Simulators and city-builders have yet to fall out of style: game developer Turquoise Revival Games have created United Penguin Kingdom to appeal to the itch for the creation and responsibility over little beings subject to your control.
This game was released March 9th, 2024 on Steam.
Kingdom come . . . eventually
Essentially, players are tasked with caring for, protecting, and developing a settlement full of newly migrated penguins. Players begin with a barren ice mass and must establish essential structures and housing in order for the penguins to work and live peacefully.
There is no particular storyline, but the game opens with: Unlike humans, penguins never fight with each other, and live in great unity and solidarity, and always say hello to each other. They cheer up with the help of entertainment venues, increase education in schools and libraries, and never forget spirituality.
This is somewhat of a strange opening, and not necessarily true to the reality penguins, but it is . . . something.
The purpose of the “prologue” is to encourage players to unlock all kinds of buildings for penguins to both have fun and to grown and learn. The schools and libraries allow penguins to become more educated, which in turn fosters more productive scientific growth. Entertainment can also attract more penguins from faraway settlements to come live at your village!
The overarching goal for players is to become king, which is why players are donned with all the hard work of delegating roles and protecting the land. Your penguin settlement slowly progresses from a tiny village towards a full kingdom . . . eventually. I say “eventually” because this mechanic is tedious and cumbersome. Unlocking blueprints can take a ridiculous amount of hours, and raising your kingdom’s “reputation” is quite confusing.
A questionable reputation
A major mechanic of United Penguin Kingdom is fostering your settlement’s reputation. Reputation seemingly goes up the more developed your village becomes; the more populated it is; and the higher amounts of happiness and health the penguins have. Largely, however, the requirements for both building and maintaining reputation is . . . murky. Objectives that could help increase this, like making decorations and buying more islands, rarely occur.
Unlocking all the blueprints takes a long time, and may require exploring unknown islands. Exploration and integrating new islands into your kingdom may also damage players’ reputation. Maintaining the status of a “kingdom” is very hard, so it makes it to where if you are trying to play for fun and relaxation, this can never be fully realized.
There are plenty more penguins in the sea
Overall, while there is a brief, semi-tutorial, it is not very direct nor clear. There are a plethora of clunky controls, and the mechanics are irritating towards the beginning of the game.
United Penguin Kingdom features attack waves of killer whales and seals, who are out to steal the penguins’ food supplies and destroy architecture. At the start of the game, it is incredibly difficult to fend them off. Players can create ice spear towers and other protective measures, but these buildings begin to crowd your village. Nearly every structure requires a type of energy producer, like turbines, which also congests the landscape. Also, the game does not let players place houses or anything right next to one another, leading to copious amounts of unnecessary gaps.
Frankly, United Penguin Kingdom might be enjoyable for several hours as you watch your penguins grow and age. Each penguin has their own delegated job to benefit the community–some build, some fend off seals, and some research and accrue science points. The penguins are cute and all, but a huge critique is that I wish there were more individuality to these little fellows. They all have their own names and varying stats, but that is about it. The enjoyment of this game dwindles as more hours pass, and it becomes tedious and boring. There is not much else thrown at players aside from annual missions and badges to complete, but never any exciting new event or shake-up.
Final thoughts
At its core, United Penguin Kingdom serves as a straightforward city-builder. It is merely what one would expect: there is no overarching story, but it is equipped with humor and some goals to keep in mind. You are free to develop your settlement and explore the lands, and are tasked with making sure the penguins are well-fed and protected.
However, this title is not remarkable compared to other strategy city-builders out there. United Penguin Kingdom is rather monotonous and gauche. To bluntly put it, there is minimal differences between this game and Turquoise Revival Games’ other title, Oxygen, although one could tell that there was a degree of effort put into United Penguin Kingdom.
If you are looking for a way to spend time messing around and looking at penguins, then maybe you will enjoy this title. Otherwise, it is safe to say to browse elsewhere.
