Developer Sad Socket and publishers Hooded Horse and Sidekick Publishing released version 1.0 of 9 Kings on November 12. The publisher’s launch announcement lists a $19.99 price on PC and a 50% launch discount that runs for the next two weeks, which works out to roughly $10.

The release ends an Early Access run of about 18 months that began with an Early Access debut on Steam on May 23, 2025. By this spring the game was also in Early Access on GOG, the Epic Games Store, the Microsoft Store and PC Game Pass, according to Turn Based Lovers, and the full version is sold on all four PC stores.

The headline addition is Joker mode, which lets players build a custom nine-card starting deck and set the rules of a run. Daily quests, more than 30 new decrees, stronger Rainbow cards and new perks arrive alongside it, per the announcement. Rogueliker reported that the 1.0 update reached PC and mobile on launch day.

For new players, the stake is timing: the discount window is short, and the developers have said they do not intend to raise the base price for the full release. For owners among the more than one million copies already sold, 1.0 is the content-complete build, as Rogueliker puts it.

Is 9 Kings on Xbox Game Pass?

Only on PC. The launch announcement lists PC Game Pass and names no Xbox console version, and the Microsoft Store listing shows PC as the only platform. The game has been in PC Game Pass since August 14, 2025 as an Early Access Game Preview, so 1.0 changes the game’s label rather than adding it to the service.

Mobile is a separate release. Playdigious launched the iOS and Android versions on October 12, per Pocket Gamer’s launch report. The app is free to try, and a one-time purchase unlocks the full game. Playdigious says the Android version is cross-platform with PC through Google Play Games, but Steam save transfer remains unannounced. Separately, Steam’s feature list includes cross-platform multiplayer.

Half-Price Launch Deal Runs Two Weeks, but Store End Dates May Differ

The publisher says a 50% launch discount is running for the next two weeks, and its announcement lists the $19.99 price across Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store. It does not name an end date or say whether every store applies the discount on the same schedule. The Microsoft Store listing showed $9.99 with the sale ending in six days when checked on November 13, so shoppers should check each store’s page before relying on a deadline.

Steam’s listing showed 92% positive reviews across 10,344 English reviews, and 86% positive among 317 reviews from the previous 30 days, when checked on November 13.

Nine-Tile Village Must Survive 33 Years of Invasions by Rival Kings

Every run begins with a choice of one king, each with a different starting deck of buildings, troops and spells, and a map of just nine tiles. Each in-game year brings a new invasion, and a run lasts 33 years before a final showdown, according to GamesRadar’s June 2025 Early Access preview. The writer found that only three successful invasions separate a thriving kingdom from a fallen one, so a single wasted turn can feel like it ruins a run.

Rogueliker’s reviewer describes the tone as charming but ruthless. The King of Blood shows the flavor: when a unit dies, its cemeteries summon an imp replacement while demon altars gain strength from the dead, and GamesRadar’s writer reported sacrificing millions of imps in pursuit of one build. Between battles, players hear prophecies, declare war or peace on rival kings and loot cards from rivals who attack. The ninth king, the King of Time, arrived on October 8, 2025 as a ruler who portals in from the future.

Automatic Battles and Asynchronous Ranked Matches Replace Live Opponents

Players place cards on a small grid, and buildings layer buffs onto the units beside them. Spells that destroy a tile free up space but also strengthen neighbors, so placement carries as much weight as card choice. Battles then play out automatically, which Rogueliker describes as fast automated fights between armies.

Multiplayer is asynchronous, so opponents do not need to be online at the same time. According to TechRaptor’s May 2026 report, it unlocks after nine runs, matches a player against eight other kings of the same rank under the same conditions, and offers nine ranks and a top-nine leaderboard. After a multiplayer run, players can visit opponents’ kingdoms to inspect their builds.

Performance Work Lets Endless Mode Handle Armies Above 99,999 Units

Stacking buffs can push army sizes very high, and large armies strain performance. Patch 21 on February 5 made Endless Mode an official feature, which continues past the 33-year win condition and adds boss fights at years 66 and 99. AUTOMATON reported that armies of more than 99,999 units are now possible after the performance work. A later patch again cited heavily improved performance with high troop counts.

The hardware bar is low. The minimum requirements on Steam are a quad-core processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 2 GB graphics card and 500 MB of storage, on 64-bit Windows 10 or macOS 12 or later. Rogueliker also notes a verified status on Steam Deck.

Strict Roguelike Rules Require Turn-Based Combat, So 9 Kings Counts as Roguelite

Rogueliker’s definitions show why the label matters before buying. The original Rogue-inspired rules from the 2008 Berlin Interpretation call for turn-based combat and movement, grid-based levels and permadeath, and a roguelike restarts the player from scratch after each death. A roguelite, by contrast, lets players carry progress from one run into the next.

Meta-progression was part of the Early Access launch build, and battles in 9 Kings resolve automatically, which puts the game in roguelite and auto-battler territory despite the roguelike label on its Steam page. Rogueliker’s launch coverage calls it a strategy roguelite autobattler, while Steam’s user tags list both roguelike and roguelite.

Roughly 18 Months in Early Access Ran Longer Than Typical Year-Long Successes

Wikipedia’s early access entry says most successful early access titles typically stayed in that stage for about one year before a full release. 9 Kings spent about 17.7 months between its May 23, 2025 Steam debut and November 12, 2026. The game sold more than 250,000 copies in its first week, per AUTOMATON, and passed one million sales by May 2026, according to Turn Based Lovers.

Rogueliker Praises Depth but Calls 1.0 Additions Modest

Rogueliker’s Mike Holmes praised 9 Kings warmly and said it turns simple base-building into a layered puzzle, though he described the 1.0 content as fresh rather than substantial. The launch announcement lists one new mode, daily quests and a batch of decrees, Rainbow cards and perks, added to a game whose other three modes were already in Early Access, according to Sad Socket’s September announcement.

September Roadmap Promised 130-Plus Cards, 140-Plus Decrees and 110-Plus Perks

Sad Socket outlined the full scope of 1.0 in a September 16 Steam announcement.

• Four modes. Singleplayer has dozens of difficulty levels, multiplayer offers a ranked ladder, Quest mode spans nine lands, and Joker mode adds custom rules and a custom nine-card deck.
• More than 130 cards. The studio said the game was supposed to have 81 cards at the start.
• More than 140 decrees and 110 perks. Over 30 of the decrees are new, and each king gets nine unique ones.
• More than 80 quests and 140 vanity items. The announcement also promised new gameplay polish, including sound effects, animations and performance work.

The launch announcement confirms Joker mode, daily quests, more than 30 new decrees, Rainbow cards and new perks, but it does not separately restate the September quest and vanity-item totals.

The number nine runs through the design. Early Access launched with seven of the nine kings, and the ninth arrived in October 2025. A September patch set Rainbow cards at 27 unique cards, and Sad Socket said decree counts will settle in multiples of nine.

Three Patches Reworked Decks, Rainbow Cards and Multiplayer Decree Pools Before 1.0

Patch #29 on July 29 reworked card decks, improved battle pathfinding and overhauled the tutorial. Patch #30 on September 15 added a batch of Rainbow cards, a perk rework and regional multiplayer rankings. Patch #31, version 0.9.8, arrived October 7 with a seasonal decree pool for multiplayer, a post-game review of opponents’ kingdoms and expanded ranking stats. Each patch post credits community feedback and asks players to leave Steam reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 9 Kings on Xbox Game Pass?

It is included with PC Game Pass on PC, where it has been available since the Early Access Game Preview launched on August 14, 2025. The 1.0 announcement names no Xbox console version, and the Microsoft Store listing shows PC as the only platform.

Is 9 Kings a true roguelike?

By the strict definition, no. Traditional roguelikes use turn-based combat and restart players from scratch after each death, while 9 Kings resolves battles automatically and carries meta-progression between runs, which Rogueliker classifies as roguelite design.

How does 9 Kings multiplayer work?

Multiplayer is asynchronous and unlocks after nine runs. Players face eight other kings of the same rank under the same conditions and climb nine ranks.

Does progress carry between mobile and PC?

Playdigious says the Android version is cross-platform with PC through Google Play Games, but Steam save transfer has not been announced, so progress on Steam may not carry over to mobile. Rogueliker reported that the 1.0 update reached mobile on launch day.