9 Kings just crowned its eighth monarch. The King of Nomads has arrived in Update 13, bringing a fresh playstyle to Sad Socket’s roguelite strategy game—now one King away from a full royal set.
Published by Hooded Horse, 9 Kings is in Early Access on Steam and has been steadily rolling out new factions. The latest addition, the King of Nomads, marches in from the snowy north with an army of cold-blooded reptilian troops. Unlike previous Kings, this one doesn’t care much for buildings—or boar-mounted ballistas, apparently.
This new King leans heavily into troop-centric decks, with minimal structures and a focus on board mobility. Building placement becomes fluid, with players encouraged to shuffle structures like Camp, which boosts card deployment across the kingdom, or the Dragon’s Den, a destruction-fueled summoning site. The idea: occupy, abandon, adapt.
Alongside the new King, Update 13 brings tweaks to RNG systems and general quality-of-life improvements. A dev diary is available for those curious about the Nomads’ design direction.
With this update, 9 Kings edges closer to its full lineup—eight down, one to go.
The game is available on PC via Steam Early Access for $19.99 / £17.99 / €19.99 / ¥1,980, currently sitting at a 92% “Very Positive” rating from over 10,000 reviews. Check it out on Steam.
