Kingdoms and Castles — patch notes and updates
Stored observation / content update:
Dated developer announcements recorded from Steam. Open the source for the complete update.
| Update | Date | Excerpt / source |
|---|---|---|
| Beta Available - Larger Maps Update | 2026-04-21 | Hi Everyone!Update Beta AvailableWe've got the beta version ready to try out for our upcoming Larger Maps Update. The main features in this update:'Extra Large' map sizeMany optimizations (many coming from our learnings working on Nova Roma)Note: The beta version of this update is a debug build, so you won't see the full impact of the optimizations until we switch to the final release version. That said, the worst of the hitching on huge maps should be much better even in the debug build.If you'd like, you can try it out now by switching to the beta branch (keep in mind there will be bugs and things to fix). Here's how: Right click on the gam |
| Hotpatch - version 123r6 | 2025-05-22 | Fixes Fixed issue where the game could get in a bad state after evicting a dragon that was not at a building Fixed a load/save issue |
| Hotpatch - version 123r5 | 2025-05-14 | Quick Hotpatch Fixes/Improvements Increase dragon damage vs NPC kingdoms Fix DLC not working on mac |
| Dragon Taming Update - Now Available! | 2025-05-11 | Hi Everyone, We're excited to announce the big new update - Dragon Taming - is now available! This has been a popular community suggestion for a long time and we're happy to get it in the game. You can tame, raise, and care for dragons! Let's get into the changes: New Research In order to unravel the mysteries of the dragons, you'll need to research Dragon Husbandry in the great library. This will unlock all the buildings you need to make dragons valued members of your kingdom. Dragon Nest This provides a home for two dragons and one offspring. Add piles of gold here and the next time dragons arrive at your kingdom one may decide to settle at |
| Dragon Taming - Beta Update | 2025-03-26 | Hi Everyone, Quick update for you today, the beta version of our upcoming Dragon Taming Update has been available for testing for a little while now and we've been hard at work incorporating your feedback and fixing bug reports. If you haven't tried out the beta version and would like to test it, here's how: Right click on the game in the Steam library Click properties, then choose betas Choose the next-version-preview branch Progress Update We've been fixing bugs and tweaking and tuning the dragons, their upkeep, diet, damage, and how they integrate into the world. We set up gamepad controls for the dragon buildings so the new stuff in the u |
| Beta Available - Dragon Taming Update | 2024-12-21 | Hope everyone is having a happy holiday so far! Update Beta Available We've got the beta version ready for the Dragon Taming update. There is a sticky thread in the forums where there's a more detailed list of all the new changes that are ready for testing, but here's a little preview of how bad a time you'll be able to give the vikings with dragons on your side: And you'll also need to keep your dragons clean: Of course, we'll do our usual big update post when the Dragon Taming Update is ready for final release. If you'd like, you can try it out now by switching to the beta branch (keep in mind there will be bugs and things to fix). Here's h |
| Development Update | 2024-08-03 | Hi Everyone! We are currently working on a big new content update. It focuses on something you folks have brought up a few times, but we weren't sure if it was possible. With a lot of hard work behind us and some left to go, we're pleased to announce the next update coming up will be ... Dragon Taming! Here's a preview of a couple of the new incoming buildings: Dragon Roost A 5x5 building that provides a potential home for two adult dragons and one offspring. If you place this building and add a tempting pile of gold, a dragon may choose to make this their home. If you care for them well and meet their needs they will defend not only their ne |
| Steam Deck Verified - 122r1 | 2023-12-01 | Hi Everyone, Quick update for you today - we're excited to announce we're now Steam Deck Verified! The game should now run great, look great, and control great on the Steam Deck. While we've been focusing on the console ports for Kingdoms and Castles and on our new game Nova Roma, we've still been monitoring your feedback and bug reports and have implemented a bunch of much requested improvements and fixes. Improvements Allow carts and ships to deposit resources at stockpiles and docks even if those buildings have their desired amounts set to zero. Allow carts to pick up and drop off from swineherds and fishing huts Reduced cost of the Well R |
| Nominate Kingdoms and Castles for the Steam Awards | 2023-11-23 | Hi Everyone, Nominations for this year’s Steam Awards are underway and we’d like to ask for your support by nominating Kingdoms and Castles for the Labor of Love Award. We first launched Kingdoms and Castles in the summer of 2017 and in those six years we’ve continued to work on the game and improve it with lots of big updates. Compared to the original 2017 release, the game today has more than doubled in content. We've worked hard to incorporate lots of your feedback and suggestions into the game to make it the best it can be. We've been very grateful for your support over the years. There's certainly a lot of other deserving games for this |
| Hotpatch - version 121r4 | 2023-07-04 | Added building name and size to hover info Added option to disable sending game crash data Reduced cost of archer school and barracks Small UI fix |
| Hotpatch - version 121r3 | 2023-07-03 | Fixed overlay and irrigation display being different for larger reservoir Fixed building info going of edge of screen on steam deck Removed ping to our old shopfiy store from when we were selling the dragon plushy |
| Infrastructure & Industry Update - Now Available! | 2023-06-17 | Hi Everyone! Thanks for your patience, the Industry & Infrastructure Update is out now on the main branch! Our last major update (War & Diplomacy) was focused on combat and interaction with the AI. For this update we've focused back on the city building and economy! It's got a bunch of new stuff folks have been requesting. Let's get right to the notes! Large Treasure Room This is a 2x1 structure (shown on the right) that houses a bit more gold than two small treasure rooms. You can place them adjacent to small treasure rooms to make some creative building shapes (shown on the left). Large Produce Storage This is another 2x1 structure, which c |
| Infrastructure & Industry Update - Beta Now Available! | 2022-12-23 | Hi Everyone, Hope everyone is having a happy holiday so far. We've got the beta available for the next update - Industry & Infrastructure! We've got a sticky thread in the forums where there's a more detailed list of all the new changes that are ready for testing, but here's a little preview of just a few of the things you can look forward to: Large Iron Mine Large Treasure Room And more! Here's a recap of the dev stream we did showing off all the new stuff for this update: Of course, we'll do our usual big update post when the Infrastructure & Industry Update is ready for final release. If you'd like, you can try it out now by switching to t |
| Hotpatch - version 120r4 | 2022-12-09 | Tweak dragon difficulty Improve doctor healing algorithm to work better on large cities Fixed case where ship could get an invalid building destination Added wage information to building info highlight in the build menus Improved text readability on Steam Deck Fixed building info highlight going off screen on Steam Deck |
| Hotpatch - Version 120r3: | 2022-11-26 | Better messaging when manors are out of charcoal and very unhappy Siege dragons don't clump up so much Restored spawning of the small dragons Fixed issue where vikings could steal gold after being killed Fixed weird behavior with the 'random' check mark for spawning AIs in map select Fixed visual issue where fishmongers showed in some cases they were search for wheat, even though they actually weren't |
| Development Update | 2022-11-24 | Hi Everyone, We've got another update on the way! Based on your feedback and ideas, it will feature some much requested new buildings. Here's a preview of two of them: Large Quarry A 3x3 building that sits on top of a stone deposit. Produces more stone than two quarries, but requires more workers and needs tools to function. Good for boosting mid to late game stone production. Large Charcoal Maker A 2x2 building that produces more charcoal than 4 small charcoal makers, but requires more workers and has a higher up front construction cost. We'll have more to preview soon! Until next time, - Pete, Michael & Sam |
| Hotpatch - Version 120r2 | 2022-11-14 | Changed cart and transport ship behavior to not drop resources on the ground if the drop off storage is full. Instead the goods will stay on the ship or cart. Changed oculus controllers select action to use "A" button instead of trigger Added Mixed Reality Motion controller SteamVR bindings Added Vive Cosmos controller SteamVR bindings Added missing translation for VR orbit tutorial Improved VR pivot pointer visuals when very close to the ground Fixed issue where you couldn't put troops on ships in VR (changed VR unit selection to select action and movement to be cancel action - on Vive this means separate triggers) Removed VR controller vibr |
| VR Support - Now Available | 2022-11-03 | VR Support is now available! If you want to play in VR mode, just plug in your headset and start up SteamVR and the game will automatically launch into VR mode. SteamVR must be running first for the game to detect you want to start in VR. You can start a new game or play an existing one. Note that performance in VR can be an issue depending on the city size and your computer's specs. It's a pretty neat feeling to watch dragons fly by or stand in your city in VR. You can zoom out and build your city from above, or shrink down and view things from the perspective of a villager. Thanks to everyone who tested VR support! If you don't have a VR he |
| Development Update - VR Beta Available | 2022-10-24 | Hi Everyone, The VR mode beta is now available on the next-version-preview branch for testing! Here's how to try it out: Right click on the game in the steam library Click properties, then choose betas Choose the next-version-preview branch Then fire up your VR headset, turn on SteamVR, then launch the game and it will automatically enter VR mode. You can start a new game, or load and play any city in VR! Although note that performance can be an issue in larger cities and is dependent on your computer's specs. We've got support for the Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Meta Quest. Generally just about any VR headset that is compatible with Steam VR |
| Hotpatch - Version 119r4 | 2022-10-14 | Fixed issue where catapults wouldn't auto target gates Fixed issue where catapults in water couldn't be damaged by melee units Fixed issue where catapults could persist from an old save into a new world Fixed drag selecting picking up enemy/neutral units as well Fixed rare issue where AI could block their river with a bridge Fixed issue where AI wouldn't build piers very often |