Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit
| Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Tag of Joy |
| Publisher | Headup Games |
| Platforms | |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Tag of Joy and published by Thunderful Publishing via Headup Games. Players investigate a mystery involving Lithuanian history.
Gameplay
Milda, an American, goes to Lithuania after her grandfather bequeaths her his house in Vilnius. As she settles her grandfather's affairs, she discovers that he was investigating a mystery involving the history of Lithuania. Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit is a point-and-click adventure game. Players can customize Milda's appearance and choose dialogue options when talking to friends and family. As Milda investigates various clues, she must find uses for inventory items.[1] Some puzzles have multiple solutions. These can be based on players' previous actions, such as choosing Milda's occupation.[2]
Development
The developer, Tag of Joy, is based in Lithuania.[3] The game was inspired by the Broken Sword series and directed by the art director of Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars.[4][5] Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit was released for Linux, macOS, and Windows on May 6, 2022.[6] The game was released for Nintendo Switch on September 28, 2023, and for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 27, 2025.[7]
Reception
Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit received positive reviews on Metacritic.[8] GamesRadar said the puzzles are "perfectly balanced" and praised the characterizations.[1] RPGFan said the game does nothing wrong but is not memorable, either. Although they enjoyed the graphics, music, and setting, they felt the game has a lack of tension and fiddly puzzles.[2] Eurogamer called it "a fun mystery" that is too charming to resist.[9] Adventure Gamers said it is a must-play game with "well-executed graphics, music, interface, and voice acting".[10] Adventure Gamers awarded it best gameplay of 2022.[11]
References
- ^ a b Weber, Rachel (2022-05-20). "Have you tried... decrypting a diet Da Vinci code with Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit?". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ a b Chandran, Neal (2022-07-12). "Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit". RPGFan. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ "On to Adventure #01: We are Tag of Joy - it's nice to meet you!". Steam Community. 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ Brehme, Marc (13 April 2019). "Von Fans für Fans: Wenn Spieler selbst Fortsetzungen zu ihren Lieblingsspielen machen". PC Games (in German). Computec Media. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
- ^ Ledas, Šarūnas; Ledas, Žilvinas (28 April 2022). "The magic of discovery in Broken Sword - Why I Love". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
- ^ Onia, Drew (2022-05-06). "Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit out on Steam and GOG". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ Romano, Sal (February 13, 2025). "Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, and Xbox One on February 27". Gematsu. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
- ^ "Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit (PC)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ Ahmed, Emad (2022-07-25). "Crowns & Pawns is a charming point-and-click mystery about family secrets". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ Parkin, Erik (2022-05-21). "Review for Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ "The Aggie Awards – The Best Adventure Games of 2022". Adventure Gamers. 2023-02-24. Archived from the original on February 24, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-14.