Rock Paper Kingdoms

Review by eFreeware

The hook in Rock Paper Kingdoms is the choice that lands after every wave: three cards, one pick. That small ritual sits on top of a castle defense game from TapHub Games, and it is the reason the runs are meant to feel different from each other rather than like the same gauntlet repeated. You summon warriors, archers, tanks and mages, hold a line against waves of attackers, and decide what your army becomes as you go.

It is a free strategy title with ads and in-app purchases, rated for Everyone, and it has drawn over 10,000 installs with a 4.4 average from 585 ratings. Those numbers point to a game that a modest but engaged audience has taken to, which fits the genre: wave defense with roguelike upgrades rewards the players who keep coming back to try a different build.

I would point this at two sorts of players. The first is someone who likes tower defense but wants a decision between fights rather than only during them. The second is someone who enjoys roguelike upgrade drafts and does not mind that the fighting itself largely runs on its own. If you want direct, moment-to-moment control of every unit, the design here leans the other way.

Three cards, one pick, a different run each time

The Choose-3 system is the spine of the game. After each wave you are shown three options and take one, and those options either strengthen units you already have or bring new ones into the fight. It is a familiar rhythm from roguelike deckbuilders, applied to an army instead of a hand of cards, and it means your lineup is something you assemble rather than something you select once at the start.

What gives that choice weight is how the units combine. The developer describes the scaling as multiplicative, so boosts do not simply add up; they multiply through the pieces of your army, and certain combinations produce effects that a single strong unit could not. That is the part I find most interesting, because it turns a simple pick into a question about what the rest of your roster can do with it.

The practical effect is that a run is a chain of small commitments. Take a card that lifts your archers and you have nudged your strategy in one direction; take a card that adds a mage and you have opened another. Because the choices come after every wave, the game keeps asking you to reconsider rather than settle. It is a light system to read and a heavier one to play well.

Summoning a line and letting it fight

Around that upgrade loop sits the defense itself. You choose starting units, summon more as the battle develops, and try to stop the attackers before they reach your castle. The roster spreads across roles, with warriors and tanks holding ground while archers and mages deal damage from behind, and the developer promises more of these as you progress.

The controls are described as simple, and the battles run automatically once your units are on the field. That combination is what makes the game approachable: you are not asked to micromanage positioning in the middle of a wave, so the thinking happens in the choices around the fight rather than in constant tapping. The developer frames the balance as easy to pick up and hard to master, and the multiplicative scaling is the reason that claim has something behind it.

This is also where the game asks the most of you over time. Because the fighting resolves on its own, a weak build shows itself in the result rather than in a mistake you can correct mid-wave. The upside is that a run stays readable even when the screen is busy. The trade-off is that your influence is concentrated in the moments between waves.

Permanent upgrades and a deck you shape

Between battles the game opens up a second layer. Progress carries over through permanent upgrades, and the deck you customize decides what later runs can offer. This is the part that gives the game a longer arc than a single session: a run can end, but the progress you made in the meta layer does not.

That structure is common in roguelikes, and it does two things at once. It softens the sting of a failed run, since time spent still moves something forward, and it gradually widens the range of builds available to you. The deck element in particular suggests that what you bring into a run is itself a decision, not just what you pick up along the way.

The most recent update, v0.4.0, shows where the developer is putting effort. The campaign now runs to Stage 100 with unique content along the way, which is a substantial runway for a game that also offers an endless mode. New cards were added, including Machine Gun, Flame Thrower, Deconstruct, Soul Sacrifice, Death Tower, Blaster, Satellite, Dark Matter and Black Hole, and the Shuriken Tower card was reworked. Rerolls were also expanded, so you can reroll up to five times when choosing cards, runes and mystery cards.

Endless mode, rerolls and the long game

Endless mode is the other half of the content, and the developer has deliberately made it harder in this version, describing it as a test of your strategy. That is an interesting choice for a game that already asks you to build carefully, because it suggests the mode is meant for players who have internalized the upgrade system rather than for a first run. If you enjoy pushing a build until it breaks, that is the place to do it.

The expanded rerolls matter more than they might sound. Being able to reroll up to five times across card, rune and mystery card selection gives you some control over the randomness that drives the whole loop. It does not remove the luck, but it lets you nudge a run toward the synergies you are chasing instead of accepting whatever appears.

Between the campaign length, the endless mode and the meta progression, there is a clear structure here for players who like to keep a game going across many short sessions. The developer is also still adding to it, which is worth noting for a title that released in January 2026 and was updated in October of the same year.

Who this fits, and how it pays for itself

Rock Paper Kingdoms is free to install and supported by ads and in-app purchases. I would keep that in mind when deciding whether the loop is for you, because the game is built around repeat runs. The rating of 4.4 from 585 ratings suggests the audience has not found that arrangement unreasonable.

The players most likely to settle in are those who enjoy drafting upgrades and watching a plan come together over several waves. If you like the idea of choosing between three cards and living with the consequences, the structure here is built for that. If you prefer to be in direct control of every unit during a fight, the auto-battle approach will feel like it is holding you at arm's length.

It is also a game that rewards patience with its own systems. The synergies take a while to learn, and the meta layer only becomes meaningful once you have played enough runs to care about what carries forward. That is not a flaw so much as the shape of the genre, and it is worth knowing before you start.

A wave defender for players who like to draft

My read is that Rock Paper Kingdoms knows what it is and does it without much fuss. The choose-three upgrade cards give each run a shape of its own, the multiplicative scaling gives those choices real consequences, and the meta progression gives you a reason to start another run after a loss. It is a modest, focused take on the wave defense formula rather than a sprawling one.

The version 0.4.0 update is a good sign for anyone weighing whether to commit. A campaign that reaches Stage 100, a batch of new cards, extra rerolls and a harder endless mode all point to a game that is being built out rather than left as it launched. For a free title with a 4.4 average, that is a reasonable place to be.

If you enjoy roguelike upgrade drafts and tower defense, this is worth installing and playing for a few runs to see whether the loop grabs you. If you need hands-on control of the battle itself, the auto-battling design will likely leave you wanting more involvement than the game offers.

What's new in version 0.4.0

What's New in v0.4.0 - Expanded campaign: Unique content now runs all the way to Stage 100! - New cards: Machine Gun, Flame Thrower, Deconstruct, Soul Sacrifice, Death Tower, Blaster, Satellite, Dark Matter and Black Hole. - Reworked card: Shuriken Tower has been redesigned. - More rerolls: Reroll up to 5 times on Card, Rune and Mystery Card selection. - Tougher Endless Mode: Endless Mode is now much more challenging. Put your strategy to the test!