Kingdoms and Castles Postmortem

Discover how Lion Shield LLC verified the viability of their hit city-builder Kingdoms and Castles in this 2019 GDC session. Learn about market fit testing, art style reworking, and player fantasy development from Peter Angstadt. Explore the importance of inventing design, using existing metaphors, and implementing simple primitives in game development. Gain insights into studio culture, the pitfalls of crunch, and strategic decision-making. Understand the marketing success through YouTube and community building via Discord. Delve into the development process of Kingdoms and Castles, from its inception to its release, and uncover valuable lessons for aspiring game developers.

Intro
What is Kingdoms and Castles?
Development Overview
First Indie Game - Cannon Brawl
Market Fit Testing - Cannon Brawl
Market Fit Testing - Kingdoms and Castles
3 Months In - Testing with Steam Greenlight
Art Style Rework
Player Fantasy - Examples
Player Fantasy - Kingdoms and Castles
Inventing Design Takes Time
Inventing Design - An Example
Use Existing Metaphors
Simple Primitives
UV Cheating
Bonus of Simplicity
Studio Culture - No Crunch
Crunch Hurts Strategic Decision Making
A Thought Experiment
Tactical Decision Pitfalls
Evaluating strategically
Games Without Crunch
Marketing - Youtube Wins
Community - Discord
Shape the Space
Disclaimer