Link Steam
indiegame.fan
I WAS A KING header art

I WAS A KING

A court-driven, text-based strategy game where your words become decrees. Two petitions per turn—type carefully, face the backlash, and remember: you WERE a King.

Steam Page
Developer
Heritage Incorporation
Publisher
Heritage Incorporation
Release
June 19, 2026
44 days ago
Steam Reviews
1 user reviews1 reviews100.0%

Does this feel indie?

Vote based on whether this game feels indie to you. You can change your vote at any time. Results earn an IGF score after 10 accepted votes.
No votes yet
Vote on More Games
Game contextLatest: IGF Team
ContextThe evidence factors used to assess whether this game belongs on IndieGame.Fan.Status
Notes
Latest Contributor: IGF TeamEdit notes
Search Google: Who developed I WAS A KING?Developer scaleThe operating scale of the game's developer.
Search Google: Who published I WAS A KING?Publisher scaleThe operating scale of the game's publisher.
Search Google: Is I WAS A KING self-published or published by Heritage Incorporation?Publisher statusHow the game's publishing relationship is classified.
Search Google: How is I WAS A KING and Heritage Incorporation funded?FundingThe known source of funding behind the game.
Search Google: Who controls the creative direction and IP for I WAS A KING and Heritage Incorporation?Creative controlWho appears to retain creative control of the game.
Search Google: What is the release status of I WAS A KING?Release statusWhether and how the game has been released.

Media

9 items

About the Game

Set in a fictional Joseon court, every adviser is voiced by a locally-run AI—so no two reigns sound the same.

Your words are law. In a Joseon court where every decree has consequences, read petitions, command in your own words, manage rival advisers, and survive the reign you create.

Rule with words. Fall by words.

I WAS A KING is a deterministic, text-based political simulator set in a fictional Joseon court.

Each day, two petitions reach the throne. You do not click a preset answer. You write the decree yourself—and the court reads not only your decision, but your tone.

WHAT YOU DO

  • Read petitions from ministers, factions, and the people.

  • Issue decrees in natural language.

  • Decide not only policy, but tone - merciful, ruthless, evasive, pragmatic, or reckless.

  • Manage royal authority, treasury, public sentiment, rumors, and factional pressure.

  • Face deterministic consequences - no hidden RNG decides your reign.

  • Reach a final record that remembers what kind of king you became.

THE COURT REMEMBERS HOW YOU SPEAK

Most choice games ask what you choose.

I WAS A KING asks how you speak.

A decree can calm a crisis, insult a minister, empower a faction, or create tomorrow’s disaster. Some consequences arrive immediately. Others return later, when the court has not forgotten what you said.

RIVAL ADVISERS, SHIFTING TRUST

  • The Left and Right Advisers interpret the kingdom from opposing political instincts. When your decrees align with one side, adviser credibility can rise or collapse. If the gap grows too wide, factional tension begins to damage public trust.

  • If you push one adviser too far, and they may resign. A successor then enters the court with a different voice and advice style.

AI WITH CLEAR BOUNDARIES

  • AI is used to advisors' commentary only. It does not decide the game’s outcomes. Core consequences, metric changes, and ending logic are resolved by the authored rule system, whish is independent of AI systems.

FEATURES

  • A complete 4-hour reign: no live service, no endless grind.

  • Natural-language decree input

  • Deterministic political consequences.

  • Rival adviser credibility, resignation, and successor voices.

  • Delayed backlash and court memory.

  • Multiple endings and final reign records.

  • English and Korean support.

  • Every court voice runs on a local AI model

When words become law, responsibility changes.

Could you handle the reign?

Indie Game Fan