Kingdom: Classic: Complete Guide

A guide to the original Kingdom (now called Kingdom: Classic): how coins, subjects, and defenses work, a day-by-day plan, the Greed and their portals, statues and upgrades, and how to "secure the crown" or survive to day 100.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final Kingdom: Classic build (last major update v1.2.0, March 2016; the game is now free on Steam). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Note: Kingdom: Classic is the first game in the series. Its successors (Kingdom: New Lands, Kingdom Two Crowns and Kingdom Eighties) add features that aren't in Classic, like islands, boats, hermits, and extra mounts. Don't mix up tips from those games. Some exact costs and counts below come from a well-rated Steam community guide and could vary slightly in your game, so treat them as reference points.

Quick Start

Coins are everything. You ride a monarch on horseback and spend coins by dropping them. Every recruit, tool, and building costs coins.
Recruit vagrants first. Vagrant camps in the forest have homeless people. Drop a coin near one and they follow you back as a peasant.
Buy bows early. Archers hunt rabbits and deer during the day (earning coins) and defend at night. Your early economy runs on archers.
Builders make walls and towers. Buy hammers at the hammer shop. A handful of builders is enough, and they also chop trees to clear land.
Nights get harder, and every fifth night is a Blood Moon. Blood Moons bring massive attacks, but the night after one is quiet. Use that window to rebuild.
Protect the crown. If the Greed knock the crown off your head and carry it away, the game is over. Stay behind your walls at night.
The goal is to destroy the four portals the Greed come from ("secure the crown"). You can also go for survival milestones, and there are achievements up to day 100.
Explore in daylight. Statues, chests, and useful landmarks are out in the forest. Head out early in the day and be home before dark.
Watch your horse's stamina. The horse tires out from galloping. Letting it stop and graze on grass brings its strength back.

Units

Unit	How to Get One	Role
Vagrant / Peasant	Drop a coin at a vagrant camp	A blank recruit. Picks up whatever tool is waiting in a shop.
Archer	Peasant picks up a bow	Hunts for coins in the day, shoots Greed at night, and staffs towers
Builder	Peasant picks up a hammer	Builds walls, towers, farms, and catapults. Chops trees.
Farmer	Scythe (from the Scythe Salesman, once your camp is upgraded)	Works farms, which pay out gold at harvest
Knight	Needs an upgraded camp (shields)	Tanky units that lead attacks on portals
Catapult engineers	Assigned builders	Crew your catapults

Ratios that work: The community guide suggests roughly 9 archers per builder and keeping 4–6 builders. Archers pay for themselves by hunting. Too many builders just sit idle.

Economy

Source	Notes
Hunting	Archers kill rabbits (1 coin) and deer (a few coins each, and they take more than one hit)
Farms	Farms need to be near water. Farmers harvest gold regularly. Upgraded farms produce more.
Chests	Found while exploring the forest
Clearing land	Chopping trees opens up land for building and farms

Coin pouch limits: Your pouch has a cap. Once it's full, extra coins spill onto the ground. You can store extra wealth by investing it (upgrades, recruits), and coins dropped at your camp can be picked up again. The "By Day Six I Was Rich" achievement is for having more gold than you can carry by day six.

Buildings and Upgrades

Structure	What It Does
Camp / Town Center	Upgrade it to unlock new tiers. Level 2 unlocks the Scythe Salesman and farmers, and higher levels unlock knights (via shields).
Walls	Several levels. Each upgrade makes a wall much tougher. Outer walls take the hits.
Archer towers	Hold an archer on a raised position. Great at chokepoints.
Catapults	Heavy damage. Crewed by builders. They have limited HP and can be destroyed, but you can buy new ones. Friendly fire from catapults was disabled in v1.0.3.
Farms	Need water nearby. Upgrade them for more income.
Teleporter	Lets you move quickly across the map, with a cooldown

Statues and the Shrine

You'll find statues in the forest. Pay coins to activate them for bonuses:

Statue	Effect
Archer statue	Increases archer damage or accuracy. It can be charged several times a day.
Builder statue	Temporarily strengthens walls
Shrine	Lets you upgrade walls and your kingdom to their highest levels

Find statues early. Their bonuses scale with your army, so they're worth it from the mid game on.

Enemies: The Greed

Enemy	Threat	Counter
Greedlings	Small masked creatures that die in one hit. They steal coins and the crown.	Enough archers and solid walls
Floaters	Pick up and carry off your units, removing them for good. They go for towers.	Heavy archer fire and multiple defensive lines
Breeders	Big enemies that keep spawning more Greedlings	Massed archers, catapults, and strong walls
Boss monster	A special large enemy, overhauled in v1.2.0	Prepare your strongest walls and catapults

Blood Moon: Roughly every fifth night the sky turns red and a much bigger wave arrives. Make sure your walls are upgraded and your archers are home. The night after a Blood Moon is quiet, so rebuild and push outward then.

Portals: Securing the Crown

There are four portals, two on each side of your kingdom. This is where the Greed come from. Destroying all four secures the crown and wins the game.

How: Build an army of knights and archers, then pay coins to send them against a portal. Portals are tough (their HP was doubled in v1.0.1), and sending knights costs coins.
Counter-attacks: Each destroyed portal triggers a bigger counter-attack. The community guide notes the final portal's response includes large numbers of Floaters, Greedlings, and Breeders, so make your walls on that side as strong as possible first.
Don't linger near portals. Hanging around one can make it open early.
One side at a time. Clear both portals on one side, fortify, then go after the other side.
Achievements: "The Tenth Day We Fought Back" is for destroying a portal by day ten. "Safe in 40/35/30/25" are for securing the crown by those days.

Day-by-Day Plan (Standard Game)

Days	Priorities
1–4	Recruit every vagrant and buy bows. Archers hunt coins. Early nights are light, so heavy walls can wait.
5–10	Build walls up a level, add a couple of builders, and get ready for the first Blood Moon. Put a farm near water around day 8.
11–25	Upgrade the camp (farmers, then knights). The guide suggests around 20–30 archers, 5–6 builders, and 3 farmers here. Find statues. Go for your first portal around day 20.
26+	Clear the other portals one side at a time, rebuilding walls after each counter-attack.

Achievements Worth Knowing

Kingdom: Classic has 34 Steam achievements. Most are survival milestones (Day V through Day C, one every five days up to day 100). The notable ones:

Achievement	Requirement
On the First Day I Built an Army	Recruit 8 archers on the first day
On the Second Day I Got a Gift	Get free walls on the second day
On the Third Day I Lit a Fire	Don't start your camp until day 3
On the Fourth Day We Had a Feast	Hunt 20 deer before the end of day four
For Five Days I Turned the Other Cheek	Kill nothing until day six
By Day Six I Was Rich	Have more gold than you can carry by day six
By the Seventh Day I Cleared an Acre	Clear an acre of land before the end of day seven
On the Eighth Day I Fumbled	"A nimble ruler will never let his money touch the ground"
On the Ninth Day I First Ran	Don't let your steed run away before this day
The Tenth Day We Fought Back	Destroy a portal by this day
Safe in 40 / 35 / 30 / 25	Secure the crown (destroy all portals) by that day
Day V ... Day C	Survive past day 5, 10, 15 ... 100

Several of these conflict with each other (for example, "Turned the Other Cheek" and "We Had a Feast"), so plan separate runs.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Leaving the walls at night. Unless it's the quiet night after a Blood Moon, stay home.
Too many builders. Idle builders are wasted coins. Archers are what fund your economy.
Overextending. Walls too far out are hard to defend and slow to reach. Grow gradually.
Ignoring Floaters. They permanently remove units. Keep towers staffed and walls layered.
Attacking a portal without backup walls. The counter-attack will break a single wall line.
Riding the horse into the ground. A tired horse is slow. Let it graze on grass.

Advanced Tips

Black Horse: The community guide notes you can buy a black horse for a few coins that gallops for noticeably longer than the brown one. It's worth it for exploring.
Merchant: The guide mentions a merchant who sells a random set of tools. Useful for a quick burst of recruits.
Layered walls: Build a second wall line behind the outer one. Since v1.2.0, knights fall back to an intact wall if the outer one takes too much damage.
Save any time: Since v1.2.0 you can save by quitting even at night or mid-combat.
Herd deer toward your archers early for fast coins.
Catapults near chokepoints with builders close by are the answer to Breeders.

FAQ

Is Kingdom: Classic free? Yes. It's free on Steam.

How do I win Kingdom: Classic? Destroy all four Greed portals to secure the crown. You can also keep going for survival milestones up to day 100.

What happens if I lose the crown? The run ends. Keep your walls strong and don't wander outside them at night.

Is Classic different from Kingdom Two Crowns? Yes. Two Crowns is a full sequel with multiple islands, co-op, new mounts, and themed campaigns. Classic is the original single-map game.

How often is the Blood Moon? About every five days, and the night after it is quiet.

Can I play with a controller? Yes. The Steam page lists full controller support.