The 15 Best Games Where You Can Play as a King

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Ignacio Weil

Gaming - November 15th 2025, 11:00 GMT+1

The King is Watching (2025)

In this roguelite kingdom-builder your crown isn’t just for show – it’s your all-seeing eye. While your peasants dig, craft and forge under your gaze, you balance food, wealth, and defenses as if you’re the CEO of medieval chaos. Pull your attention away for a second? Everything grinds to a halt – looms stop weaving, mines go silent, and knights forget to swing swords. Add in magical guilds, wave after wave of enemies, and a “just one more run” loop that sneaks up on you. It’s kingliness mixed with strategy, micromanagement, and a sprinkling of roguelite cruelty. If you’ve ever wanted to rule while multitasking crises, this is your throne. | © tinyBuild

Cropped Yes Your Grace 2 Snowfall — Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall (2025)

Sitting on the throne once more, you’re not just ruling – you’re juggling petitions, plague, politics and family drama all in one snowy kingdom. Snowfall takes the decision-making loop of its predecessor and deepens it: choose which courtier gets resources, which noble you trust, which taxes you raise – and feel the consequences echo through season after season. The visuals are simple but slick, the voice work earned, and the weight of each “Yes, Your Grace” more crushing than ever. It’s less about waging war and more about *holding the crumbling kingdom together* while wearing a crown. If you secretly liked being king but dreaded the chaos, this game makes you revel in it. | © Brave At Night

Cropped King Of The Castle — King of the Castle (2023)

Here’s multiplayer monarchy with friends turned opponents, back-stabbed nobles and crown-stealing drama. You sit on the throne, the players around you vote, scheme, bribe, revolt and possibly dethrone you – all while you try to remain the king of chaos and control. With hundreds of possible events and endings, no two reigns are alike, so you’ll never feel safe – even in your own castle. It’s less about building an empire and more about surviving one’s own court politics. Sometimes you’ll rule with an iron fist; other times you’ll be the one being crushed under it. Bring snacks and a sense of betrayal. | © Team17

Cropped Mount Blade II Bannerlord — Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord (2022)

Toss aside the simple crown and sit in the saddle, because here you’re not just a monarch – you’re a battlefield sovereign. Ride into sprawling sieges, manage your noble clan, forge alliances and wage war across vast lands while your people bow, rebel or whisper behind your back. Your decisions matter: defend a castle, ransom nobles, pick your side in civil war – every action ripples through your reign. The sandbox feels like freedom wrapped in responsibility, epic in scope yet intimate in consequence. If you’ve ever fantasised about being a war-lord king with a chaotic realm under your control, this one delivers. | © TaleWorlds Entertainment

Cropped Ni no Kuni II Revenant Kingdom — Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (2018)

After being stripped of his throne, young King Evan must build a new kingdom from scratch – and you, dear player, ride shotgun. This isn’t just “rule and tax,” it’s heroic fantasy, diplomacy, and kingdom-craft all rolled into one charming adventure. Besides magical creatures and lush visuals, the game invites you to design policies, elect champions and literally lay bricks for your new realm. The story balances whimsy with weight: you’re a kid turned king, learning leadership the hard way. Expect heartfelt moments, sweeping vistas and the kind of crown that feels earned. | © LEVEL-5 / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment

Cropped Kingdom Two Crowns — Kingdom Two Crowns (2018)

Minimalist pixel-art meets monarch mode in this stylish side-scroll of ruling, building and defending your realm with a steed beneath you and greed creeping in the shadows. You guide your monarch across the land, recruit subjects, defend castles and expand your reach – quietly, artfully, and often under threat. It’s less about micromanagement and more about atmosphere: each decision echoes, each upgrade counts, each night’s dread rises with the Greed. Play solo or co-op, let your crown shine or slip off your head in the blink of an arrow. A sleek, thoughtful take on kingly life. | © Raw Fury

Pathfinder Kingmaker — Pathfinder: Kingmaker (2018)

In this isometric RPG-meets-kingdom-builder, you carve out a realm in a lawless land and wear your crown while leading armies, making treaties and wrestling with legacy. The game demands you act like more than a hero: you’re the sovereign who builds roads, sets policies and decides which town gets rescued first. Combat and story are rich, but the kingdom management layer is where your king-skills shine – or fail spectacularly. Expect long playtime, deep systems and enough lore to make even seasoned rulers dizzy. When your subjects die because you neglected tax policy, you’ll know you’re doing it right. | © Owlcat Games / Deep Silver

Cropped Reigns 2016 — Reigns (2016)

Swipe left, swipe right – crown on your head, fate in your fingers. *Reigns* transforms monarchy into a fast, witty card game where every decision could spark war, famine, love or revolution. You’ll be king, queen, tyrant or saint – but you’ll drop dead eventually, and the next ruler takes over your mess. With its minimalist interface and surprisingly layered consequences, it’s more than a cute side game – it’s a tiny monument to regal chaos. Whether you press tax for peasants or feed knights arms, you’ll feel the press of power in every swipe. It’s the monarchial roulette you didn’t know you needed. | © Nerial / Devolver Digital

Fable III 2010 — Fable III (2010)

Once you’ve muscled a revolution, the throne becomes heavy with expectation – and *Fable III* leans into that with gusto. Play the hero-turned-king of Albion, make sweeping decisions about your kingdom’s future and live with the results. The crown comes with perks: land, court, the adoration of your people. But it also comes with betrayals, debt and supernatural threats you’re supposed to solve while balancing your popularity. The choices are big, the world is beautiful and the idea of *doing the right thing* as king suddenly gets complicated. Because monarchy isn’t just about ruling – it’s about owning your mistakes. | © Lionhead Studios / Microsoft Game Studios

Cropped Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles My Life as a King 2008 — Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (2008)

Here you’re the royal youth inheriting a ruined castle, with a kingdom of leftover popstars ready to rebuild it. This quirky King-in-training simulation challenges you to rebuild your realm, dispatch adventurers, gather resources and restore hope. It’s not a hack-and-slash epic – it’s the business of being king: the trophies, the petitions, the empire of rebuilding while monsters lurk outside your walls. The story has charm, the systems are surprisingly deep, and the crown feels earned rather than handed. If you’ve ever wanted to be a benevolent king with a little sadness in his heart, this game rewards you for it. | © Square Enix

Cropped Crusader Kings 3 — Crusader Kings series (2004-)

Being a king in *Crusader Kings* isn’t about glory – it’s about surviving your own bloodline. Intrigue, betrayal, awkward family dinners, and poorly timed assassinations are the real gameplay loop here. Every decision you make echoes through generations, and your dynasty’s future can hinge on whether you married that one-eyed duchess or not. The strategy is deep, the storytelling unpredictable, and the chaos utterly delightful. You’re not just managing a kingdom; you’re managing egos, scandals, and the world’s messiest medieval soap opera. When the game tells you your cousin plotted your downfall, you might almost be proud. | © Paradox Interactive

Cropped Majesty The Fantasy Kingdom Sim 2000 — Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim (2000)

Unlike most ruler sims, *Majesty* flips the script: you don’t control your heroes – they’re independent contractors who may or may not listen to your royal decrees. You set bounties, build taverns, and hope your “brave” adventurers bother to fight the monsters wrecking your lands. It’s charming chaos, a management game wrapped in medieval whimsy and sarcastic humor. The best part? Even when your kingdom burns, it’s hard not to laugh at the absurdity of your subjects ignoring you. For those who’ve ever felt like their employees don’t respect them – this game’s for you. | © Cyberlore Studios / Hasbro Interactive

Medieval total war 2 king — Total War series (2000-)

Here’s where strategy gets cinematic. You’re not just a king – you’re a commander of thousands, ruling vast empires one turn and leading brutal battles the next. The *Total War* series blends large-scale diplomacy, management, and real-time warfare in a way that makes you feel both powerful and powerless. One bad tax policy or misjudged siege, and your legacy collapses faster than your front line. Every entry is its own historical playground, letting you test your kingly mettle across centuries and continents. Conquer, expand, betray, repeat – it’s good to be the king, at least until the next rebellion. | © Creative Assembly / SEGA

Cropped civilization playing as a king — Civilization series (1991-)

The *Civilization* series gives you the ultimate king fantasy: build a world from scratch and lead it from sticks to starships. One turn you’re founding your capital; a few millennia later, you’re deciding between diplomacy or nuclear annihilation. It’s a thinking person’s reign – meticulous, addictive, and always one “next turn” away from disaster. Balancing happiness, science, and expansion means your empire’s fate rests on every move. Whether you play as a benevolent philosopher-king or a tyrant with a fondness for tanks, history’s yours to rewrite. | © MicroProse / Firaxis Games

Cropped Kings Quest VI — King’s Quest series (1984-)

Before cinematic storytelling was the norm, *King’s Quest* made fairy-tale kingship feel alive. Mixing puzzles, humor, and charming peril, it let players guide royalty through moral choices and absurd adventures long before the age of photorealism. Every quest tested wit and patience, rewarding curiosity as much as courage. Across decades of sequels and reboots, it kept its whimsical heart intact – a reminder that being a king isn’t always about wars and taxes. Sometimes, it’s about finding magic beans, kissing frogs, and saving the day with charm instead of armies. | © Sierra On-Line

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Ever wondered what it’s like to sit on a golden throne, make terrible decisions, and accidentally bankrupt your kingdom before lunch? Good news – plenty of games let you do exactly that (minus the real-world consequences). From pixelated monarch simulators to sprawling strategy epics, these titles let you rule, decree, and occasionally throw peasants in the dungeon just because you can.

Whether you crave the crown for power, chaos, or curiosity, there’s a flavor of kingship for everyone here – from wise rulers with diplomatic grace to mad despots who just want to watch their castles burn. This list gathers fifteen of the best games where you can play as a king, and yes, some of them might remind you why democracy was invented in the first place.