The King is Watching features several Kings, each with their watchful eyes set on the kingdom’s tiles to manage growth, production, and recruitment. As you progress through the game, you’ll have the option to unlock new kings, each with their unique abilities, challenges to complete, and bonuses to claim.
Here is how you can unlock each King in The King is Watching and what their abilities and bonuses are.
How To Unlock Each King in The King Is Watching
You will start with King Baldwin as the first King, and can unlock the following six Kings using Town Denarii and Ascension Crystals.
| King | King Portrait | Town Denarii Required | Ascension Crystals Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| King Leonid |  | 10 | 1 |
| King Brezhnius |  | 20 | 1 |
| King Leo the Wise |  | 25 | 1 |
| King Saladin |  | 30 | 1 |
| King Spellus |  | 40 | 1 |
| King Alucard |  | 50 | 1 |
You earn Town Denarii by defeating enemy waves and bosses during a run, while Ascension Crystals can be claimed each time you beat a new Threat Level or complete certain challenges.
Each King’s Abilities in The King is Watching
Each King has three unique active abilities that you unlock by completing their challenges, which are generally beating multiple bosses during a run. Here are all the active abilities of each King in the game:
| King | King Portrait | Ability 1 | Ability 2 | Ability 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Baldwin |  | Raise Militia: Summon three peasants. Cooldown: 100 Seconds Cost: 30 Water | Boost Production: Increase all buildings’ production by 40% for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 250 Seconds Cost: 30 Gold | Request Tribute: Get 90 resources of your choice. Cooldown: 250 Seconds Cost: 30 Gold |
| King Leonid | | Boost Unit HP: Adds 100 HP to each player unit on the battlefield. Cooldown: 180 Seconds Cost: 10 Meat | Unlimited Gaze: All buildings work for 10 seconds regardless of their current gaze position. Cooldown: 200 Seconds Cost: 15 Wine | Unlimited Wrath: Gives Wrath to all player units for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 200 Seconds Cost: 10 Wine |
| King Brezhnius | | Heal: Heal 3 random damaged units for 500 HP. Cooldown: 150 Seconds Cost: 10 Water | Aggro: Aggro all enemies on units in a selected area. Cooldown: 120 Seconds | Persuasion: Selected friendly units explode upon death, damage scales according to how long the unit has been carrying a charge, max 2 units per cast. Cooldown: 50 Seconds Cost: 20 Crystals |
| King Leo the Wise | | Blueprint Sacrifice: Turn selected blueprint into 1 permanent morale (+1 morale per upgrade) and a choice of 40 resources (+10 resources per upgrade) Cooldown: 1 Second | Extra Draft: Summon a unit to fight for you (unit type is upgraded) Cooldown: 150 Seconds | Refinement: Improves the first 2 abilities Blueprint. Blueprint Sacrifice provides more morale and resources, while Extra Draft provides better units. Cooldown: 30 Seconds Cost: 100 Wheat and 100 Wood |
| King Saladin | | Blueprint: Get a random blueprint. Cooldown: 150 Seconds Cost: 30 Water | Summon Standard Unit: Summon a random standard unit (within unit limit) Cooldown: 80 Seconds Cost: 15 Wheat | Summon Strong Unit: Summon a random strong unit (within unit limit) Cooldown: 120 Seconds Cost: 5 Meat |
| King Spellus | | Conjure Simple Spell: Get a random simple spell. Cooldown: 150 Seconds Cost: 25 Water | Conjure Powerful Spell: Get a random powerful spell. Cooldown: 170 Seconds Cost: 20 Fuel | Self-Improvement: Generate 1 more crystal over time. Cooldown: 120 Seconds Cost: 50 Gold |
| King Alucard | | Second Life: Resurrect up to 2 dead bodies (+1 per upgrade) in an area to fight for you, convert un-raised bodies to 2 wine (+1 per upgrade) Cooldown: 120 Seconds Cost: 25 Water | A Better You: Upgrade up to 2 friendly undead units in an area to the next level (up to ability level) Cooldown: 150 Seconds Cost: 30 Flour | Forbidden Techniques: Improves the first 2 abilities. Second Life allowed you to raise more units, while Better You allows you to upgrade units even further. Cooldown: 280 Seconds Cost: 100 Gold |
Make sure to claim the ability in the challenges building from the main menu.
How To Unlock Passive Abilities in The King Is Watching
Similarly, each King has three passive abilities as well, which provide different bonuses throughout your run.
Unlocking these is pretty straightforward.
- Head over to the upgrades building and select the green skill tree.
- Right above the eye is the King’s Quest upgrade path. There are three levels for it, and purchasing each will unlock passive abilities for all kings.
- So if you buy the first King’s Quest upgrade, each King’s first passive ability will be automatically unlocked. You don’t have to buy these for each king individually, and there is no challenge attached to it.
Overall, the active and passive abilities in The King is Watching play a major role in how your selected King influences the progression of your run.
Published: Jul 23, 2025 08:45 am