Think Pikmin/Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing, combined with good ol’ fashioned world domination & imperialism. Also, you can bumign various jobs to your citizens that will help you to treasure hunt & fight, ultimately bulding new stuff and expanding your kingdom.

To steal a quote from IGN, ”What a devious game. On the surface, a title with a severe attack of the cutes, full of colour and glitter and sparkle and princesses and killer frogs. No. Not at all. This is a game of global conquest, genocide, religion and urban expansion that is shockingly deep and subtly bleak. And it sneaks up on you with all of these themes, waving flowers in your face, all the while silently twisting a knife into your side. Make no mistake: Little King’s Story is anything but little. Don’t ignore this one.”

This game is pretty freaking big, I just beat the 2nd major boss out of 7 (that I’m aware of, and not counting the crapton of unique guardians you fight to expand), and I’m about 10 hours in. There’s quests, collectibles, equippable items, unlockable character clbumes, selectable difficulty levels, and plenty of clbumical music that fits alarmingly well. The game has a wonderful sense of charm to it, and is full of nice small touches, like your entire kingdom throwing a festival whenever you beat a major boss. Also you can have multiple wives Log in to see images!

It’s currently selling terribly here in AU/EU, and comes out in the US next month. If this becomes the next Psychonauts, I think a large part of me will die in frustration with people. Seriously, this is GOTY material imo.

Here’s one of the early (and easier) guardian bosses of the game