Completed through a Kickstarter campaign in May 2021, Kainga entered Early Access on Steam in the fall of the same year. Even if it's my style of game, it was only during gamescom 2022 that I had the opportunity to discover it thanks to its publisher, Green Man Gaming Publishing. And I almost missed it again because a misunderstanding with the person at the reception of the stand led me to the business relations table. It was only after a good five minutes of chatting with the person (very friendly by the way) that we realized that we were not in the right place!
Developed by solo developer, Erik Rempen, Kainga is a village-building game with a roguelite feel, putting us in the place of the Thinker, the village leader.
The maps are generated in a procedural way, leading each time to having to manage the objective in a different way, for independent games of thirty minutes to an hour. Not all objectives are military. Some ask to reach a certain level of population for example. On the demo, it was necessary to free a poor prisoner villager. Resources are not collected directly, everything is based on claimed areas. Automatically, the villagers move to use it when the need arises. The only limit to their number depends on the space available and, above all, on the neighbors who risk not looking favorably on the foreign villagers so close to their home. No fixed maximum, therefore. It is up to each person to decide whether he prefers to make friends or enemies in the other villages (with whom it is possible to exchange gifts and goods).
Game progression is atypical, not tied to a talent tree. Civilization evolves through sources of inspiration, places where the Thinker goes. After a moment of introspection, he learns to better guide his people. In total, hundreds of technologies to unlock. Knowing that, on each card, an average of ten are available. Between each game, karma is offered, unlocking access to advanced technologies and new combinations to test.
Kainga also stands out for the diversity of its buildings. Just for the houses, three possibilities are offered to the player, with normal huts, traps in the trees, or others to be placed at the edge of the water. Nature knows how to defend itself. As the game progresses, the "ante" increases. The higher it is, the less welcoming the environment, leading to devastating thunderstorms and tornadoes. Everything has an impact, both negative and positive. The rain is beneficial for the fields, but may lead to destructive flooding.
Different biomes have been added since the launch in Early Access. One of them is a mountain, whose playing space is higher than it is wide, with snow-covered slopes. The canyons lead to having to think about how to cross the river, whether with a balloon, a bridge, or a boat. Finally, we got a brief glimpse of a jungle and an archipelago.
Magnificent thanks to the graphics entirely drawn by hand by Erik, the solo developer, Kainga is stunningly original. I didn't have much time to discover and play. But, on paper, I seem to hold in my hands a nugget that is revolutionizing the genre. A game that should appeal to all fans of the genre (and the very positive ratings on Steam seem to prove me right).
