Best Kingdom Building Isekai Manhwa

Key things

• Many isekai manhwa shift the focus from typical adventures to developing communities for prosperity.
• Kingdom building stories often focus on modern areas, technological advancements, and regulations.
• The characters in these manhwas develop society by providing health care, infrastructure, and a good environment.

Isekai are usually known for their strong protagonists, fun adventures, and unique cast of characters. While most tend to play out similarly, some stories prefer a different path. Instead of setting out on a journey, they develop and cultivate the surrounding area, often adding modern infrastructure and regulations for the prosperity of the community.

Kingdom building refers to stories that focus on building settlements and communities. Despite the subgenre's name, most manhwa do not always involve a literal kingdom; not everyone can be a king. Instead, they focus on smaller areas or certain groups of people, especially in modern-day settings. The sense of progression is incredibly satisfying, which is why these stories are so popular.

1 Apothecary Prince

A Korean doctor is revolutionizing medicine in another world

• MyAnimeList Score: 6.78
• Published: 2023 to ?
• Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy, Isekai, Reincarnation
• Author: Back-kyung Moon
• Illustrator: Dadaeng

Because many isekai are set in a medieval setting, the introduction of certain technology or information is often central to the story. IN Apothecary Princea Korean doctor dies and is reborn as Rachiel, the sick prince from a novel he was reading. With his body unable to perform simple tasks, he is only able to heal himself using resources from the modern world and unlock the health progression system.

While the beginning of the story is mostly about regaining health, Rachiel goes on to establish a standard of health for the rest of his kingdom, providing health care and medicine. This has a small knock-on effect of providing jobs for the working class as hospitals and clinics need to be built. In his quest to help people, he accidentally causes other good things to happen.

2 Chitra

Collecting handsome men with God's Gacha

• MyAnimeList Score: 6.89
• Published: 2018 to present
• Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Isekai, Reincarnation, Reverse Harem
• Author: Taesun
• Illustrator: Ref

Shojo manhwa often have protagonists who have to rebuild themselves from the ground up, but it's usually through personal issues. IN Chitraa young woman is reincarnated as a poor countess who has lost everything and been left for dead. Using the beauty god's gacha system, he is able to recruit experienced men in history as assistants.

Most characters have a good reason to start developing their country. In this case, Chitra does it as an apostle of the god of beauty. All she does is make the world more beautiful, starting with men. He reforms their bad behavior as well as their outward appearance. This is beyond creating a military, a stable economy and a good environment.

3 Solo Glitch Player

An overworked man becomes the master of his favorite game

• MyAnimeList Score: N/A
• Published: 2020 to present
• Genres/Themes: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Video Games, Isekai
• Author: Cheongcho
• Illustrator: Kiminteu

Characters usually put more effort into their territories because they know something bad will happen in the future. IN Solo Glitch Playerthe protagonist is sent to the world of “Paradiso”, a popular VR game, and thanks to his extensive knowledge of the game, he knows how the world will change in the next ten years. To survive the coming war and famine, he must reform himself and his territory.

It takes place in the game universe, Solo Glitch Player combines game archetypes with traditional isekai. There aren't many screens, but the main character is able to use glitches from the actual game. They are mostly used to his advantage, but he can use his acquired skills to capture bandits, enforce the law, and close deals. Despite a lot of clichés, this manhwa is pretty funny.

4 I woke up like a bad guy

Being is not bad when you have money

• MyAnimeList Score: 6.95
• Published: 2020 to 2024
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy, Isekai, Reincarnation
• Author: Right, Yuhyeon
• Illustrator: Arlg

In modern times, kingdom building looks a little different. Rather than running an entire kingdom, it's usually a business or maybe a gang. In this story, a normal office worker is isekai'd into the web novel as Choi Yuseong, a minor character who only appears at the beginning of the story. In order to survive being used by the main character, he begins to rebuild his reputation and becomes self-sufficient.

Unlike other kingdom-building manhwa, Yuseong doesn't make major changes to society, but instead constantly builds a following of loyal partners and employees, and uses the novel's knowledge to help other characters grow. It focuses on personal growth for most of the manhwa, and much of the community it creates is considered a side plot.

5 Tyrant Tower Defense game

The player's challenge to survive

• MyAnimeList Score: 7.75
• Published: 2022 to present
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy, Isekai, Military, Reincarnation, Video Games
• Author: Ryueun, Garam
• Illustrator: Gyong

This manhwa is a bit different from the others on this list. Rather than building community, this story is about maintaining community. One day, a popular streamer is trapped in the world of a popular tower defense game called “Protect the Empire”. Adopting the identity of Prince Ash, he quickly learns that his decisions have life and death consequences and that his circumstances are no longer a game.

This world game has a gacha model that focuses on collecting strong and unique characters to defend the base and this is reflected in the overall story as Ash makes connections with many people who will help him. As in these games, they must maintain resources, infrastructure, and the morale of their people.

6 The basket of the count family

One man tries to solve the world's problems in order to live comfortably

• MyAnimeList Score: 7.82
• Published: 2020 to ?
• Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Isekai, Reincarnation
• Author: Yu, Ryeo Han
• Illustrator: PAN4

As the title suggests, the main character of this manhwa is not a king or a prince. Cale Henituse is the eldest son of an earl and a minor villain in a fantasy novel. When the protagonist is reincarnated as Cale, he is determined not only to survive, but also to live comfortably. However, knowing the plot of the novel, he knows that there is trouble all over the world. The only way to guarantee his future is to fix everything himself.

The dregs of the earl family is interesting because most of it is about preparing for kingdom building. Only much later did he begin to establish his territory and build villages. However, this means the story is full of adventure with fun characters including a pair of shapeshifters and a dragon. He is the ultimate manhwa character collector.

7 My royal awakening

The prince tries to prevent history from happening

• MyAnimeList Score: 7.58
• Published: 2020 to 2022
• Genres/Themes: Drama, Historical, Reincarnation, Time Travel
• Author: Gus
• Illustrator: Tae-Hyung Kim

One of the most popular isekai settings is a period in Korean history or somewhere inspired by it. This manhwa follows an ordinary man after being transported into the body of Jinseong, the younger brother of Korea's most tyrannical ruler. However, things are different than what he was taught in the textbooks. To prevent his brother from becoming a bully, he was going to change history.

Historical manhwa is interesting in that the authors often take real events and put their own thoughts and interpretations into them. While most people in the US won't know the details of Korean history, the manhwa centered around it remains entertaining. It's an example of true kingdom building because Jinseong is a prince and solves the kingdom's problems to help his brother.

8 The largest real estate developer

One undergraduate student is able to apply their degree outside of school

• MyAnimeList Score: 8.75
• Published: 2021 to ?
• Genres/Themes: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Isekai, Reincarnation
• Author: Back-kyung Moon
• Illustrator: Hyunsoo Kim

The most popular and famous manhwa kingdom builder is definitely The largest real estate developer. One day, a civil engineering student wakes up as Lloyd Frontera, the troubled son of a poor noble family destined for ruin. With his terrible reputation, the protagonist has no choice but to clean up Lloyd's image and help rebuild his family's territory.

This manhwa is a great mix of resource management, land development, and action. Lloyd not only has a special status screen that tracks his building skills, but also helps him train his aura techniques and swordsmanship. There aren't many other manhwas that encompass so many different things and have an incredibly charismatic protagonist.