This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
I need cloth, but I can’t stop kicking my workers. Here comes one with the wool.
*Thump*
Ah, here comes another, and this one actually has cloth to deliver to my architect. Excellent! I could let them pass, but….
*Punt*
Such is life in A World of Keflings. You have to build three kingdoms, each filled with dozens of buildings, but with every passing moment it becomes harder and harder to not kick those little guys across the screen.
Here comes yet another, this one with ore. Excuse me for a moment.
Game: A World of Keflings
System: Xbox 360
Price: $10 (800 Microsoft Points)
Toby Davis, a community writer, was one of the first people I met here at Bitmob. Throughout our conversations he kept talking about this game called A Kingdom for Keflings and how non-violent it was. I just figured Toby was being Toby, but I did pick it up when it went on sale.
What I found was a reasonably enjoyable game that offered an experience unique to consoles. You control a giant version of your Xbox 360 avatar, and you boss around the much smaller Keflings, a small race of people that need your help to build their buildings. What better use for a giant? The game has no combat to speak of (aside from the optional kicking). Instead your goal is to…well…build a kingdom for Keflings.
With that in mind you can imagine what Kingdom's sequel, A World of Keflings, will entail. And yes, you do have to build a world for the Keflings. Your giant will construct a variety of buildings and set your workers to three types of task: collect resources, operate buildings that use these resources, or to move refined resources from one building to another. Be prepared: It’s a slow-pace, low-impact game.
That doesn’t mean it’s without rewards. After a couple hours, you’ll have developed a fairly complex society, while juggling your workers to maximize progress. You’ll gain access to new equipment and new areas, which provides not-too-much-but-just-enough depth. The characters are genuinely funny, and the whole affair packs plenty of whimsical charm.
While the core mechanics are largely the same, the sequel adds much more content. Instead of one city, you’ll jump back and forth between kingdoms, with many more building types at your disposal. That alone adds more “action” and breaks up long sessions nicely. Oh, and this game run notably smoother than its predecessor.
If this is your first go, this is quite unlike most things on Xbox Live Arcade. It’s a simple city sim that realizes the limits of a controller and uses that to its advantage. Skip the first game and go directly to A World of Keflings. For those who have played it before, it’s worth a second look — just be advised that you will not encounter a whole lot new, just a whole lot more.
[embed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmMKflEMEXc ]