Three Kingdoms Born

Three Kingdoms Born is a character-driven strategy game set during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The player chooses a ruler, leads a faction, recruits historical officers, develops cities and pursues goals through diplomacy and war. Territory can be entrusted to legion commanders, and the player can rise in rank, found a state and proclaim themselves Emperor. Each officer has abilities, unit aptitudes, traits, a personality and signature skills. Officers gain experience from battles, duels and duties, lose Martial and Leadership ability as they age, and may leave a faction if their loyalty falls too low. Captured officers are won over by choosing a persuasion method, such as appeals to cause, goodwill, wealth, personal ties or intimidation, with results affected by the envoy sent.

Battles are fought in real time. Before a fight, the player assigns officers, a formation, an operation and a strategist at a war council. During combat the player does not control individual soldiers, but can commit reserves, change positions, switch operations or use stratagems such as fire attacks, flood attacks, ambushes, false reports and provocation. Terrain, weather, 11 unit aptitudes, officer ability, fatigue, morale, Hero Skills and strategist abilities all influence the outcome, and duels between generals can alter a battle. Cities have a limited number of facility slots, and players can train troops, develop regional units and complete Military Reforms that upgrade a unit type across the whole faction. Diplomacy works as a negotiation with rival rulers, with options including gifts, non-aggression pacts, alliances, joint attacks, reinforcement requests, threats and surrender. Near-miss proposals may bring counter-demands for gold, provisions or other concessions. Spies can carry out incitement, sabotage and sow discord, and a Black Market offers rare treasures whose effects may not be fully revealed at first.

AI-controlled rulers develop cities, seek talent, gather armies and attack where they find weakness, and each has its own level of aggression and decision-making tendencies. Nearby cities may send reinforcements, and weaker factions may cooperate against a stronger one. A monthly report summarises key events. The Guandu, Red Cliffs and Anti-Hegemon Coalition wars depend on the balance of power in each campaign. A separate roguelike Duel Mode has the player take one warrior against increasingly strong opponents, with Duel rankings and Unification records for comparing results. An Officer Editor allows players to create their own officers and start as a new ruler. The game is in Early Access, with unique storylines currently available for Sun Ce, Ma Teng and Liu Zhang, and more rulers, stories and scenarios planned. It is developed by a single person and supports English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Japanese.