For The King was successfully Kickstarted in 2015 and entered Steam Early Access in February 2017 for a projected six month stay, "give or take a few months." Developer IronOak Games missed the mark on their prediction by more than just a few months, but For The King is finally preparing for launch: it will leave Early Access on Thursday, April 19, the studio announced.
In case you missed its long development cycle: For The King is a turn-based, tabletop-inspired fantasy RPG. You build a party of three from several unlockable classes and venture out into a hexagonal grid of a world to control the chaos set off by the death of the king. Battles and encounters are like simulated, expedited D&D, complete with skill checks and dice rolls. And while you can adventure alone, you can also play For The King with a few friends.
The launch update will add three new wintry biomes to explore: the Frozen Expanse, Frigid Sea and Shivering Woods. Between them they contain 20 new enemies and encounters, IronOak says, not to mention plenty of loot. As it happens, I took a few intrepid steps into the Frozen Expanse at GDC, and I enjoyed my brief adventure. I saved a drunk guy, bought a boat, and defended (most of) a city from goblin mages. It was a good day.
Ahead of the upcoming launch, IronOak have raised the price of For The King from $15 to $20. Luckily it will be 20 percent off the week of release.