Lost Civilization is the first paid content pack for IronOak Games’ sprawling roguelike tabletop adventure For The King. The game’s been out for around two years now, regularly supported with patches and new adventures in the meantime. So what does this first little chunk of paid content bring to the tabletop?
Lost Civilization sends players to an entirely new realm – the mysterious Jungle Falls – adding a wealth of new enemies alongside two new playable characters and dual wielding, which is basically a whole point on this review by itself. Considering the pack itself is only priced at £4.99 (on an introductory sale for £3.99 at time of writing) that’s a tempting prospect for anybody, really. It’s quite a modest entry fee for a decent chunk of content.
I haven’t had a ton of experience with For The King before playing this pack, but I have to admit that Lost Civilization actually provided a much better starting experience than the core adventure. It was really easy to jump straight in, the tutorial organically explaining underlying mechanics at an effective pace. The battles are tactical and turn-based but incredibly snappy, different weapons requiring varied levels of skill-checks decided in the moment to be the most effective.
The campaign itself is a lot of fun, from humble beginnings clearing mini-dungeons and roughing up drunken pirates eventually setting you up to sail to uncharted lands rife with forbidden, ancient temples and mystery. For The King is probably the most effective fusion of board and video game I’ve ever played, weaving the best of both worlds together in a way that doesn’t have you reading a rulebook for half an hour beforehand. Lost Civilization builds on some very solid foundations, following the game’s established setting and creating new potential for adventure within it.
The Jungle Realm looks great, slotting naturally into For The King‘s polygonal world with ease. It adds a bit of extra flavour to the basic fantasy landscape, and while Lost Civilization might not do anything amazingly new, it’s still a solid addition. There’s a wealth of potential in the game’s expansions, and I really hope the Jungle Realm is just the tip of the iceberg. For The King is a brilliant RPG alternative to the traditional party game co-op chaos, and though I was unable to test the multiplayer aspect (because my friends are all terrible) new additions like this alongside the freely released content will provide countless hours of fun.
For The King: Lost Civilization – Good things, small packages
This is very much more of a good thing, and if IronOak Games can keep on expanding their marvellous little world like this, they’ll probably be able to keep it going for quite a long time. Lost Civilization can’t be faulted – it doesn’t shift anything significantly with the core gameplay itself, but a host of new environments, enemies and loot bulk out an already hefty experience.
If your gaming group are looking for a fun way to kill a few hours (assuming they haven’t all been sucked into Valheim), For The King and Lost Civilization will offer that on a regular basis. Grab it while it’s cheap!
For The King: Lost Civilization is available now on Steam. Check out more of our game reviews here!