Review: Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim

“Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim” is a vast magical world where you are honoured with the crown of a tiny fairytale kingdom. When you become the head of the country all the responsibility for the land’s prosperity rests on your royal shoulders. You will have to fight various enemies and monsters, explore new territories, manage economic and scientific developments and solve a heap of unusual and unexpected tasks.”

Majesty is exactly as it describes itself, a fantasy kingdom simulation. It’s a sort of macro management real-time strategy game where you are the king and must empower your citizens to overcome the obstacles that are presented to you. I describe the game as having a macro management style because you cannot directly control your heroes. Each citizen has their own free will and will wander the world as they wish. The only control you have is in regards to how to design your kingdom and creating incentives. You decide what to build and where, as well as any upgrades, items or spells you want your heroes to have.  You can also influence the decisions of your heroes by putting a bounty on an enemy or giving a reward for traveling to a certain point on the map.

Majesty is originally a PC game series and was the result of many wasted hours in my youth. I loved the idea of an RTS that has a hands-off approach. Of course the mobile version can’t compare to the PC games but it comes really close. The style has changed to reflect a cartoonier look, something I actually came to enjoy and works well with mobile gaming. The graphics are great and the animations are smooth and crisp. Most of the monsters, heroes, and buildings from the original are here; even the sound effects and sound track are intact. I did miss some of the voice work, especially the tax collectors; it was always fun hearing them knock on peoples doors and announcing their presence.

The game proves that RTS games can exist on mobile platforms. It’s incredibly easy to pick up and learn. You can put the game away for months and then come back to it without feeling lost. The tiny screen was of some concern as you really need to have a good idea of your surroundings; fortunately the mini map fits in perfectly and can be minimized at any time. The user interface is simple and can be easily closed at any time. Now don’t let its simplicity fool you, the game can provide a real challenger to any RTS fan. I had to play the bonus level about 30-40 times before I figured it out.

Surprisingly, this game offers some decent replayability. Each time you play a level it will never be the same. The map will change, the monsters spawn randomly and rat sewers can pop up anywhere. Even better, the game offers a grading system. You will be given a score to compare with online leader-boards and a medal, either bronze, silver or gold. If you get gold on all levels you will then unlock bonus levels that are currently being created and sent out via game updates. The game even has achievements.

The greatest downfall of Majesty is the low amount of levels. There’s only nine so far. As I’m writing this @HeroCraft is working on more levels and game modes. The touch interface got a little wonky as I found myself accidentally putting bounties on my own buildings or placing certain structures in incorrect locations. After a while, I was able to get the hang of it and didn’t’ have that problem anymore. I also would have liked a “restart” button in the menu. There are very few downfalls to this game. It’s incredibly polished and shows how Herocraft really strives to make a great game.

I was ecstatic when I accidentally found Majesty on the Android market and have been mostly pleased with the game. I would dare say it’s the best Android game in existence right now. Majesty is currently $1.99 and you can try a free demo, but you won’t be able to save your game. Supposedly Majesty will also be released on Blackberry and iPad. This review was written with version 1.7.2