For the King II

For the King II is a tactical role-playing game developed by IronOak Games and published by Curve Games. It is the sequel to For the King (2018).

Gameplay
After the queen from For the King turns evil, adventurers set out to defeat her. For the King II is a tactical role-playing game with turn-based combat. It has roguelite elements, such as a procedurally-generated map and permadeath. Combat takes place on a grid, similar to digital tabletop, and there can be up to four members in each party. There are two rows for each side, allowing weaker characters to hide behind someone with a shield. The difficulty is customizable, but losing causes players to restart the game. Points accrued during gameplay allow players to unlock new content for their next game.

Development
Vancouver-based developer IronOak Games was influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. They wanted to implement something similar to the wonder of finding a new magic item and figuring how its powers. They also wanted to make the sequel more plot-oriented and emphasize emergent gameplay. Curve Games released it for Windows on November 2, 2023.

Reception
For the King II received positive reviews on Metacritic. PC Gamer said they had fun with the challenging battles, but the game seemed more like a high definition remake of the first game than a sequel. Though IGN found it "interesting, challenging, and engaging", they said some of information withheld from the player made it unnecessarily frustrating.