This beautiful game can be summed up in a single word: minimalism. First, the game pulls you in with atmospheric music and a simple yet striking artistic style. Next, it keeps you playing with a calm learning curve that gives only subtle direction.

Then, quite suddenly, the game destroys you. Battles in the game are won or lost as a result of the players preparation, rather than their active participation. Because of this, the hectic clashes between your soldiers and the enemy have an interestingly desperate and inevitable quality to them. This theme drives home the game's own mantra "nothing lasts..." It is also Kingdom's primary source of replayability: learning how to survive just a few more days.

This is not a Darkest Dungeon (<3) masochist roguelike though. The difficulty certainly plateaus, and after awhile the impossible becomes probable and you will eventually "beat" the game. It took me around 10 hours to come up with a winning strategy without the assistance of guides and FAQs.

Next time you have a rainy day indoors I encourage you to pull up a chair, grab your steam controller and a cup of tea (or perhaps a good beer) and relax to a few hours of this mellow but challenging classic.