PC Game Review: World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder

In World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder, you take on the role master builder Zorn’s student. The city planner teaches you how to work with the kings and queens to build and fix up their kingdoms. It doesn’t take long before the student becomes the master causing the jealous Zorn to respond no-so-kindly by creating disasters and setting madmen loose to mess with your hard work.

Build-a-lot fans will recognize some similar game play, but this one doesn’t spend as much time on the building aspect as Build-a-lot does. World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder also has a different graphic style with a more cartoon and colorful design.

The citizens of the kingdom also come out of their homes and go about their day, much like in Fairy Godmother Tycoon without the humor. (Except for the madmen.) The kingdoms vary in style from the tundra and desert to the coast and the valley.

You begin every level by meeting with the monarch to find out the kingdom’s needs. You also run into politics side as several have feuds going on that it becomes a game of one-upmanship. Some of the lands have tricky requirements because of barriers, spacing issues and things that you can’t demolish because they’re sacred — the ruins and the trees in the prairie — or unbreakable.

Gold, materials, population. Every shop, social building (homes), production and special building types give you at least one of the following: gold, material and population. Some buildings require you to build others before you can build it.

For example, the grocery store requires a grain farm, orchard and four people. A grain farm requires water and eight people. It sounds disorienting, but the game does a great job of providing you with the information you need.

Experienced players will find the game too easy and unchallenging with all the time in the world and no consequences. If you mess up, you can restart the level. While this could be a drawback, it makes for a more fun and relaxing experience from the other building games that tend to get stressful.

I couldn’t help but want to keep on playing World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder to see the next kingdom and theme, to see what new shops appear and to see what will stand in my way. The buildings vary all the way to the end, so you never get tired of the scenery. If anything bores, it’ll be the lack of challenge. Go on and give it a try. The free time will be enough to help you decide whether to buy or deny.