Peasant to King launched on itch.io today — free to play in your browser, with a $5 pay-what-you-want suggestion.

You start with a hovel, 4 wheat seeds and 14 gold in a 150×150 realm of twelve walled towns and six kingdoms that declare war and sue for peace on their own. Farm, trade into war-inflated markets, run caravans and river barges, take mercenary work, climb the rank ladder from Peasant to Lord — then claim a throne, or found your own town and declare a seventh kingdom. Death is permanent; only an heir of 12 or older carries your dynasty on.

The launch build is Release 2.7 — Spies & Secrets: hire agents, station them in foreign courts, read a kingdom's real war target before its hosts march, sabotage sieges, and judge the spies your watch catches. The game also carries smithing, a functioning black market, tournaments, four guilds, plague years, and a full dynasty system with marriage, heirs and regencies.

Play it here: https://madmarkiemarc.itch.io/peasant-to-king

— Ironspike Studios

(One honest note, since it's disclosed on the game page too: Peasant to King was built with AI tools, and the page's AI disclosure says so.)