When I reviewed the base game of The King is Watching, one of the things that I really enjoyed was how brilliantly stressful it was. Not stressful in the “I have emails to answer” kind of way, but stressful in the “if I stop looking at my wheat farms for three seconds my kingdom will collapse into a screaming firestorm” kind of way. It was a game about attention management disguised as a kingdom builder, and it completely consumed me.
Developed by Hypnohead and published by tinyBuild, The King is Watching: Crowns of History arrives as the game’s first major DLC, and instead of simply throwing more content at the wall and hoping some of it sticks, it does something far more dangerous. It gives experienced players entirely new ways to break their own brains.
If you have not played the base game yet, go and read my original review first because Crowns of History absolutely assumes you already understand the controlled chaos that The King is Watching thrives on. Whilst you do that, I will wait here and keep shouting at the goblins to stop throwing plates at me.
Now you’re back and have finished The King is Watching, it’s time to pick up Crowns of History as this DLC will throw you into the deep end whilst shouting “you already know how water works, good luck old boy!”
Crowns of History adds three new rulers inspired by historical figures: Cleopatra, Taizong of Tang and Xerxes. Importantly though, these are not minor variations of existing mechanics. Each ruler fundamentally changes how you approach the game to such an extent that it almost feels like learning entirely new factions.
Naturally, because I enjoy suffering, I started with Xeres.
Xerces is the king that I had the least fun with. I felt that it added the least to the game. His entire gimmick revolves around massively increasing unit damage whilst reducing their health to terrifyingly fragile levels. The result is that every battle becomes a panicked balancing act where your soldiers either annihilate enemies in seconds or explode into dust the moment somebody sneezes near them. It creates some of the most aggressive runs I have had in The King is Watching because defence stops feeling reliable very quickly.
I lost a few runs because my powerful army completely disintegrated because I looked away to make sure my villagers were still digging crystals. They were not.
I then moved on to one of the most famous rulers in history: Cleopatra. Cleopatra ended up being my favourite ruler mechanically because she introduces an almost necromantic approach to kingdom management. Instead of simply expanding normally, her systems revolve around death, rebirth and resource manipulation through undead-themed mechanics. There is a wonderfully strange rhythm to her campaigns where losing units can sometimes feel weirdly beneficial depending on how you have built your economy.
Cleopatra’s faction also has the best aesthetic as you get ancient Egyptian style buildings that produce creatures like Sobek warriors, Anubis themed creatures and a strange snake lady. It felt to me that it was the most complete and “new” faction.
Then there is Taizong of Tang (second emperor of the Tang dynasty if you are interested), who feels the most traditionally strategic of the three rulers. His strengths revolve around defensive structures and calculated military positioning, which meant my usual panic-fuelled strategy of “build things wherever there is empty space and hope for the best” immediately stopped functioning. At first I thought I was going to hate playing Taizong, but when the horn blew and my gaze fell upon my seven defensive structures, ranging from poison towers, a tesla tower, and several wood and rock throwing trebuchets, the enemy just disintegrated. It was glorious.
What makes Crowns of History work so well is that it understands what made the base game addictive in the first place. The King is Watching has always been about prioritisation under pressure. You physically cannot focus on everything at once, and the moment you commit your royal attention to one area of the kingdom, something else begins quietly collapsing in the background.
The DLC expands that philosophy beautifully because each ruler changes what you are prioritising. Suddenly the systems you relied upon in previous runs no longer work in the same way. I found myself relearning strategies I had become comfortable with, which is honestly exactly what you want from a strategy DLC.
The new content also pairs wonderfully with the free Dark Realm update released alongside Crowns of History. Whilst technically separate from the paid DLC, together they make the game feel substantially larger and more varied than before. The additional artefacts, events and map modifiers help keep runs unpredictable even after dozens of hours. Full disclosure, I accidently played Dark Realm first thinking it was part of the Crowns of History DLC, so was pleasantly surprised it was a free addition.
There is still something uniquely hypnotic about the flow of The King is Watching. I constantly fall into the trap of saying “one more run” before suddenly realising two hours have disappeared and my kingdom has once again fallen because I forgot peasants apparently need food to survive.
One thing I appreciate enormously about Crowns of History is that the new rulers are genuinely difficult. Too many strategy game expansions add factions that feel slightly stronger than the originals simply to encourage players to use them. Here, each ruler feels powerful in specific ways whilst also introducing major vulnerabilities. Xerxes can obliterate enemies but collapses under pressure. Cleopatra thrives on unusual resource loops that require careful understanding. Taizong rewards precision and planning but punishes sloppy management.
In other words, they all perfectly complement the central anxiety machine that The King is Watching already was.
If I have one slight criticism, it is that newer players may find Crowns of History overwhelming. The base game already throws a lot at you once runs begin escalating, and these rulers often add extra layers of complexity on top of systems that are already demanding. Personally, I loved that, but I can absolutely imagine less experienced players staring at some of these mechanics whilst quietly reconsidering their life choices.
Still, for existing fans, this is exactly the kind of DLC you want.
Crowns of History does not simply add more content. It meaningfully expands how the game is played. Every ruler feels distinct, every run develops differently and the DLC constantly pushes you into adapting strategies instead of relying on old habits.
Most importantly, it preserves the thing that makes The King is Watching special: the wonderful, escalating panic.
There are very few strategy games that make me feel simultaneously intelligent and catastrophically incompetent at the exact same time, but The King is Watching continues to achieve that miracle with alarming consistency.
And now it lets Cleopatra harvest the dead whilst I forget to harvest wheat.
History truly is beautiful
The King is Watching: Crowns of History is available now for PC.
