9 Kings 1.0 guide
- Beat King difficulty
- Stack multiplier perks, scale one carry, re-roll the attacker away from area damage and save free re-rolls for the year-5 decree.
- Pick a king and build
- Nothing (Castle with Development Wildcards) and Greed (Mercenaries with Servitude) are the most consistent at King and above.
- Start the battle
- Play or pit cards until two are left; the battle then starts on its own. Year 33 needs an empty hand.
- Unlock the other kings
- Each king has a lifetime goal, such as 999 gold spent for Greed. It unlocks at the end of the run that passes it, won or lost.
- Get more plots
- Expansion towers, Exploration and Wilderness decrees, the Earthworks tome and the Expansionist perk grow the board to 5×5.
- Fill the perk board
- Nine slots; a perk takes one slot per rank. King perks stay on that king, Universal and Rainbow perks are shared.
- Open higher difficulty
- Win on your highest unlocked level; the next opens for every king.
- Play with a friend
- Multiplayer matches come from the ranked ladder with no private lobby; play the same daily challenge to compare runs.
Kings: build core and unlock
Builds for every king
33-year run
Run calendar- 1
- 2
- 3Prophet
- 4
- 5Council
- 6
- 7Merchant
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13Council
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19Merchant
- 20
- 21Council
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29Council
- 30
- 31Merchant
- 32
- 33Final
- Prophet reveals the blessing
- Royal Council
- Merchant
- Final battle
- Also: two Jack of Rainbows attacks, a war and a peace diplomat, and expansion towers, marked on the in-game year track.
Added in 1.0
All 1.0 changes- 9 Rainbow cards
- Reflector, Mantra, Accumulator, Reactor, Factory, Leech, Great Hall, Singularity, Hound
- Universal decrees
- Archaeology, Demolition Crew, Grace, Imports, Minimum Wage, Rapine, Upcycling
- King of Nature
- Blight, Overgrowth
- King of Stone
- Bulldozers, Perforation
- King of Time
- Debris, Power Grid
- King of Greed
- Foreclosure, Golden Hour
- King of Nomads
- Gigasaur, Travel Boots
- King of Nothing
- Men-at-Arms, Nativism
- King of Blood
- Necromancy, Prime Meat
- King of Spells
- Polemology, Purification
Special opponents and the Joker
Jack of Rainbows
Attacks twice per run since Patch #18. Beating it lets you pick a Rainbow card. Rainbow and Chaos cards
Jack of Chaos
Brings 15 Chaos tomes, stronger versions of king tomes such as Chaos Wildcard. Beating it earns the Chaotic Good achievement.
Joker
Unlock all other kings. Custom deck, enemies, events, gold, lives and re-rolls. Joker mode
Guides
All guidesKing difficulty and above
How to beat King difficulty and King IX IX in 9 KingsA run plan for King to King IX IX in 9 Kings 1.0: perk boards, one-carry scaling, which enemy kings to re-roll, the year-5 decree, the year-33 final battle and the usual reasons runs die.
Builds for every king in 9 Kings at King difficulty and aboveOne working high-difficulty build per king in 9 Kings 1.0: the carry card, the perks to stack, the decree to re-roll for, the enemy kings to avoid and how many player guides agree.
Difficulty levels in 9 Kings, Peasant to King IX IXAll 25 difficulty levels in 9 Kings 1.0 in order, how each one unlocks, and the enemy and experience multipliers stored for each level in the game data.
Hardest 9 Kings achievements and how to get themMethods for the rarest 9 Kings achievements: Wall Street, The Spire Slays, King of Kings, Your Grindness, Spoiled, Time Bender, Nobel Prize, Wonderwall, the speedrun and the 1.0 additions.
First runs
First run in 9 KingsHow a year works in 9 Kings 1.0, what each card type does on a plot, how lives and loot work, and the settings and perks to check before your first run.
Run calendar for 9 KingsThe years of a 9 Kings run in which the prophet, Royal Councils, merchants and the final battle happen, plus diplomats, expansion towers, the Jack of Rainbows and Endless mode.
Gold, merchants, re-rolls and the pit in 9 KingsWhere gold comes from in 9 Kings 1.0, what merchant cards and re-rolls cost, how the pit (well) works, and the Greed cards, decrees and perks that change those numbers.
Royal Council and decrees in 9 KingsHow a Royal Council builds its decree offer in 9 Kings 1.0: the four decree pools, pick limits, re-rolls, the perks and decrees that add choices, and decrees that change the next council.
Progression
How to unlock every king in 9 KingsUnlock goals for all nine kings and the Joker in 9 Kings 1.0, from Use 9 spells to Play for 999 years, plus how to unlock Quest mode, multiplayer, daily mayhem and higher difficulties.
Perks and king levels in 9 KingsHow 9 Kings perks unlock with king levels, how the 9-slot perk board and ranks work, when Rainbow perks unlock, and which universal perks change a run most.
Kings and engines
- King of Time: Amplifier, Portal, Regression and RewindHow the King of Time's Amplifier passes buffs to neighbours, which support effects it copies, how Portal time travel replays years, and what Regression, Rewind and the 1.0 decrees Power Grid and Debris do.
King of Nomads: Camp, Migration, Raptors and Dragon DenHow the King of Nomads deck works in 9 Kings 1.0: Camp's trigger on empty plots, Migration and Travel Boots, Raptor and Boar mounts, Mob growth, Dragon Den and the moving base.
Level-up chains: Lab Rat, Concabulator and OverhaulHow King of Progress level-up chains work in 9 Kings 1.0: Lab Rats that level with their neighbours, the level-3 Concabulator, Overhaul scaling, Patronage, X-Ray and Mantra.
Rainbow and Chaos cards: Jack of Rainbows and Jack of ChaosHow to get the 36 Rainbow cards and 15 Chaos cards in 9 Kings 1.0, when the Jack of Rainbows and Jack of Chaos attack, and what each special card does.
Modes and 1.0
What changed in 9 Kings 1.0Everything 9 Kings 1.0 added or changed on 12 November 2026 compared with Early Access 0.9.8 - Joker mode, daily mayhem, 9 Rainbow cards, 27 decrees, perks, blessings, 45 achievements and balance changes.- Joker mode in 9 Kings, the custom deck builderHow to unlock the Joker in 9 Kings 1.0, what you can set in Joker mode (deck, events, enemy kings, gold, lives, re-rolls) and how to use it to test card interactions.
Quest mode in 9 KingsHow Quest mode works in 9 Kings 1.0 - 81 quests in 9 regions, how to unlock it, its Knight, King and Chaos difficulties, quest achievements and the daily mayhem island.
Multiplayer in 9 Kings: seasons, ranks and rulesHow 9 Kings multiplayer works in 1.0: unlock after 3 runs, asynchronous battles against other players' kingdoms, 5 lives, seasonal Rainbow and decree pools, multiplayer perks, ranks and casual mode.