Seven Kingdoms II retains some of the aspects of its predecessor especially its economic system. Like Seven Kingdoms, in Seven Kingdoms II, three minerals can be mined: clay, copper, and iron. Unlike other real-time strategy games, it is not as simple as WarCraft or StarCraft where the player simply gathers resources and builds a whole legion. In Seven Kingdoms II, resources are gathered and are sent to the factory where they are processed. After they are processed they are sold at a market. Caravans hired at the market can buy or sell goods markets of other kingdoms.

In Seven Kingdoms II, the people of the kingdom are the most important resource. A kingdom cannot exist without the people. Nearly all of the buildings require people to run them. You can also set the amount of workers in a building. More workers means more production, but less peasants means less food production. For quick money, you can also tax the townspeople. Loyalty, reputation, and diplomacy are unique aspects of Seven Kingdoms II that most if not all other real-time strategy games do not have. If you overtax the people, then their loyalty will decrease. When loyalty is too low, they will rebel against you. If your soldiers have loyalty, they will revolt as well. Reputation is also important. If your reputation is very low, then the loyalty of your units is lower and you would have more difficulty proposing treaties with AI-controlled kingdoms. Reputation can be lowered seriously if you kill civilian units.

The game isn't all economics and diplomacy. There is a lot of combat and espionage. The espionage system is what makes Seven Kingdoms II very interesting. Espionage in Seven Kingdoms II is very innovative. The espionage system is unlike any other strategy games on the market. Ordering your spies to perform certain tasks is very easy, but can have a major outcome. With spies, you can bribe units, assassinate generals, and even create an incident that will cause one kingdom to declare war on another.

The combat system is a simple task of selecting units and ordering them to attack. Unlike other strategy games where you simply build a swarm of units, you are required to recruit units from a town near a fort and train them in a fort where a general is present. The combat level and leadership level steadily increase when in the fort. Some units like Celtic Deruvids or units that have a combat level beyond 200 can perform some magical attacks. The new formation options in Seven Kingdoms II is virtually useless since there is a lack of unit variety. Since all combat is ground combat, Seven Kingdoms II also lacks naval units. The Greater Beings that are summoned in Seven Kingdoms II can perform certain tasks like attacking enemy units, creating tornadoes, creating earthquakes, increasing population, etc. Unlike the predecessor, when the prayer points at the Seat of Power are at maximum, a random blessing can be granted. Random blessings can increase the loyalty of units in your kingdom, give free food or gold, create mines, or increase the combat level of your units. The problem with some Greater Beings is that their abilities may be useless.

Although Seven Kingdoms II may lack some aspects that could have made it better, it is a very innovative and unique strategy game and can get quite addictive. It is simple, yet complex in many ways. Seven Kingdoms II is by far one of the best strategy games on the market and is definitely a game worth buying.

· · · Kane