9 Kings left early access on November 12, 2026, almost 18 months after it opened on Steam on May 23, 2025, which for a roguelike counts as brisk. Publisher Hooded Horse and developer Sad Socket released the 1.0 version on PC through Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store. It is also in PC Game Pass. It costs $19.99, £17.99 or €19.99, with a 50% launch discount for the next two weeks. Steam also lists a Mac version.
Each run starts with a choice of king, and each king brings a different deck of buildings, troops and spells. You play those cards onto a small fortress and grow it into what the store page calls a “massive citadel,” while rival kings attack across decades of war. Beat a rival and you can loot cards from its deck. The goal is to survive, and the failure state is a kingdom that does not.
Four modes in 1.0, and Joker mode is the new one
The full release has four modes. Quest mode sends you across the known world to collect rival kings’ crowns. Endless mode is one king against attacks that do not stop. Async multiplayer, which does not need other players online at the same time, sets you against eight rival kings to see whose kingdom survives longest.
Joker mode lets you set the rules and build a custom nine-card starting deck from the cards of all nine kings. In a game where your king's deck was always the starting point, Joker mode makes the deck your first decision.
The rest of 1.0 adds random daily quests and stronger rainbow cards. It also adds more than 30 new decrees, which are buffs and modifiers you stack for combo strategies, and new perks built around the meta mechanics.
9 Kings was the most played strategy game at Steam Next Fest in February 2025, Wikipedia notes. Its English reviews on Steam sit at 92% positive across 10,387 of them. Sad Socket is a Brazilian studio started by two childhood friends who, by the studio's own account, tried and failed to make a AAA game when they were 11. Hooded Horse also publishes Manor Lords, Against the Storm and Old World.
For anyone who waited for 1.0, the launch discount puts 9 Kings at $9.99 on Steam for the next two weeks. Game Pass subscribers can install it at no extra cost.
