I first played Villagers and Heroes years ago and loved it. It was (relatively) simple and fun with a bit of an non-serious attitude that was engaging. For those who haven't played it, you are a hero that needs to protect the kingdom from nefarious forces. You are also a villager, where you can ply your lifeskills to the betterment of your village. More on that later.

The basic gameplay is quest-based and the standard fetch or kill quests are prevalent. The combat is straightforward, with a small selection of skills to augment the player's auto-attack. Each class has different specialties that change combat in small ways. For example, I am playing a Wizard specializing in Frost. In addition to cold damage, my character can slow and freeze enemies and create an ice shield to reduce incoming damage.

The main quest and storyline are fine, but the village part is what makes this game different. A village is an instanced collection of houses. They can be created by anyone and you can join any village that has room. The layouts are all the same. Within a given village, different upgrades can be acquired by the residents donating resources acquired via gathering. Upgrades include better crafting stations and gathering nodes. Your house in a village can have crops and livestock and, with a recent update, decorations inside.

You can 'rebirth' your hero, which allows you to restart the game with the same character, but includes a bonus on experience gains and talents.

This game has no auto-play, which is unusual for a mobile game, but very welcome. It supports cross-play, although my personal experience shows the Android client being better-performing than the PC client.