Flat Kingdom Paper’s Cut Edition

Ratalaika Games have been busy publishing a lot of indie games recently. They are back now with a game that is finally coming to consoles after it has been available for around six years on the PC platform Steam. Flat Kingdom Paper’s Cut Edition is being released on all the major consoles so gamers can get to experience the 2D game that was well received by the PC gamers. So let us look below to see what this title can offer in the current gaming world.

Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Flat Panda Games
Release Date: 1 April 2022

Thanks to the publisher for the review code.

Flat Kingdom is a cute, 2D action platformer that has clearly been inspired by Nintendo’s Paper Mario. The story is that a thief has kidnapped the princess and stolen a gem that is threatening to bring the world to 3D. You play as the hero, Flat, who is has been tasked by King Square to save the princess and to stop the thief that is threaten the way of life. Flat can change shapes between a square, circle or triangle when needed so obstacles and foes can be overcome easily.

The levels are all designed as 2D with bright colours and cute backdrops and to progress through them you must use Flat’s abilities. Choosing the shape needed depends on what you need to do. An example is if you need to destroy an unsteady platform beneath you, then if you double jump as a circle and change to a square when you land, you will perform a ground attack and achieve your desired action.

Flat’s abilities get unlocked as you progress through the game and then in Metrodvania style these allow you to access areas unreachable before. Having this kind of system does offer replayability value as the purists will want to access every part of the game to give them satisfaction. The combat has a simple feel to it and it feels like a game of rock, paper, scissors with square beats triangle, circle beats square and triangle beats circle. It does get kinda boring as there is no real skill required to defeat enemies, but it is still fun to play.

Level design is great and each level features lots of puzzles and other challenges. Environments also vary with water-based levels, forests and volcano areas which all look great visually. The game does have some tricky parts to figure out, so if on first impressions you think it will be easy to complete then this thinking will soon trip you up.

Boss battles are also difficult and you will face all sorts of spiders and plant monsters to name but a few. Each has their own abilities which allows them to attack you and you need to evade to avoid getting killed. Each enemy has a weak point so finding this is key to turn the fight to your advantage. The music is by Manami Matsumae of Shovel Knight and Megaman fame, so you know the soundtrack is going to be great.

Final Thoughts

Flat Kingdom is a fun platform game that brings a 2D experience to console gamers. The graphics are nice, music is good and there is some replayability value. Yes, it got a few issues like combat is simple and at times boring, but this not not a major game breaker. Fun little game for quick play.