The King is Watching Beginner's Guide | Gameplay Tips & Tricks

This guide quickly introduces core run mechanics and practical early-game priorities so you can start winning runs.

Focus on stabilizing resources, scaling your army, choosing applicable wave rewards, and buying key meta upgrades.

Follow compact, repeatable opening steps and adapt to the barracks and resources offered each run.

Preparation Screen

On the Preparation Screen, the King appears at left and the level map at right; modifiers and threat level are shown under the level.

Hover the King for morale bonuses and claim the glowing Ascension Crystal after beating a new threat level. Increase threat carefully (up to 10) and always complete the tutorial when available.

Start of Run Guidance

Open by building three Wells for water, then a Tree (set gaze to 2 water / 1 wood) and a Small Field (set gaze to 1 water / 1 wood / 1 wheat). Cluster early buildings 2×2 then 2×3 so a single gaze covers more production.

Prioritize defense early by building a Peasant Hut; after Wave 1, obtain a military building (often Levy Barracks) and begin scaling troops. Early Market purchases and the Research Bench (if water allows) smooth resource flow and speed up gaze upgrades.

Goals and Strategy

Your primary goal is to scale army size and quality. Increase size with more barracks, battlefield capacity upgrades, and barrack capacity upgrades; increase quality with veteran/elite barracks, barrack upgrades, and unit class upgrades.

Fill battlefield capacity early (5+ units on threat 0) and mix unit types for synergy or specialize to exploit class bonuses.

Economy & Placement

Keep the tiles in the middle for making resources, and use the rings around them for camps. If you improve your gaze early, you can get an extra 33% of work done.

Focus on getting Wood, Wheat, and Gold first. These will let you access most early builds, gaze upgrades, and more fighting space.

Use tile enchantments (+20% productivity from meta upgrades) and stack Tier 2 barracks quickly; Tier 3 resources (Flour, Metal, Oil, Meat) remain mid-to-late-game goals.

Gaze and Tile Enchantments

Each King has a unique gaze path; upgrade gaze to increase the number of tiles that work simultaneously. Early gaze upgrades are cost-effective (first upgrade: 60 Gold + 60 Wheat).

Blue tile enchantments obtained via meta upgrades grant +20% productivity and are especially valuable in the early game.

Roles, Units, and Classes

Units fall into roles—Cavalry, DPS, Hybrid, Support, and Tank—and classes—Arcane (A), Champion (C), Flying (F), Grunt (G), Ranged (Ra), Rider (Ri), Undead (U), and Warrior (W)—that grant synergies.

Typical Tier 1 units include Assassin, Crossbow Archer, Militia, Swordsman, and Small Bones; Tier 2 includes units like Bumblebee, Druid of the Bear, Fairy, Fire Mage, Longbowman, and Worm Rider.

Seek class upgrades and barrack upgrades from wave rewards or the trader to boost effectiveness.

Battle Mechanics

Deploy up to battlefield capacity using the red Spawn Troops setting or build reserves in barracks with the blue setting; mixed mode (deploy then reserve) is a good default.

Use Quick Replenishment to send barrack units to the field after losses. Field full battle capacity for major waves, then maintain barrack reserves for fast recovery.

Wave Rewards and the Trader

Prophecies start after Wave 5; pick rewards that match current needs. Prioritize Artifacts, advanced resource buildings, building upgrades, and unit class upgrades.

Fill prophecy slots thoughtfully—leaving slots empty can reduce losses. Save Denarii (aim for 60–120) for the trader, sell unwanted blueprints, and buy artifacts or crucial barracks/building upgrades when reasonable offers appear.

Upgrades and Meta Priority

Early meta priorities include unlocking advisors and advisor slots, buying the Run Start Bonus, and unlocking more tiles (Banish the Nobles).

Invest in cheap passives like Tile Seals and advisor chains (for example, Silkweaver → Fancy Beard → Jester) that grant long-term benefits. Expand tiles and advisor options to utilize resource lines and army capacity fully.