Kingmakers Secrets Guide: Hidden Locations, Easter Eggs & Developer References
Kingmakers is the kind of game where the developers clearly had fun making it. There are little jokes, hidden interactions, and easter eggs everywhere if you know where to look. Some of these are references to other games by Redemption Road Games, some are time-travel paradox jokes, and at least one is just weird.
Here's everything unusual I've found across the game's maps.
Time travel paradox references
The game's time-travel premise means there are several jokes about paradoxes buried in the environment. In the base camp, check the quartermaster's tent. There's a corkboard with notes pinned to it. One note reads "DO NOT INTERACT WITH YOUR PAST SELF" in all caps. Another says "If you're reading this, the plan worked. Or didn't. One of those."
In Mission 4, after breaking into the fortress library, there's a book on the shelf titled "A Brief History of Things That Haven't Happened Yet." The author name is smudged but looks like it could be your character's name.
The best paradox joke is in Mission 12. After a major story revelation, you can find a gravestone with your character's name on it. The date of death is listed as "???" and the epitaph reads "He died as he lived: confusing historians."
Redemption Road Games developer easter eggs
Redemption Road Games is a small studio and they've tucked references to themselves all over.
In Mission 7, there's a roadside inn called "The Redemption Inn." The innkeeper has dialogue about a group of travelers who passed through "building roads to somewhere that doesn't exist yet." If you stay at the inn, you get a temporary buff called "Developer's Blessing" that gives a tiny damage bonus for one mission. It's a 5% buff. Barely matters. Cute though.
The loading screen tips sometimes cycle through fake player quotes. One reads: "This game changed my life. - Dave from Accounting" which is almost certainly an inside joke about someone at the studio.
In the credits (accessible from the main menu even before finishing the game), there's a section thanking "the medieval reenactment group who let us record their battle cries." The audio design for the soldier shouts is genuinely good so this tracks.
Hidden locations and secret areas
The Time Bubble (Act 1, near base camp)
If you walk to the far southeastern edge of the base camp map, past where the map boundary warning usually appears, there's a small valley that the boundary system misses. Inside is a shimmering bubble effect and a note from what seems to be a previous time traveler. The note reads: "The anchor point is unstable. Don't stay long."
This might be cut content that was left in accidentally. Or it might be teasing something for the full release. Either way, it's there.
Developer Room (Mission 10 area)
In the large battlefield of Mission 10, there's a small cottage on the northern edge of the map. It's locked and requires you to melee the door exactly five times in a row (not four, not six) to open. Inside is a room filled with concept art pinned to the walls, a radio playing an instrumental version of the game's theme, and a developer note that says "We hope you're having fun."
I found this one by accident while trying to break the door down. Kept hitting it and on the fifth hit it just. Opened.
The Black Knight (random encounter, any field mission)
There's a very, very rare random encounter where a knight in completely black armor appears on the edge of a battlefield. He doesn't attack. He just watches the battle and then walks away. If you approach him, he vanishes.
Some players think this is a Monty Python reference. Others think it's connected to the game's time-travel story. I've only seen him twice in 40 hours. No idea what triggers the encounter.
The Cow (multiple missions)
In about half the field missions, there's a cow somewhere on the map. Always just one. It's invincible. You can't kill it. Your bullets pass through it. Medieval soldiers ignore it. It just stands there, mooing occasionally.
If you interact with the cow (walk up and press the interact key), your character says "huh" and you get 1 gold. Just one.
I don't know why. None of us know why. The Discord has a thread called "The Cow" with 400+ messages of people sharing cow sightings. The developers have never acknowledged it.
Historical references
Since the game is set during the Welsh rebellion period, there are nods to actual history.
Owain Glyndwr, the historical figure leading the rebellion, appears in the campaign. His portrayal is dramatized but some of his dialogue quotes real historical sources. There's a speech he gives in Mission 14 that's adapted from an actual letter Glyndwr wrote to the French king in 1406.
The Welsh landscape in the game is based on real geography, specifically the region around Snowdonia where much of the historical rebellion took place. The mountain in the background of several Act 3 missions is a recognizable (if compressed) version of Mount Snowdon.
Some of the castle designs are based on real Welsh castles from the period. Harlech Castle and Conwy Castle are the most obvious influences. If you've visited either, you'll recognize the layout.
Things that might be future content
A few findings that seem like placeholders for the full release:
There's a locked bunker door in Mission 16 that you can't open. Interacting with it gives a message: "Access requires temporal authorization." This almost certainly relates to a feature not yet in Early Access.
The war map has several greyed-out regions labeled "COMING SOON" that suggest additional campaign content beyond the current 18 missions. Given that the full release is planned for 2026 alongside console versions, these probably represent the remaining campaign content.
Several weapon types mentioned in the game files but not yet craftable: flamethrower, RPG, and "temporal stabilizer" which sounds like it might be a story item rather than a weapon.
The most important easter egg
In the options menu, under Audio, there's a volume slider for "Cow Mooing." It's set to maximum by default.
This is why I love this game.