Rise of Kingdoms review

This Rise of Kingdoms review is based on official sources and player reviews, not on our own play time. Lilith Games' real-time war strategy game puts 15 civilizations and historical commanders on one shared world map. It is free on iOS, Android, Lilith's own Windows client and Apple silicon Macs. Money buys Gem packs, commander training and daily packages, the stores flag paid random items, and Lilith publishes odds for armaments only.

What is Rise of Kingdoms?

Rise of Kingdoms is a free-to-play war strategy game from Lilith Games. The store description calls it a mix of MOBA and RTS mechanics with real-time combat: battles happen directly on one large world map, other players can join or leave a fight at any time, and troops can be given new orders mid-march.

You pick one of 15 historical civilizations, each with its own architecture, unique units and advantages, and lead armies with commanders such as Julius Caesar, Sun Tzu and Joan of Arc. Commanders level up in battle and grow through talent trees and skills. Each world is shared by more than 80,000 players, according to the App Store text, and alliances capture passes and territory and fight for control of the kingdom. Lilith cites more than 180 million players worldwide.

The game reached Google Play on May 24, 2018. Version 1.1.12.20, released on the App Store on September 22, 2026, adds a Halloween event series, five commanders in the Season of Conquest tavern and changes to Lost Kingdom seasons.

Is Rise of Kingdoms free to play?

Yes. The App Store and Google Play list Rise of Kingdoms as free, and Lilith's PC client is a free download from the official site. Google Play also labels the game with Contains ads and In-app purchases, at $0.29 to $499.99 per item.

The store descriptions describe the progress you earn in play: troops gather resources such as lumber on the map, scouts explore land hidden under fog, and you investigate temples, caves and barbarian fortresses. Commanders level up by defeating barbarians and fighting battles. Alliances help members, expand territory and unlock group achievements, and the latest update adds individual season rank rewards in the Lost Kingdom.

As of October 30, 2026, the US App Store's top in-app purchases include Daily Limited packs at $0.99, $1.99 and $2.99, a 1050 Gem Pack at $4.99, a 2200 Gem Pack at $9.99 and Legendary Commander Training at $4.99. The official sources checked for this review do not say how many Gems free players can earn.

Is Rise of Kingdoms pay to win? What money buys

Gems are the premium currency. As of October 30, 2026, the US App Store sells Gem packs, Legendary Commander Training, daily limited packs and a Daily Integration Package. App Store update notes from 2026 mention an SVIP Shop, a Finish Now button that spends speedups on troop training, and Gem costs to reset or dismantle Legendary equipment. Apple lists Loot Boxes, and Google Play's rating notes In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items).

Lilith's official probability page covers armaments, gear that adds troop stats. It lists inscription odds, the chance of each attribute bonus (for example 17% for Infantry Attack in a scroll's first slot, worth 1.5% to 3.5% at Legendary quality), Formation Choice Chest odds, and the Armament, Reveal Thyself store event, where an Inscribed Legendary Armament has a 3.381% overall chance. Armaments from the Cultivator of History bundle have fixed inscriptions. The page does not cover other random rewards, such as the tavern or the Wheel of Fortune event named in the latest notes.

Commanders, armaments and troops are what players bring to PvP on the shared map and in Lost Kingdom seasons.

Based on what the official stores sell, we rate it as strongly pay to win; we will check this again when we play it ourselves.

Rise of Kingdoms on PC, Mac and mobile

Rise of Kingdoms has an official Windows version. The official site announces that the game is now available on PC and offers a Windows client download from Lilith, listing no lags or disconnects, chat while you play and high-quality graphics among its points. The game is not sold on Steam or the Epic Games Store.

Google Play also lists Windows as an available device, which means the Android version through Google Play Games on PC.

For Macs, the official site's Mac button leads to the App Store and says you must be using a Mac with an Apple M1 chip. The App Store offers the iPhone and iPad app on Macs with macOS 11.0 or later and an M1 chip or newer, and marks it as designed for iPad. There is no separate Mac client.

On phones and tablets, the game is on the App Store and on Google Play, where its title is Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade, and the official site also links Huawei AppGallery and PlutoMall, Lilith's web store. Lilith lists no console version.

Rise of Kingdoms system requirements

Lilith's site does not publish system requirements for its Windows client, so the figures below come from the stores.

On Apple devices, the App Store version needs iOS or iPadOS 13.0 or later and takes 2.2 GB. On a Mac, it needs macOS 11.0 or later and an Apple M1 chip or later.

If you play the Android version through Google Play Games on PC, Google's minimum is Windows 10 version 2004, an SSD with 10 GB of free space, an Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU or comparable, 8 GB of RAM, four physical CPU cores, hardware virtualization turned on and a Windows admin account. These are requirements for Google's player, not figures Lilith gives for its own client.

The latest update notes add that devices with medium graphics recommendations now show remastered troop models by default, which you can change under Unit Visuals.

Games like Rise of Kingdoms

These free war strategy games from our catalog share Rise of Kingdoms' mix of city building, alliances and PvP:

Lords Mobile: IGG's kingdom-building war strategy game with hero RPG elements, on iOS since 2016 and on Steam since 2019, with an official drop-rate page.

Evony: The King's Return: Top Games' medieval strategy MMO on iOS and Android, with PC play through Google Play Games and a Microsoft Store edition.

Vikings: War of Clans: Plarium's Norse MMO strategy game with town building and clans, on iOS, Android, and Windows and Mac through the Plarium Play launcher.

Forge of Empires: InnoGames' city-building strategy game, which started in browsers in 2012 and takes a city from the Stone Age into future eras.

• Lords Mobile
• Evony: The King's Return
• Vikings: War of Clans
• Forge of Empires