In Dadi Kingdom, you are the king: every morning someone stands before your throne and you decide whether to release them, fine them or send them to the dungeon, and every sentence comes back to you. Outside the walls, the king fights in person with sword, magic or bow, sends dragons on missions and has to survive the nights. The medieval fantasy action RPG is made by a solo developer, Germany’s Mario Nötzold from Würzburg, in Unreal Engine 5. The free demo is on Steam, Early Access starts on December 7, and the game has text in 13 languages, including Brazilian Portuguese.
The game was part of our Steam Next Fest demos special, and I wanted to know how someone builds a king RPG alone. I talked to Mario by email.
The interview
Who is Mario, and how did Dadi Kingdom start in Würzburg?
“I’m a guy from Würzburg who never stopped wanting to make the kind of game he grew up with. By day I run my own small company, by night I’m a king, at least in Unreal Engine. Dadi Kingdom started as a tiny joke: a mobile game where silly people ask you silly questions. One evening I gave the questioner a throne room, then a castle around it, then a kingdom around the castle. At some point I realized I wasn’t building a mobile game anymore.”
Every morning the king judges someone at the throne. Where did that idea come from, and how do those sentences come back to the player?
“From a simple question: what would a king actually do all day? Not just sit there. He’d listen to his people, decide their fate, and then ride out (well, walk out, there’s no riding) and deal with the mess himself. Your verdicts change how your people feel about you, and that changes your gold, your taxes and who is willing to help you. And during Early Access the people you judged will start showing up again. The thief you pardoned might save your life in the forest. Or rob you again.”
What is it like building an action RPG alone in Unreal Engine 5? What was the hardest part?
“It’s like being an entire studio that never has meetings. You’re the programmer, the animator, the sound guy, the tester and the marketing department, sometimes in the same hour. The hardest part isn’t any single feature, it’s that everything is connected. Change how long a day lasts, and suddenly the economy breaks, the night events come too early and a dragon returns from a mission before he left. Nobody is there to say “that’s not your fault,” so you fix it and keep going.”
Dragons on missions, surviving the nights, fathering an heir: how do these systems fit together?
“They’re all parts of the same question: can you keep a kingdom alive? During the day you rule: verdicts, gold, decisions. Your dragons are like your most dangerous employees: you send them out on missions and hope they come back with loot instead of bad news. When night falls, the kingdom becomes hostile and you have to defend what you built. And because even a king gets older, you need an heir. Every system feeds into the next one, and that’s what makes a single day in Dadi Kingdom feel like a story.”
Why localize into 13 languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, as a solo developer?
“Because a game about judging people lives from its words. If you don’t understand why a farmer is begging for mercy, the whole decision means nothing. I’d rather spend my nights on translations than have players miss the jokes and the drama. And Brazil was an easy choice: Brazilian players are some of the most passionate gamers in the world, and they deserve to play in their own language.”
What should players expect from Early Access on December 7, and what comes after?
“A complete, playable story with the full main quest line, not a tech demo. After that the kingdom keeps growing: more quests, more consequences for your verdicts, more mini games and a lot of polish based on what players tell me. I’m one person, so the community is basically my second developer. The more feedback I get, the better the game becomes.”
Anything you would like to say to Brazilian players?
“Obrigado! Try the free demo, judge a few people, and tell me honestly what you think, good or bad. I read everything. And if enough of you play, maybe the next creator who sits on the throne of Dadi Kingdom will be Brazilian.”
Where to buy
Source: SavePoint email interview with Mario Nötzold (Dadi Entertainment).
Max Xavier
