Darkest Dungeon 2's new Kingdoms mode is an incredible, free new way to play the game

Darkest Dungeon 2 is releasing a brand-new, free game mode called Kingdoms, and it genuinely offers something new to players of the popular Roguelike. The developers remixed some of the core elements that make the game great into this brand-new, challenging gameplay offering. If you’re a fan of the original Darkest Dungeon and Darkest Dungeon II, this will certainly be for you.

Originally teased in April 2024, the Kingdoms game mode is more than just a basic expansion to the game. All in all, it’s a very exciting concept. Here’s what Darkest Dungeon II Kingdoms offers players.

---

What does the new Kingdoms mode bring to Darkest Dungeon 2?

Darkest Dungeon 2’s Kingdoms mode is more than just the typical DD2 experience. It involves more than just grinding to try and fight a boss and keep your party alive. Kingdoms is more like a board game — it’s a grand strategy gameplay mode where players will move across three different campaign maps at launch, with more to come later.

Players will see a variety of Inns scattered across the game map, in various states of disrepair. These inns are connected by regions, and your goal is to move from inn to inn, protect them, and complete the objectives set out by your current mission. Inns are safe havens for you to employ.

You also have more than just the four heroes that hang out in the stagecoach. You have a persistent roster of heroes, which certainly feels different from the Confessions DLC. However, those other heroes are scattered across the map. You’ll likely be swapping heroes in and out throughout the Darkest Dungeon 2 Kingdoms mode, and that sounds exciting.

Similar to a Blood Moon campaign in Darkest Dungeon 1, you’re under the proverbial gun. There’s a time limit — you have a few days to reveal the boss and defeat them. This means you really have to think about what you’re doing each day and make the most of it — that’s all very exciting.

At the same time, you must get to your various inns and defend them from Beastmen attacks while trying to make progress. It should offer a fun and new challenge for Darkest Dungeon 2 fans.

Who doesn't want to turn into a giant, violent killing machine? (Image via Red Hook Studios)

There’s also some puzzle-solving that goes with this. You’ll be given your quest steps via item descriptions, so you’ve got to read and take note of these descriptions and figure out where they lead.

There’s also some paid DLC, for those interested — the new Abomination Hero, which looks incredibly powerful. We got a sneak peek at them during this preview session of this hero, returning from DD1. What makes them so great is that they can turn into a powerful beast to rend enemies asunder. What's not to like?

---

Darkest Dungeon 2 Kingdoms mode lets you upgrade your Inns based on your needs

What an inviting locale this is! (Image via Red Hook Studios)

As Darkest Dungeon 2 is a Roguelike/Roguelite, the way your inns spawn is random. However, Kingdoms changes that. At least, while you’re playing the Kingdoms mode, anyway. Instead of relying on the luck of the draw to hopefully get good inns to defend and upkeep, you have a series of skill trees.

Essentially, you can spec your inns the way you want to confer the types of buffs and upgrades you’re specifically looking for. I think this is a fantastic change because you’ve still got plenty of other challenges — adding that kind of chaos and randomness on top of everything else would not have been fun.

This lets you create a sort of infrastructure, where each inn serves its purpose and helps you in a nice, wide variety of ways. Sure, you can build them your way, but you have to get to them and upgrade them in the correct ways. This still offers a nice amount of challenge for Roguelike fans.

---

Is Darkest Dungeon 2 Kingdoms worth it?

This free update offers players a wealth of challenges and blends old and new concepts in a fresh way (Image via Red Hook Studios)

While I’m not someone who has put much time into the Darkest Dungeon franchise, I’m very excited for Darkest Dungeon 2 Kingdoms. It combines a few fun strategy elements, without completely dominating the players' time. You have to consider your party, roster management, and the gameplay sessions aren’t super long, to not overwhelm players.

I’m very excited about this new free gameplay mode in this incredibly popular Roguelike. From defending inns to crawling through dungeons filled with grotesque slime monsters, there’s so much to be excited about in Kingdoms. Whether you get the paid DLC or not, I think it will be a ton of fun.