How to beat the Kingmaker Trial in Ni No Kuni 2

Ni No Kuni 2 is about more than just uniting the great kingdoms of the realm. It's also about building your own kingdom, Evermore, and for that you're going to need a Kingmaker. Which is where the Kingmaker's trials come in—a series of tests to prove yourself that you'll encounter only a few hours into the story.

The second trial is a good old-fashioned boss fight, but the first is an intriguing series of three puzzles. You can beat each puzzle simply by arranging and activating its statues in the order specified by its matching anecdote without doubling back or crossing your own path. But to truly master a puzzle and earn maximum rewards, you've also got to collect the orbs scattered around it by carefully planning your route. Collecting all of them earns you a sword, wand, and consumable for Evan to use in the boss trial, so it's worth doing.

Collecting all the orbs is harder than it sounds, and frankly you deserve a break after the coup you just endured, so I've put together some GIFs showing the perfect solutions for each puzzle. You can pause or skip around these GIFs to review specific portions, as they get pretty complicated.

How to beat the first puzzle

How to beat the second puzzle

How to beat the third puzzle

If you want to learn how to open the blue chests scattered around the world map, have a gander at this guide. We've also got some general tips for combat and kingdom building, plus where to find all nine Dreamer's Door dungeons.

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.