Summary

Adapted from a board game of the same name, Kingdomino is a highly strategic, kingdom-building puzzle game where you and your opponent/s take turns fitting various types of domino pieces into a 5x5 grid to maximize the points gained and hopefully, beat all the other player/s. You can even unlock new cosmetics and quests at the Lost Kingdom using the shards you’ve earned from completing achievements, events, and quests.

Gameplay

The core gameplay in Kingdomino is actually quite simple – it is based on placing domino tiles around a 5x5 grid to maximize points earned.

If you’ve played domino before, you’ll know that each tile comes with two sides and each side can have the same or a different number. In this game, the number is replaced with what I’d call a “tile type”. Each type – and there are six here – is based on a type of landscape that you’d typically see within a kingdom, namely the river tiles, wheat tiles, forest tiles, mountain/mine tiles, grass/plains tiles, and swamp tiles. You’ll be building a kingdom from scratch, after all!

As long as you have one matching tile type, you’ll be able to connect another tile to it. It’s really that simple. However, the scoring system can be a bit trickier. You see, some tile types come with crowns on them. These are multipliers and will apply to the total number of tiles connected to that tile with the crown. So, in a way, say you have five forest tiles connected and three of those tiles have crowns, you’ll then get a total of 15 points vs if only one of those tiles have a crown. However, if none of the tiles have any crowns, then you get zero points, since any number multiplied by zero is zero.

Now, this may mean that whoever has their pick of the tiles first in every game will be able to win since they can just keep choosing the best tile of the lot, but don’t worry! The game has a unique system in place to prevent just that!

Although you may get the first turn based on pure luck since it’s all random at first, your subsequent turn order is actually determined by the tile you chose in the previous round. What do I mean by that? Well, every round has two stages – one, the tile choosing stage where you’ll get to choose one (or two, depending on the number of players in the game) tiles from the four randomly provided; and two, the tile placing stage where you’ll get to place whatever tile you’ve chosen earlier.

During the tile choosing stage, you’ll notice that the tiles are arranged in order of (AI-perceived) value, with the lowest value tile at the top and the highest at the bottom. Picking the tile with the highest value will mean you’ll likely move last in the next round, and vice versa. So, it’s impossible for any one player to consistently get the highest value tile for every round, unless no other player wants that tile. Of course, this value perception can be a bit subjective since a tile may hold a higher value for a player but not so much for another, so it’s still entirely possible you can grab the tile you want even if you end up being the last player to choose your tile for the next round.

Like all board games, Kingdomino is very strategic in nature, rewarding players who have the foresight to plan ahead and make accurate (enough) anticipations of what tile they might get for the next round. However, luck is in play as well since the tiles you get to choose from are entirely randomized, unlike in a game like Scrabble, where you can kind of deduce the probability of you drawing a blank tile. That said, if you get that tile that you’ve been hoping for, it really makes everything else just fall into place – it’s like getting a bingo!

Kingdomino also has an overall “meta” progression whereby you’ll earn shards from playing and winning games and then spend those shards to unlock new quests or cosmetics via the Lost Kingdom. These can range from a new profile picture to a new castle model. Quests, on the other hand, are like extra objectives that you can attempt to complete during a game to earn extra shards. They are entirely optional, and you can actually choose which two quests to apply to your next game.

To keep the game relevant even after the 100th match, there are fun, limited-time events that are sometimes themed around an occasion with rewards that the Kingdomino community can collectively try to attain. Of course, there are also individual rewards for players who contribute to this collective win.

Community

As a board game, Kingdomino supports multiplayer (up to four players at a time), where you can really put your kingdom-building skills to the test, alongside its AI-powered solo mode. This includes both LAN multiplayer (which, in turn, includes pass-and-play mode) and online multiplayer. Joining in a multiplayer game is easy enough, and there are no connection issues for the few games I’ve played.

As mentioned earlier, the game offers community-oriented events where players can collectively strive to win the grand prize.

Graphics/ Sound

Kingdomino features a bright, hand-crafted visual style that feels both charming and accessible. Like most board games, all the playable pieces are clearly rendered and colored, to emphasize readability. The game also supports two different art styles, with one featuring the classic artwork of Cyril Bouquet from the original board game, and the other showcasing the more vibrant style by Pauline Détraz, designed with digital media in mind.

In terms of sound, the game comes with a selection of relaxing tunes that not only match the theme of the game but also allow you to focus on the game at hand. There are even sound effects to go with the tiles and any action you take.

Conclusion

Kingdomino remains faithful to the original board game experience but benefits from subtle “digital glow-ups”, such as the gorgeous 3D visuals and additional quests, that bring the kingdom to life in ways the board game never could. If you enjoy thoughtful tile placement or if you’re simply a fan of the original game, Kingdomino is definitely a game you’d want to have in your game library!