What changed in 9 Kings 1.0

9 Kings left Early Access on 12 November 2026. Version 1.0 adds the Joker custom mode, a daily mayhem challenge, 9 Rainbow cards, 27 decrees, 6 perks, 2 blessings and 45 achievements. The 1.0 notes list only a few balance changes to existing cards; the large deck reworks came in Patches #29 to #31. Start a new run after updating; runs saved before the patch keep old data.

New modes

• Joker. A custom mode unlocked after all nine kings: hand-pick a 9-card deck, disable events, choose the enemy kings and set starting gold, lives and re-rolls. Joker mode.
• Daily mayhem. A Quest mode spin-off with a random deck, decrees and conditions each day. It unlocks after you beat all 81 quests on any difficulty. Quest mode.
• Record system. Each run tracks your best result on 9 end-of-run stats.
• Random king. The die at the right of the king selection screen picks a king for you.

New cards, decrees, perks and blessings

Content	Added in 1.0	Total in 1.0 data
Rainbow cards	Reflector, Reactor, Factory, Leech, Great Hall, Singularity, Accumulator, Mantra, Hound	36 Rainbow cards
Decrees announced as universal	Sectarism, Splurge, Minimum Wage, Demolition Crew, Upcycling, Grace, Rapine, Archaeology, Imports	27 universal, 18 Rainbow, 9 Chaos
King decrees	Two per king, so every king has exactly 9	81
Perks	Prodigious, Entrepreneur, Quick (universal); Vigilant, Vain, Ambitious (multiplayer)	117
Blessings	Cornucopia, Reclamation	9
Achievements	45 new, numbers 55 to 99	99

The release notes announce Sectarism, Splurge, Grace, Rapine, Archaeology and Imports as universal; the 1.0 game data files Sectarism and Splurge under the Rainbow pool. The decree list can filter to the 27 additions.

New king decrees

King	Decrees
Nothing	Men-at-Arms (doubles Soldier units), Nativism (9 gold per King of Nothing card used)
Spells	Purification, Polemology
Greed	Foreclosure, Golden Hour
Blood	Necromancy, Prime Meat
Nature	Blight, Overgrowth
Nomads	Travel Boots, Gigasaur
Stone	Bulldozers, Perforation
Progress	Jumpstart, Repurpose
Time	Power Grid, Debris

Balance changes in 1.0

• Dragon Den and Mangler damage mildly increased; Mangler meat trolls now gain both HP and damage when a unit is mangled.
• CPU King of Blood armies mildly weakened.
• Decree pools are 30% larger. Diversification no longer removes Rainbow cards from Rainbow encounters. Pillage now works with Razing, Offering, Chaos Offering and Chaos Mortgage. Havoc works with Migration.
• Balance works on Warlord; Smith Tower-boosted Scout Towers buff adjacent Blacksmiths; Warpers riding Raptors summon properly.
• Regression can no longer target a level-1 plot. Broken plots are level 1.
• Randomfying your base removes the old base’s decrees from the decree pool.
• Quest changes: Universe 25 starts with a Mantra; Nature Total War has lower enemy scaling.
• Maximum gold and other number caps were raised.

Changes from late Early Access still catching players out

Patch	Change
#29 (July 2026)	Oblation replaced Vampirism in the Blood deck; Recycler replaced Precision in the Progress deck; Reinforce became +2% HP per second in battle; Pagoda ghosts became 9 per level plus every unit destroyed; Mercenary costs 9 gold per unit; Vault levels itself; Trebuchet deals area damage
#30 (September 2026)	Six Rainbow cards added, including Precision back as a Rainbow enchantment (+100% first-hit damage per stack); Trapper traps stun; Poison Vial gives 3 stacks; perk rework
#31 (October 2026)	Multiplayer decree pool rotates each season; Obelisk ray gains area damage; Soldier, Wizard, Elf and Mycelium slightly buffed

Other 1.0 additions

Animated buildings, new effects and sounds, king lore text on the selection screen, 300+ multiplayer vanity items, an option to disable battle effects, a fast UI option, wider controller support and Steam Deck fixes.