Evony: The King's Return - A Deep Dive into the Popular MMO Strategy Game

Evony: The King’s Return is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) strategy game that allows players to build and manage their own city, train armies, and engage in real-time battles with other players across a dynamic world map. Originally launched as Evony in 2009 as a browser-based game, the franchise evolved into a mobile experience with Evony: The King’s Return, released in 2016. The game offers a blend of empire-building, warfare, and diplomacy, all set in a world filled with historical leaders, powerful alliances, and large-scale battles.

In this guide, we’ll explore the core gameplay, strategies for success, the appeal of Evony, and games similar to Evony for those who enjoy empire-building and strategic warfare.

The Gameplay of Evony: The King's Return

In Evony: The King’s Return, players start by building their own city, gathering resources, and training troops. Over time, you expand your city, strengthen your armies, and engage in PvP (Player vs Player) or PvE (Player vs Environment) battles. The game’s mix of city management, resource allocation, and large-scale warfare requires both strategic planning and active involvement.

Core Gameplay Mechanics

1. City Building: At the heart of Evony is city management. Players are tasked with constructing buildings such as farms, barracks, research institutes, and walls to defend their city. As your city grows, so does its economy and military power, allowing you to expand and participate in more advanced content.

2. Resource Management: Resources like food, wood, stone, and gold are crucial to your city’s development. You’ll need to gather and manage these resources to build and upgrade structures, train troops, and support your empire’s growth. Efficient resource allocation is essential for both economic stability and military dominance.

3. Military Training and Strategy: A key aspect of Evony is building and maintaining a powerful army. Players can train different types of units, including infantry, archers, cavalry, and siege weapons, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. You’ll need to strategically assemble your armies and plan your attacks to defeat enemies and conquer territories.

4. Real-Time PvP Battles: In addition to building and managing your city, Evony features real-time battles against other players. You can launch attacks on rival cities, raid resources, or defend your territory. Strategic planning is crucial when deciding when and how to attack or defend, as battles happen in real-time, requiring active participation.

5. World Map Exploration: The game features a large world map where you can explore territories, gather resources, defeat enemies, and form alliances with other players. Navigating the world map is important for expanding your influence and discovering new opportunities for growth.

6. Historical Figures and Heroes: One of the unique aspects of Evony is the inclusion of famous historical figures like Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, and Cleopatra. These heroes can be recruited to lead your armies, boost your city’s productivity, or provide special bonuses in combat.

7. Alliances and Diplomacy: Forming alliances with other players is a crucial part of success in Evony. Alliances allow you to share resources, reinforce each other during attacks, and coordinate large-scale military campaigns. Diplomacy and cooperation with other players can be just as important as military power.

8. Puzzle Mini-Games: A more recent addition to Evony: The King’s Return is the inclusion of puzzle mini-games, where players must solve brainteasers to earn rewards like resources and bonuses for their city. These puzzles add a casual element to the gameplay, offering a break from the intense strategy focus.

Strategies for Success in Evony

While Evony: The King’s Return is easy to get started with, mastering the game requires strategic thinking, time management, and strong alliances. Here are some key strategies to help you succeed:

1. Prioritize Resource Production

Resources are the backbone of your empire. Early in the game, focus on building and upgrading resource-generating structures like farms, sawmills, and quarries. Having a strong resource base will allow you to train troops, build fortifications, and expand your city quickly.

2. Balance Building Upgrades

In Evony, it’s tempting to rush military upgrades, but balancing your city’s growth is key to long-term success. Make sure to evenly upgrade resource buildings, military structures, and defense systems. This ensures you have the economy to support your army and the defenses to protect your city.

3. Join a Strong Alliance

Joining a powerful alliance early on will significantly improve your chances of success. Alliances provide mutual defense, resource sharing, and opportunities for large-scale warfare that you wouldn’t be able to manage alone. Participate actively in alliance activities like rallies and donations to strengthen your team and gain rewards.

4. Train a Balanced Army

A well-rounded army that includes infantry, cavalry, archers, and siege weapons is crucial for both offense and defense. Each unit type has strengths and weaknesses, so having a balanced army allows you to adapt to various combat situations. For example, cavalry are strong against archers, while siege weapons are essential for taking down enemy fortifications.

5. Focus on Hero Recruitment and Development

Historical heroes in Evony provide powerful bonuses, whether they are leading your army or managing your city. Focus on recruiting and upgrading heroes to maximize their potential. Assign them to appropriate roles based on their strengths—military heroes should lead your troops, while administrative heroes can boost resource production.

6. Scout Before Attacking

Before launching an attack on another player’s city, always use a scout to gather intelligence. This will give you valuable information about the enemy’s defenses, army composition, and resources, allowing you to plan your attack accordingly. Attacking blindly can lead to unnecessary losses and wasted resources.

7. Solve Puzzle Mini-Games for Extra Rewards

Don’t forget to take advantage of the puzzle mini-games in Evony. These puzzles are not only fun but also offer valuable rewards like resources, hero upgrades, and boosts that can help accelerate your progress in the game.

8. Protect Your City During Offline Periods

Since battles occur in real-time, it’s important to protect your city when you’re not online. Use shields to prevent enemy attacks while you’re away, and ensure your defenses are upgraded to handle any surprise assaults.

The Appeal of Evony: The King’s Return

1. Strategic Depth and Real-Time Combat

One of the main draws of Evony is its combination of deep strategy and real-time combat. Players must carefully plan their city’s growth, resource management, and military campaigns while responding to threats and opportunities on the fly. The real-time nature of PvP battles adds excitement and tension, making each decision impactful.

2. Engaging Alliance Gameplay

The social aspect of Evony is a big part of its appeal. Forming alliances, coordinating attacks, and defending each other’s cities create a sense of camaraderie and teamwork. Playing with others in large alliances makes the game more dynamic and adds depth to the diplomatic and military aspects.

3. Historical Heroes and Immersive World

Evony’s inclusion of famous historical figures adds an immersive layer to the game. Players can recruit and command iconic leaders from history, each with their own unique abilities and buffs. The world of Evony is rich with history, giving it a unique identity compared to other strategy games.

4. Puzzle Mini-Games for Casual Fun

The addition of puzzle mini-games offers a nice change of pace from the main gameplay loop. These puzzles are simple but rewarding, giving players extra resources and bonuses to help with their empire-building efforts.

Games Similar to Evony

If you enjoy Evony: The King’s Return, there are several other strategy and empire-building games you may want to check out:

1. Clash of Clans

Clash of Clans is a mobile strategy game where players build villages, train troops, and engage in large-scale battles against other players. Like Evony, it emphasizes city-building, resource management, and strategic combat, with a strong focus on multiplayer gameplay and alliances.

2. Rise of Kingdoms

Rise of Kingdoms is another popular mobile strategy game that features real-time combat, city management, and alliances. Players can choose from various civilizations and recruit historical leaders to guide their kingdom to victory. The game offers a similar mix of strategy, diplomacy, and warfare as Evony.

3. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

For fans of more traditional RTS games, Age of Empires II offers deep strategic gameplay in a historical setting. Players control civilizations from across the globe, build empires, and wage wars in real-time. While it lacks the MMO aspect of Evony, it provides a robust single-player and multiplayer strategy experience.

4. Game of War: Fire Age

Game of War: Fire Age is an MMO strategy game similar to Evony, where players build their own kingdoms, train armies, and engage in large-scale PvP battles. The game also emphasizes alliances, resource management, and military strategy.

5. Lords Mobile

Lords Mobile blends kingdom-building with real-time strategy and RPG elements. Players build their cities, train armies, and battle against other players in a competitive, multiplayer environment. The game features a similar focus on alliances and tactical combat as Evony.