The wait is over — and the price is hard to argue with. 9 Kings 1.0 Game Pass is live today, November 12, as the roguelike auto-battler kingdom builder leaves Early Access and launches in full on PC. The 1.0 release is available on Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store for $19.99, with a 50% launch discount cutting it to $9.99 on Steam for the next two weeks — and it is also playable right now through PC Game Pass.
For anyone who has not followed its Early Access run, 9 Kings is a deceptively simple idea executed with real charm. You pick a king, take command of a small fortress, and defend it against endless waves of enemies using a curated deck of cards. Those cards are the heart of the game, and they are gloriously strange: sentient mushrooms, blaster wizards, kamikaze bombers and undead hordes all fight at your command, and the right combination can turn a desperate last stand into a rout. Each run is a fresh puzzle: the cards you draw, the king you choose and the decrees you unlock all shape how your little fortress holds up, and no two defenses play out quite the same way.
What 9 Kings 1.0 Game Pass Adds
The 1.0 update is a substantial one. It adds four new modes, including the headline Joker mode, which lets players set custom rules and build a custom nine-card starting deck drawn from all of the Kings. Random daily quests give returning players a reason to check in, more than 30 new decrees expand the strategic options, rainbow cards are stronger, and a batch of new perks rounds out the build possibilities. The game also launches with support for more than 30 languages.
That breadth is part of the point. 9 Kings is a game about experimenting with absurd combinations, and the 1.0 release gives players far more toys to experiment with. Whether you are stacking mushroom armies, leaning on wizard artillery or sending bombers into the thick of it, the new modes and cards reward a fresh look at old strategies.
From Early Access to PC Game Pass
The 9 Kings 1.0 Game Pass launch is also a notable one for the subscription service. PC Game Pass subscribers can play the full 1.0 release at no extra cost, which makes it an easy recommendation for anyone curious about the genre. The game comes from Brazilian developer Sad Socket and publisher Hooded Horse, the label behind Manor Lords and Against the Storm — a pedigree that should reassure anyone wondering whether a small auto-battler can hold up over the long haul.
The launch discount makes the decision even easier for non-subscribers. At $9.99 on Steam for the first two weeks, 9 Kings is priced like an impulse buy, and the daily quests and Joker mode give it the hooks to keep players coming back after the first few runs. It is a generous launch for a game that already earned a following in Early Access, and the 1.0 additions suggest Sad Socket is not done building on it yet.
A Good Week to Be a Game Pass Subscriber
9 Kings is not the only big Game Pass story this week. Football Manager 27 launched day one on the service, and the week’s Xbox lineup has been packed. For the full picture, check out Football Manager 27 Is OUT NOW — Every Platform, Game Pass Day One and a Record-Breaking Free Play and New Xbox Games This Week: Football Manager 27 and Warhammer Survivors Hit Game Pass — Week of November 9.
With the 9 Kings 1.0 Game Pass launch, the little kingdom builder has officially graduated — and with a 50% discount and a day-one Game Pass debut, there has never been a better time to pick a king and defend the realm.
Source: Hooded Horse / Sad Socket via Games Press
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