Onboarding & Early Progression Improvements in the Free Shifting Sands Update

Noble Kings,

The royal court has carefully considered the counsel and feedback delivered by rulers across the realm. Today, we would like to present several improvements shaped directly by your voices — changes aimed primarily at easing the first steps of newly crowned monarchs, particularly during onboarding and the early stages of their reign. When the Shifting Sands conquest begins on June 11th, these changes will stand ready to guide new rulers on their journey.

Should you wish to revisit the chronicles that came before, the royal records may be found here:

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Onboarding

We believe the game already does a solid job of explaining the basics, but the overall process of learning The King is Watching could still be improved in several ways. With that in mind, we dedicated additional time to refining the onboarding experience.

First, we expanded the tutorial. It now explains more mechanics that players will encounter throughout the game. The tutorial also features a proper ending, including a special boss encounter designed to introduce both the tone of the game and the structure of a full run.

Additionally, Threat Tier 0 will now feature only one boss instead of two. This should make first runs shorter and allow players to unlock upgrades more quickly.

The upgrade system itself has also been revised. Most notably, the Yellow Eye Upgrade tree has changed. You no longer need to spend Town Denarii to unlock these upgrades. Instead, they are earned by completing each level on Threat Tiers 1, 2, and 3.

The progression logic is now more intuitive:

• Easier-to-use buildings are unlocked first for each Tier on every map

• Artifacts and spells follow afterward

• The final unlocks usually contain buildings that are more specialized or require stronger synergies

We also rebalanced the Red Eye Upgrade tree. Banishing and Re-Rolling upgrades now have separate branches, allowing you to unlock these abilities earlier in your progression.

In addition, we:

• Added extra unlocks to both branches

• Increased the number of banishes gained per upgrade from 1 to 3

• Reorganized several upgrade unlock orders - for example, you can now banish Nobles and unlock additional building slots earlier than before.

Finally, we adjusted map progression. New maps are now unlocked by completing the previous map on Threat Tier 1.

We hope these changes make onboarding smoother, clearer, and more enjoyable for both new and returning Kings.

We shall soon return with the final royal chronicle covering the Shifting Sands update. According to our court mages and trusted advisors, the tidings yet to come should prove especially exciting for both newly crowned rulers and seasoned monarchs alike.

— Hypnohead Team