayPile have given Reigns an average score of 72.5 out of 100 based on 106 IGDB ratings. The community mood leans heavily toward "addictive" and "humorous." Most users report playing for about 45 minutes per session before the game forces a restart due to poor balance management. Completion rates show that while many people finish their first run, only a fraction manage to reach the hundred-year mark. Review snippets from our database frequently mention the sudden difficulty spike in later reigns. Some players feel the random generation leads to repetitive scenarios after the tenth try. The consensus is that the core loop is tight but lacks long-term progression beyond high scores and unlockable portraits.

PlayPile's Take

This title is worth buying if you enjoy short, punchy strategy games with no time commitment. The price on most stores sits around five dollars which fits the playtime well. There are twelve achievements to track including surviving ten reigns and triggering every possible death scene. It is not for players seeking deep narrative or complex mechanics. The lack of a story mode means you will eventually hit a wall of repetition. You should play it if you want a quick mental break with high replayability. The random nature keeps each run fresh enough to justify another ten-minute session before you lose again.

Storyline

Sit on the throne as a benevolent (or malevolent) medieval monarch of the modern age and swipe your royal controller either left or right to impose your will upon the kingdom. Survive the seemingly never-ending gauntlet of requests from your advisors, peasants, allies, and enemies while maintaining balance between the influential factions of your kingdom. But beware; each decision you make might have implications and unfortunate consequences down the road that could put your reign and family’s dynasty at risk!