There’s a new Reigns game on the way to Apple Arcade, and it looks rather different from the monarchy-themed games we’ve seen from the series so far. Instead of ruling over a medieval kingdom or fighting over the Iron Throne, Reigns: Beyond puts you in charge of an intergalactic indie rock band on its rise to fame.
As with previous Reigns games, the basic premise revolves around a minimalist, swipe-based strategy game. A deck of decision cards lays out (often humorous) scenarios for you to resolve by swiping either left or right, Tinder-style, with each decision affecting four key stats that you need to keep in balance. In previous games, making any one of those stats either too strong or too weak—an inevitable outcome, eventually—would result in the death of your king or queen, paving the way for a new monarch’s reign.
This time around, you’ll be trying to manage your band’s fame and resources, while recruiting new alien band members, collecting guitars, and fighting space pirates and tax collectors. Reigns: Beyond also includes “swiping dogfights”, and at least one screenshot hints at what looks like some sort of rhythm minigame—which would be fitting, given the theme.
From the press release:
Reigns: Beyond challenges players to navigate the cosmos as an intergalactic indie rock band, plotting their rise to *star*dom, traveling from planet to planet and gig to gig on their quest for fame and fortune. Play local (and not-so-local) clubs throughout the galaxy, recruiting alien band members along the way, and rock out across the universe! But make sure you’re managing your ship’s resources and keeping your crew in check while on this interstellar tour because one wrong decision may leave you dead in space!
FEATURES• Unlock the legendary Galactic Guitars and rock out in front of your adoring fans.
• Fight pirates, overzealous tax collectors and more in swiping dogfights.
• Hang out on your ship for band practice and offer directions to lost space travelers.
• Meet 60+ curious characters, including your manager, Lord Shark, Strombo the scholarly mollusk, Gron the space bear, … and of course your crew and your ship’s know-it-all A.I.
• 1400+ decision cards. Infinite possibilities!
• Original soundtrack by Sam Webster (GRINDSTONE)
There’s no release date for Reigns: Beyond yet, beyond “coming soon”. It’s exclusive to Apple Arcade, and is available for pre-registration through the App Store. There’s no suggestion of it being a timed exclusive, but with all the previous games in the series being available across numerous platforms, I’m hopeful that Reigns: Beyond will eventually make its way beyond Apple’s borders, too.
If you haven’t played Reigns before, it’s well worth your time. They’re perfect games to pick up and play for a few minutes, but also have depth and longevity that a lot of mobile games designed around quick play sessions often lack. Reigns: Her Majesty is my personal favourite just off the quality of the writing, but the original Reigns and Reigns: Game of Thrones are also excellent.
