King of Progress

Levels. Lab Rats level up whenever an adjacent plot does, a level-3 Concabulator levels every plot, and Overhaul trades a plot for more level-ups each time it is used.

Unlock: Level up 299 plots
Base card: Mothership
Other 8 cards: 3 troops, 2 buildings, 1 tower, 1 tome, 1 enchantment
1.0 decrees: Jumpstart, Repurpose

High-difficulty build

Executioner plan (Vao): look for an Executioner and an Overhaul in the opening hand. Use Concabulator and Overhaul for early base levels, then overhaul every spare card each year. Futurism lets troops level to 99, and Vao’s Executioner can carry the run by years 8 to 10.
Recycler plan (Aevean): the Recycler gives adjacent plots +2% damage and HP per level each time a card goes into the pit. Aevean calls its perk very strong and uses Recyclers to scale the Mothership base, which was buffed before 1.0. Trashy adds a Trash card per Recycler placed.
Enemies: for a Defender and Cauldron tank, keep Nothing, Stone and Nature at war when making peace, since their loot supplies the tanks and Cauldrons (3DM, 2025).

Two sources, with different carries. Level-up chains explains Lab Rat, Concabulator and Overhaul.

From Builds for every king, where the player guides behind each plan are listed. Run plan for all kings: How to beat King difficulty.

Deck: 9 cards

The first card is the base. You start a run with the base and 3 random cards from this deck.

Mothership
Base
Flies toward enemies like a unit. Can be controlled on the battlefield.
Executioner
Troop
Ranged fighter. Always targets the enemy with the lowest health.
Defender
Troop
Tank warrior that doesn't attack but reflects all taken damage.
Lab Rat
Troop
Disposable melee pawn. Levels up whenever adjacent plots level up, with no max level.
Concabulator
Building
When this building reaches max level, it levels up all your plots.
Converter
Tower
Turns enemies into rats fighting for you. Rats inherit Converter's stats.
Overhaul
Tome
Destroys target plot to level up 2 random plots. Each use levels one more plot.
Reinforce
Enchantment
Troop gains 2% HP per second during battle. Heals beyond max HP.
Recycler
Building
Every time you throw a card into the pit, adjacent plots get +2% damage and HP per level.

Royal decrees

Decree	Effect	Limit
Futurism	All troops can now level up to level 99.	Once per run
Gentrify	All currently active plots gain 1 level.	Repeatable without limit
Jumpstart 1.0	Replaces your hand with 3 Overhauls and 3 Broken Cabulators.	Repeatable without limit
Junkyard	Adds 9 random trash cards to your hand.	Repeatable without limit
Proliferation	Converter now summons 1 more Rat per conversion.	Up to 3 times
Rambo	Executioners now shoot 1 more enemy at once.	Repeatable without limit
Repurpose 1.0	Trash cards thrown into the pit trigger any pit effects 1 more time.	Up to 3 times
Splicing	Doubles the level of all active Lab Rats.	Up to 2 times
Ultragravity	Doubles the attack range of your Mothership.	Up to 3 times

Perks

Perk	Effect per rank	Ranks
Admiral	Mothership's movement and attack speed are increased by 10%.	3
Armored	Defenders start with extra HP.	3
Innovator	Start with +1 Concabulator card in hand.	2
Mad	Converters start with extra attack speed.	3
Opportunist	Gives you +5 gold for each level up.	3
Progressive	All Progress cards can level up extra times.	3
Ranger	Executioners start with extra damage.	3
Scientific	Lab Rats start with extra levels.	3
Trashy	Whenever a Recycler is placed on a plot, adds +1 Trash card to your hand	3

Perk slots and ranks open with king levels. How perks and king levels work.

Guides for this king

Level-up chains: Lab Rat, Concabulator and Overhaul in detail
How to beat King difficulty: perk board, year-5 decree, enemy re-rolls and the year-33 battle
Unlocking kings: every unlock counter and how it accumulates
Royal Council decrees: how the decree offer is built and which pools it draws from

Card, decree and perk lists: game data for version 1.0, imported 2026-11-13.