My Life as a King is the third game in the Chronicles series, following Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube. Whereas in that game, the player struggled to rid the globe of the deadly vapor that blanketed it, in this game, a land previously lost to the gas has been reclaimed and is ready for reconstruction. Your mission is to use the magical power of Architek to create a flourishing kingdom while also discovering what happened to the last king: your father.
Rather than controlling an adventurer or group of adventurers like in most Final Fantasy games, you only have indirect influence over such people in My Life as a King. As king, you can recruit adventurers who can then opt to go on behests. Behests are simply missions with monetary rewards. Every day, some adventurers will assemble around the behest boards to await the king’s decision on whether or not to attempt it. These missions will bring the necessary funds, elements, and knowledge of new regions and building types.
The monarch uses his architectural power and a limited element supply to construct the settlement. Some will house people and provide adventurers and money through tithing. Others will be shops where adventurers can make purchases and where the king can fund the development of new products. Some will be schools where adventurers can acquire magic or skills, and the king can support innovations. Non-adventure shops will keep the citizens satisfied.
The game’s action is divided into days. You can read logs of what the adventurers accomplished the previous day, down to specifics of what happened in each turn of the off-screen conflicts they fought, at the start of each day. After that, you are free to travel around the kingdom for the remainder of the day, taking relevant activities such as building, supporting research, approving adventurers for behests, or simply conversing with the townspeople to keep morale up.
