Four Princesses of King Zentibold

Four Princesses of King Zentibold (labeled under the name Battle Rush Tactics on certain websites) is a real-time RPG puzzle game developed by Black Square. In this game you command an army of various types of heroes to fight against legions of monsters in order to help a lonely king find a queen.

Controls[]

Mouse: Add/remove troops on the battlefield, destroy battlefield hazards and certain types of enemies

Plot[]

A lonely ruler named King Zentibold desperately wants to find love, so he consults a catalog of princesses to look for a worthy mate. He turns to the Most Beautiful Princesses section and finds that the #1 most beautiful princess is the Necromancer Princess, who lives in a crypt in the Undead Kingdom. Eager to begin his quest for love, Zentibold rounds up his Warriors, Archers, and Mages, and has them do some practice drills in the courtyard before sending them out into the Undead Kingdom to battle the Necromancers and their undead minions while making their way to the Necromancer Princess. Along the way, the party runs into an old church and Zentibold decides to investigate. Inside he finds a group of Paladins being attacked by skeletons. Without missing a beat, Zentibold and his men charge in and wipe out the skeletons. Grateful for the assistance, the Paladins swear their loyalty to Zentibold and join his quest. Later, inside the crypt, Zentibold's party is jumped by Necromancers, and the noble men are surrounded by skeletons. Just when all seems lost, though, a squad of Knights rushes in and takes down the skeletons from behind. Afterwards, the Knights join Zentibold's party. Finally, Zentibold reaches the Necromancer Princess's throneroom. He enters the room, wine and roses in hand, only to find that the Necromancer Princess isn't alive; in fact, she's nothing more than a decomposed skeleton in a dress. Frustrated, Zentibold and his men return to his castle.

Still longing for a soulmate, Zentibold consults his princess catalog again and turns to the Most Clever Princesses section. There he finds that the most intelligent princess in the land is the Elf Princess, so he rallies his men to venture into the wooded area that makes up the Elf Kingdom. As they trek through the forest, Zentibold and his men encounter some strange creatures, including Frogmen and Golems, that the Elves created with their magic. They then encounter a village inhabited by Engineers who happen to despise the Frogmen. After witnessing the Engineers fighting against the hostile creatures, Zentibold realizes he could turn the Engineers into allies, so he jumps in to help them defeat the Frogmen, after which the Engineers graciously accept Zentibold's offer for alliance. Zentibold's army journeys deeper into the woods, fighting through the Elves and more of their monsters, but wind up getting lost in a swamp. Luckily, some Spies come to Zentibold's aid; they give him a map leading straight to the Elf Princess's castle and join his army. Thanks to their help, Zentibold finds the castle but discovers that it's being guarded by a gigantic Ancient Golem. After a tough battle, Zentibold's men destroy the Ancient Golem, allowing the king to enter the castle to win over the Elf Princess. Inside the castle, Zentibold discovers that while the Elf Princess is indeed very intelligent, she's not particularly pretty. Zentibold decides to return home.

Zentibold once again looks into his princess catalog, this time checking the Most Rich Princesses section. It is written that the richest princess in the land is the Orc Princess, ruler of the Nomadic Tribe that wanders around the barren wasteland that is the Orc Kingdom. Zentibold takes his men out to battle for a third time, bringing them to the Orc Kingdom to plow through the Orcs, along with the Goblins and Boarmen that work for them. As the party travels across the desert plains, they come across a library that is being raided by Goblins. Zentibold chases the Goblins away and helps the Librarians pick up their books. To his surprise, the Librarians start using their books to cast spells to crush the few remaining Goblins with random items. Impressed by their magic prowess, Zentibold offers to let the Librarians join his cause, and they accept. Later, Zentibold visits a Shaman village and asks the Shamans there to pinpoint where he can find the princess he's looking for. After the Shamans give Zentibold the information he wants, he pays them with gold and asks them to join his army as well. The party then reaches the Orc Village where the Orc Princess lives. As usual, Zentibold strides in fully intent on wooing the princess of his dreams, but he is horrified to find that the Orc Princess, being an Orc, isn't pretty at all. Zentibold storms off to head home, but the Orc Princess has fallen madly in love with him and summons her own army to bring Zentibold to her. After a grueling battle, Zentibold's men manage to defeat the Orc Princess's army and escort their king to safety, leaving the princess heartbroken.

Having failed to find a suitable queen three times, Zentibold is ready to give up and throws his princess catalog into the fireplace. However, he notices that one page in the catalog isn't burning; he pulls it out and sees that it's a manuscript that tells of a demon princess called the Succubus, who lives in a volcanic hellscape rife with evil magic. Seeing this beautiful creature reinvigorates Zentibold, and he rounds up all his men for one more adventure, much to their dismay. They venture into the Demon Kingdom and fight their way through hordes of demons which are evil reincarnations of some of Zentibold's men that died in battle. Eventually, Zentibold's party reaches the Succubus, but she refuses to come home with Zentibold until he proves his worth by slaying an enormous demon monster. After perhaps the most strenuous battle he's ever faced, Zentibold eventually takes the demon down and finally wins the Succubus over.

Gameplay[]

The game contains four kingdoms which act as the game's worlds; each one has seven levels, and they are played in absolute linear fashion. These levels can't be revisited after you complete them. In each level, the goal is to survive waves of incoming enemies and use various types of heroes to defeat the required number of enemies to win. The left side of the screen features a grid where the heroes assemble, and the right side features several lanes which enemies walk down to get to your heroes. If an enemy reaches the end of its lane, it'll use an attack; most enemies' attacks deal damage and drain your health, but a few of them perform other actions that aren't as lethal but can be irritating (stunning your heroes, creating obstacles, etc.). Each type of hero in your arsenal is distinguished by a specific color; to make your heroes attack enemies, you have to use the arrow buttons on the grid to rearrange the heroes to create groups of three or more heroes of the same color in either a vertical or horizontal line. Clicking on the left-facing arrows removes heroes from the field and places them in a backup reserve which can store up to five heroes. Clicking on the right-facing arrows puts heroes back onto the field as long as there are heroes in your reserve. Every once in a while, reinforcements will arrive, bringing more heroes to your grid so you never run out of heroes. However, you need to be careful not to let the grid fill up with too many heroes or else you won't be able to make any matches and lose the level. Some heroes use different attacks depending on how you match them, but others don't. If you make a group of five or more heroes of any color, though, every enemy onscreen will take massive damage, instantly killing norrmal enemies and heavily damaging bosses. If you defeat the required number of enemies in a level (or defeat the boss, when playing a boss level), you win. If all your health is depleted from enemies' attacks, you lose.

Regardless of whether you win or lose, you'll gain XP afterwards; gain enough XP and you level up, which increases your max health capacity and gives you three points to spend on upgrading your heroes. The interface for upgrading heroes can be found in the Campsite, a section of the game where you can view information about the heroes you've unlocked so far as well as all of the enemy types you've encountered. Additionally, there's also a screen where you can choose which types of heroes to bring with you into battle, as you can only bring five types of heroes into a level.

Worlds[]

Undead Kingdom: A haunted land under the control of the Necromancers, along with their undead minions and cult worshippers. The enemies here are relatively weak and use simple attacks.
Elf Kingdom: An enchanted forest protected by various types of Elf warriors, as well as magical creatures including Frogmen and Golems. This area features stronger enemies, some of which have annoying abilities that can hamper your units.
Orc Kingdom: A desolate desert inhabited by vicious Goblin, Boar, and Orc warriors. The enemies in this area use powerful attacks that make them dangerous if left unchecked.
Demon Kingdom: A molten plain populated with demonic entities. It features very formidable enemies with all manner of lethal attacks and other abilities.

Heroes[]

Warrior (Gray): Melee attacker that charges forward when matched horizontally or vertically, and attacks an enemy on contact. Available from the start of the game.
Archer (Green): Ranged attacker that shoots an arrow when matched horizontally or vertically. Available from the start of the game.
Mage (Purple): Ranged attacker that shoots a magic bolt when matched horizontally or vertically. Available from the start of the game.
Paladin (White): Melee attacker that charges forward when matched horizontally or vertically, and attacks an enemy on contact. Also restores some of your health when matched. Unlocked by completing the third level of the Undead Kingdom.
Knight (Blue): Melee attacker that charges forward when matched horizontally or vertically, and attacks an enemy on contact. Also knocks enemies back when attacking them. Unlocked by completing the sixth level of the Undead Kingdom.
Engineer (Yellow): Ranged attacker that shoots a bullet when matched horizontally, or plants a landmine in his lane when matched vertically. Unlocked by completing the third level of the Elf Kingdom.
Spy (Black): Melee attacker that teleports to a random enemy and attacks it when matched horizontally, or charges forward and attacks every enemy in his way when matched vertically. Unlocked by completing the sixth level of the Elf Kingdom.
Librarian (Red): Magic attacker that freezes all enemies onscreen when matched horizontally, or deals light damage to all enemies onscreen when matched vertically. Unlocked by completing the third level of the Orc Kingdom.
Shaman (Orange): Ranged attacker that strikes all enemies onscreen with a lightning bolt when matched horizontally, or shoots a lightning ball that damages every enemy in its way when matched vertically. Unlocked by completing the sixth level of the Orc Kingdom.

Enemies[]

Undead Kingdom[]

Bat: A weak but fast flying enemy that uses a melee attack to deal low damage. Takes extra damage from Archers' attacks.
Death Worshipper: A grunt soldier of the Necromancers' Cult of Death. Has average health and uses a weak melee attack with his pitchfork. Takes extra damage from Warriors' attacks.
Dark Priest: A high-ranking official of the Cult of Death. Has higher health and uses a stronger melee attack with his club. Takes extra damage from Warriors' attacks.
Ghost: An evil spirit summoned by the Necromancers. Has low health and deals light damage with a melee attack. Takes extra damage from Mages' attacks.
Skeleton Warrior: A lightly armored skeleton that has high health and does fairly high damage with his sword. Takes extra damage from Mages' attacks.
Skeleton Archer: Has less health than a Skeleton Warrior, but moves faster and can shoot an arrow at your heroes from a distance. Takes extra damage from Paladins' attacks.
Necrobat: A stronger version of a Bat that has slightly higher health and attack power. Takes extra damage from Archers' attacks.
Skeleton Brigand: A more heavily armored skeleton that uses two melee attacks with his sword instead of just one when he reaches your heroes. Takes extra damage from Archers' attacks.
Skeleton Berserker: An elite skeleton warrior that has very high health and uses a powerful melee attack with his axe. Takes extra damage from Mages' attacks.
Necromancer: An evil wizard with the power to control the dead. Instead of attacking your heroes, he uses his necrotic powers to spawn two tombstones in your heroes' grid, making it harder to make matches with your heroes. The tombstones can be removed by clicking on them several times. Takes extra damage from Paladins' attacks.

Elf Kingdom[]

Frog Warrior: A humanoid frog creature created by elf magic. Has high health but does fairly low damage with his sword. Takes extra damage from Knights' attacks.
Frog Sprinter: A smaller Frogman that has low health and uses two weak melee attacks with his daggers but moves very fast. Takes extra damage from Archers' attacks.
Frog Wizard: A Frogman with the power to control stones. Instead of dealing direct damage, he uses his geokinetic powers to make two stones fall from the sky. If they land on a space with a hero in it, the stones can crush and kill the hero; after that, the stones act the same way as the tombstones that the Necromancers create. Takes extra damage from Archers' attacks.
Elf Lancer: A fairly weak elf that uses a melee attack with his double-sided spear, dealing low damage. Takes extra damage from Knights' attacks.
Golem: A creature made of stone which was created by the Frog Wizards. Has very high health and does heavy damage with a melee attack. Takes extra damage from Engineers' attacks.
Greater Golem: A Golem with an improved design. Has less health than a regular Golem but can use a ranged attack by taking off his head and rolling it at your heroes from a distance. Takes extra damage from Engineers' attacks.
Elf Swordsman: A powerful elf with very high health that uses a strong melee attack with his sword. Takes extra damage from Warriors' attacks.
Elf Soldier: A stronger version of an Elf Swordsman that also carries a shield, giving him even more health. Takes extra damage from Knights' attacks.
Elf Archer: Has average health, moves fast, and can shoot an arrow at your heroes from a distance to deal moderate damage. Takes extra damage from Engineers' attacks.
Elf Druid: An elder elf with the power to control nature. Instead of attacking your heroes directly, he uses his powers to entangle four of your heroes in vines, making them unable to do anything. Entangled heroes can be freed from the vines by clicking on them several times. Takes extra damage from Warriors' attacks.
Ancient Golem: The boss of the Elf Kingdom, a gigantic Golem that was created to protect the elves' castle from intruders. He follows a cycle in which he advances towards your heroes, uses a melee attack upon reaching them, jumps into a new lane, makes three stones fall from the sky, and then repeats the cycle.

Orc Kingdom[]

Goblin: A basic goblin grunt with average health and attack power. Uses two melee attacks with his daggers. Takes extra damage from Librarians' attacks.
Goblin Sapper: A goblin with higher health that plants a landmine towards the end of the lane and then flees. The landmine explodes when a hero steps on it, killing the hero. Takes extra damage from Warriors' attacks.
Wild Boar: A humanoid boar creature that has high health and throws two tomahawks at your heroes from a distance, dealing moderate damage. Takes extra damage from Mages' attacks.
Goblin Spy: A goblin that enters your grid of heroes disguised as a hero. The Spy reveals himself when you try to command him to move, and then can be killed by clicking on him enough times.
Battle Boar: An armored Wild Boar with very high health that uses a powerful melee attack with his axe. Takes extra damage from Mages' attacks.
Boar Shaman: A Wild Boar with the same stone-summoning ability as the Frog Wizard. He makes three stones fall from the sky instead of two. Takes extra damage from Paladins' attacks.
Orc Berserker: A basic Orc soldier with high health that uses a strong melee attack with his club. Takes extra damage from Paladins' attacks.
Orc Warrior: An armored Orc with very high health that uses an even stronger melee attack with his cleaver. Takes extra damage from Warriors' attacks.
Orc Veteran: An elite Orc fighter with extremely high health that uses two strong melee attacks with his cleavers. Takes extra damage from Librarians' attacks.
Orc Bodyguard: Only seen during the Orc Princess's battle, this Orc stands in one spot and has extremely high health.
Orc Princess: The boss of the Orc Kingdom, she hides behind a wall of Orc Bodyguards (there's one Orc Bodyguard in each lane during this battle), moving between the lanes and sometimes summoning enemies - usually various types of Goblins and Orcs.

Demon Kingdom[]

Yohudha Demon: A fallen Warrior reincarnated as an evil demon. Has high health and uses a very strong melee attack with his mace. Takes extra damage from Mages' attacks.
Arkara Demon: A fallen Archer reincarnated as an evil demon. Has high health and shoots an arrow at your heroes from a distance, dealing heavy damage. Takes extra damage from Warriors' attacks.
Jadugar Demon: A fallen Mage reincarnated as an evil demon. Has average health and uses the same stone-summoning ability as the Frog Wizard and Boar Shaman. He makes three stones fall from the sky. Takes extra damage from Archers' attacks.
Abhanta Demon: A fallen Engineer reincarnated as an evil demon. Has high health and uses two attacks when he reaches your heroes - first he shoots a bullet at your heroes from a distance, dealing fairly high damage, and then plants a landmine in his lane and flees. Takes extra damage from Knights' attacks.
Shoovir Demon: A fallen Knight reincarnated as an evil demon. Moves fast, has high health, and uses two melee attacks with his axes. Takes extra damage from Librarians' attacks.
Labredian Demon: A fallen Librarian reincarnated as an evil demon. Has average health and uses ice magic to freeze three of your heroes instead of dealing damage. Frozen heroes can be thawed out by clicking on them several times. Takes extra damage from Knights' attacks.
Rashpad Demon: A fallen Paladin reincarnated as an evil demon. Has low health but deals very high damage with his scythe. Takes extra damage from Shamans' attacks.
Diadkeh Demon: A fallen Shaman reincarnated as an evil demon. Has fairly high health and uses his voodoo powers to turn four of your heroes into demons instead of dealing damage. These corrupted heroes have to be killed by clicking on them several times. Takes extra damage from Paladins' attacks.
Jasus Demon: A fallen Spy reincarnated as an evil demon. Has very high health and performs two very strong melee attacks. Takes extra damage from Mages' attacks.
Succubus: Technically the boss of the Demon Kingdom (and the final boss of the game), but she doesn't fight you directly. Instead, she summons a gigantic monster demon that you are forced to fight. For the most part, this demon doesn't attack directly but sometimes summons enemies to attack you (usually Shoovirs, Rashpads, and Jasuses). To attack the demon boss, you have to attack his two hands which are his weak points. Each of the hands has its own individual health bar; drain them both to zero and the demon will lose his balance and fall a little further off the cliff he's hanging onto. Do this enough times and the demon will fall off entirely and die. However, the hands' health bars slowly fill up over time; if both hands' health bars fill up all the way, the demon will climb a little further up the cliff. If he climbs up far enough, he'll fire a huge laser from his mouth that will instantly bring your health to zero and end the game no matter how much health you have left.

Errors[]

Some parts of the game call the Mage units "Wizards".