Cookie Run: Kingdom,a popular mobile game by Devsisters, is a charmingly animated kingdom builder and battle RPG that tells the story of GingerBrave, a gingerbread cookie, and his other Cookie friends. GingerBrave and his friends must unearth the tumultous history of the Cookie Kingdom and banish the darkness constantly threatening to infiltrate their home.
With a fun story, gorgeous artwork, wonderful voice acting, and a great balance between rebuilding a kingdom and fighting RPG-style battles, it’s no surprise thatCookie Run: Kingdomhas been a big success and is currently #13 in Role Playing apps on the App Store. Players all over the world are building sweet pastry Kingdoms and vanquishing the hordes of evil cake monsters, but some might not know what is it that makes the game so special.
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The History of Cookie Run
TheCookie RunIP was founded in 2013 by Devsisters, with the first officialCookie Run(known asLINE Cookie Run) game launching in 2014.LINE Cookie Runwas exactly what it sounds like: An endless side-scroller running game where players would navigate obstacles and try to beat their high scores.
After 114 million downloads,LINE Cookie Runwas removed from the App Store and Google Play in 2018, but it was soon replaced by its spiritual successor,Cookie Run: OvenBreak. OvenBreakwas released in 2016 and has the same side-scrolling premise as the original game, but with more Cookie characters and level variety.
There are a couple ofCookie Runspinoffs as well:Cookie WarsandCookie Run: Puzzle World. Cookie Wars,which was a strategy game, was fairly short-lived and only available from 2018-2020.Cookie Run: Puzzle Worldis still available and features the charmingCookie Runaesthetic combined with standard match-three puzzle mechanics.
Based on the history of theCookie RunIP, it’s easy to see whyCookie Run: Kingdomstands out. It’s by far the most ambitiousCookie Rungame yet and completely changed the genre.Cookie Run: Kingdomis not a side-scroller or a puzzle game; it’s a narrative RPG with kingdom building.
There is definitely some strategy involved inCookie Run: Kingdom,so it’s possible that it was partially inspired by theCookie Warsspinoff, but Kingdom took the IP to a whole new level. What has remained consistent, however, is the art style and the mascot ofCookie Run,GingerBrave the gingerbread man.
Cookie Run: Kingdom Features
Cookie Run: Kingdomactually tells a great story. The game starts out strong, introducing the player to a group of heroic Cookies. While learning the basic RPG combat mechanics, players are also introduced to the primary villain, Dark Enchantress Cookie, as she destroys the Cookie Kingdom and displaces the entire Cookie population.
Flashing forward, GingerBrave encounters a small group of Cookies and decides torebuild the long lost Cookie Kingdom. Together, they encounter Legendary Cookies, battle villainous Cookies and cake monster hordes, and build a new empire from the ruins of the Cookie Kingdom. In battle mode, players build a team of five Cookies with various skills and levels. The battle mechanics themselves don’t require much input, with the primary objective being leveling up Cookies and forming a good team.
In kingdom building mode, players are responsible for managing resources, decorating, trading, and collecting rewards. Microtransactions are a big part ofCookie Run: Kingdomboth for resources like crystals, which can be redeemed for a variety of in-game rewards, and thebattle pass sytem, Kingdom Pass. Spending money is never a requirement, though, andCookie Run: Kingdomis constantly dropping codes that can be redeemed for in-game rewards.
New Cookie characters are addedwith updates and, while the cookie premise is cutesy, the story and lore is surprisingly well fleshed-out. The pattern can get a little repetitive, but essentially the player needs to reconstruct the Cookie Kingdom while fending off invasions from Dark Enchantress Cookie and other villains.
The voice acting is phenomenal, too, even featuring Yuri Lowenthal (Marvel’s Spider-Man) as theheroic Pure Vanilla Cookie. The Cookies take themselves very seriously and the story can get very dramatic, which actually creates some pretty comedic moments. For anyone who has a love of RPGs, kingdom building, or pastries in general,Cookie Run: Kingdomis a cute game to check out.
Cookie Run: Kingdomis available now for mobile devices through the App Store, Google Play, and the Galaxy Store.
