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9 Kings Wiki Patch 1.0.1 Verified
Core Systems & Mechanics · Patch 1.0.1

9 Kings Game Overview: How Every System Connects

9 Kings is a fast-paced roguelike kingdom builder and auto-battler developed by Sad Socket and published by Hooded Horse & Sidekick Publishing. Every run challenges you to defend your 3x3 Kingdom grid through Year 33 while forging cross-faction card synergies via Diplomacy.

In-game view of the 3x3 Kingdom plot grid during active auto-battler combat in 9 Kings
3x3 Plot Board: Up to 9 plots hold your Base, Troops, Towers, and Buildings. Adjacent Buildings amplify neighboring tiles automatically every round.
Royal Council Decree selection modal showing faction-wide modifiers in 9 Kings
Royal Council & Diplomacy: Every 8 years starting at Year 5, select permanent Decrees that reshape unit caps, gold flow, or card behavior.

The 6 Core Card Types (Plus Trash & Rainbow Pools)

Base

Troop

Tower

Building

Enchantment

Tome

Trash

Rainbow

Browse every single card with filtering by King and Merchant source in our Complete Card Database →

Deterministic Run Calendar (Updated Patch #18 – 1.0)

Major milestones occur on fixed Years so you can budget Gold before Merchants arrive and time plot placements ahead of Royal Decrees.

Milestone Event First Year Cadence Strategic Purpose
The Prophet Year 3 Returns 9 years later Announces a 9-year prophecy and grants a major plot Blessing (view all 9 Blessings).
Royal Council Year 5 Every 8 years (13, 21, 29...) Draft a permanent faction or universal Decree modifier.
Jack of All Trades Merchants Year 7 Every 12 years (19, 31...) Choose Warmonger (Arms), Architect (Structures), or Sage (Magic) to spend saved Gold.
Victory & Endless Trigger Year 33 Final Boss Wave Defeat the Year 33 boss to claim a run victory or continue into Endless scaling.
Warmonger Merchant sprite

Warmonger

Arms shop: combat Troops, damage scaling, and aggressive Enchantments.

Architect Merchant sprite

Architect

Structures shop: Buildings, Towers, Quarries, Forests, and Vaults.

Sage Merchant sprite

Sage

Magic shop: Tomes, Wildcards, Time spells, and Enchantments.

Gold, The Pit & Card Economy

  • The Pit: Discard unwanted cards from your hand for small Gold infusions while preventing hand clog.
  • Reroll Discipline: Re-rolling drafts escalates quickly—reserve Gold ahead of Year 7, 19, and 31 Merchants whenever possible.
  • Mercenary Value (Patch #29+): At 9g per unit (down from 15g), excess treasury converts efficiently into frontline size.
  • Difficulty Ladder: Progress through Peasant, Squire, Knight, Viscount, Earl, Duke, Prince, and escalating King I–IX+ ranks.

Verified System Requirements (Steam)

Minimum (PC)

  • OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • CPU: Core i5-750 / Phenom II X4 965
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • GPU: GeForce GT 630 / Radeon HD 6670 (2 GB)
  • Storage: 500 MB available space

Recommended & Handheld

  • OS: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
  • CPU: Core i5-3570 / FX-8300
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • GPU: GeForce GTX 650 / Radeon HD 7750
  • Handheld: Officially Steam Deck Verified