Dokapon Kingdom Guide: Secrets and Unlockables

As mentioned in our October review of the game, Dokapon Kingdom is a unique blend of board game and roleplaying game that is available for both the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PlayStation 2.

In it, players use a spinner to move about a game board, and can then engage in RPG style battles depending on which space they land on. Also, Dokapon characters level up, can change classes and have to buy or otherwise acquire equipment. Players can even battle, defeat and then humiliate their opponents, all while trying to save the kingdom from monsters and win the hand of the fair princess.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you crush the competition and emerge victorious!

For a comprehensive review of Dokapon Kingdom check out this article here

At the very start of the game, players are given two weeks to make it to the castle in order to meet with the king. Whoever arrives first receives a sizable bonus, which decreases for the second, third, and so on.

On the other hand, there are also equipment spaces where players can pick up a weapon and a shield for no cost.

What to do, what to do? I say go for the castle ASAP. Once you speak to the king, he will outfit you with equipment that should suffice for the early battles and hold you over until you get to the weapons shop, and the bonus will give you a nice early lead.

Speaking of bonuses, whenever the king provides a quest (like retrieving the princess's piggy bank early on in the game), whoever successfully completes the mission and returns to the kingdom is given an award, such as ownership of one of the castles.

However, did you know that you don't have to be the one to slay the enemy or otherwise complete the task? If it looks like you won't be able to reach the destination first, you can simply lay in wait for whoever does finish the deed, then ambush them in a fight. If you win, there's a good chance you'll wind up with the item. Likewise, a thief character can simply move through the space on which the other person is standing. Doing so will cause them to pilfer a random item, and odds are it'll be the thing the king is waiting on!

There are a dozen different character classes in the game, but when you start, only three will be initially available to you:

1. Warrior
2. Magician
3. Thief

The other nine will need to be unlocked The Cleric job which grants the character healing abilities, will open up when you master any one of the three initial classes.Mastering the Cleric job unlocks the Monk class, which will grant some nice stat-boosting abilities over time.To unlock the Spell-sword class, players need to master both Warrior and Magician.Likewise, the Ninja becomes available after Thief and Warrior are mastered.The Alchemist is unlocked by mastering Thief and Magician.

Some of the advanced classes require more than just mastering other jobs, however. Players will only be able to become an Acrobat after obtaining a ticket item in Casino Cave.

Likewise, the Robo Knight requires acquisition of an item (Lost Technology from the Sunken Shrine). However, in addition, players must have also mastered both the Alchemist and Monk classes in order to become a Robo Knight -- the item alone is not enough.

The final regular job, Hero, is a bit trickier to unlock. First, players need to have mastered the Ninja, Spell-sword and Acrobat classes.

Then they also need to obtain something called a Hero License from the Castle in the Clouds. This is no easy task, as players need to find the entrance to this hidden area and then use a special item to fly up there -- only that special item requires the player to defeat a specific opponent on a random battle space. Given that this is the most powerful regular class in the game, and has abilities that can either allow players to cast magic and use items in the same turn or force non-boss enemies to immediately give up, it's easy to see why there's so much work involved in acquiring the Hero class.

However, there is one more class that hasn't been mentioned...

It is the Darkling class, and unlike every other class in the game, it is not permanent. It can only be unlocked by a last-place player who is hearing "the whispers of dark revenge" (i.e. has a shadow bat-like creature floating over his or her head). Once a player reaches this status, he or she can either travel to the Dark Space on the board or use a Contract item to warp there directly. There, the player has the option of surrendering all of their items, money and towns in order to become a super-powerful Darkling for 14 days.

The Darkling is immensely powerful and has the strongest battle skills in the game. Opponents cannot retreat from battle against a Darkling, and assuming the Darkling wins (which it most likely will), they can lose their equipment, items, money or towns. Also, before every turn, Darklings spin a wheel that grants them Dark Points which when accumulated can be used to set traps, close shops and banking spaces, or even summon monsters to every available town on the world map.

Finally, we'll conclude this guide by showing you a way to trigger a slightly different, alternate ending to Dokapon Kingdom's story mode. When the game begins, the king promises his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever wins and saves the kingdom, and normally that's exactly what happens once the game is over.

However, if the individual who wins is playing as a girl, things play out slightly differently. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but do know that it results in a different and longer ending and involves some creepy scenes. The king puts on a wedding dress. There, I said it. If you're interested in knowing more, make sure you go through the game as a female character so you can witness all the zaniness that ensues. Good luck and happy gaming!