The list of games that fill the multiplayer medieval conquest and political court vassal relationship/resource management simulator niche is unsurprisingly short. In fact, it’s a genre that I never even knew I needed until stumbling onto Paradox’s Crusader Kings 3.
CK3 is somewhat difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t played it, and that’s partly what makes it stand out in an industry of copycats and esports chasers. For one, it harkens back to a time of slower-paced PC simulations, but it benefits from the years of experience that Paradox (City Skylines, Stellaris, Europa Universalis) has with sim-heavy development.
Second, it’s tough to pin down exactly what the game is because it’s kind of like several games in one. Players progress through several generations of rulers within a single dynasty, with each ruler boasting his/her own strengths, weaknesses, and personality traits. But players also progress through various forms of government, cultures, and religions. Shifting between governments or religions can alter game mechanics and strategy significantly.
New players are often lulled into a false sense of superiority upon first launching into a campaign because the combat is so straightforward. You simply march your armies into enemy holds and wait for the siege to finish. The UI even tells you whether your army is likely to win a battle against an opposing force prior to engagement.
What most newcomers fail to realize is that CK3 is not a game about acquiring territory – it’s about keeping it! Succession laws, false title claims, holy wars, plagues, murder plots, and blackmail threats can wreak havoc on even the most successful military campaigns. While planning for every scenario is impossible, some amount of forward thought is essential to hold the kingdom together. Prepare for many restarts to take advantage of trial and error.
Those able to push through the many initial failures are treated to a game without equal, apart from previous Crusader Kings titles. Once the basic mechanics are mastered, which will take some time, players can embark on a Middle Ages sandbox adventure that allows them to play at their own pace and with customized goals. Should they unite Ireland and Scotland? Dismantle the Holy Roman Empire? Conquer all of Russia from Europe? Progress a dynasty from landless wanderers to rulers of nations? Promote a family legend and watch it spread across the map? Create a hybrid culture with a neighboring county to more quickly progress technological discoveries? All these scenarios are possible depending on the preferences of the player.
Representing one of the more interesting features, each character (player and NPC) in the game has an opinion score for every other character. Actions taken by the player character often have opinion score consequences that can result in positive or negative feelings towards that character. These opinion scores can influence everything from whether a courtier joins your scheme against another character to internal factions revolting against a liege.
For example, court physicians may not try so hard to save a ruler they dislike from an illness, and spymasters might decide not to warn you about that murder scheme they heard whispers about in the dark hallways of the keep. So opinions are important! Opinions can be swayed, purchased with gifts, increased with education or chancellor positions, or ignored completely if that’s what roleplay dictates. However, I’d be careful about letting that powerful vassal stew in his/her anger too long. It’s usually a good idea to keep a positive opinion among your inner circle.
Because the game is set in the Middle Ages, the map of CK3 focuses on the ancient world between the years 867 and 1453. To date, it includes Europe and the British Isles, North Africa, the Middle-East, Russia, Scandinavia, and India. Recently, Paradox caused much excitement within the community by confirming that the rest of Asia, including China, Korea, and Japan, will be added via DLC later this year. While North America is not included (and many would argue with good historical reason), modders have already stepped up and provided a post-apocalyptic version of CK3 via total-conversion mods – more on that shortly.
Mutliplayer in CK3 works a lot like multiplayer in Civilization games. Lobbies are hosted by a player, either publicly or privately. The player hosting the match is tasked with setting up the game rules. Multiple players can then choose to play collaboratively (cooperating from their own respective areas of the map), competitively, or maybe a little of both, depending on the situation. Players can pause the game to get their affairs in order prior to advancing time and observing how it plays out.
CK3 has a stellar and active modding community, as evidenced by how quickly larger popular mods are updated following major releases. Quite simply, there seems to be a mod for every player fancy. Some are as simple as adding the words “older” or “younger” to the sibling tag when your brother or sister appears in a game event. Some are complex enough to add multiple cultures, religions, events, coats-of-arms, and personality traits. Some, as mentioned earlier, completely overhaul the map, mechanics, and characters to allow players to experience a CK3 game in a fantasy world, such as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.
I’m a huge fan of games that support modding, and if the Steam Workshop is any indication, CK3 thrives at this. Just beware, if you’re an achievement chaser, some mods may disable them.
Most of the complaints I’ve seen about CK3 revolve around the trademark Paradox DLC-centered business model. If you’re an MMO player who’s conditioned to expect yearly paid updates, this is hardly an issue, however. In fact, for about $45 US, I can get every piece of content the company put out for the game in 2025. That dollar amount wouldn’t even get me halfway to a year’s worth of premium time in my previous obsession.
However, CK3 does fall victim to other issues tied to a DLC-centric model. When playing the game, you might find it a little disjointed because so many features and mechanics are locked behind specific DLC packages. The various features don’t always have much symbiosis because, well, they just can’t. Each feature must function independently of others because you never know what player will be playing with which DLC.
There’s also the startup cost. I’m currently looking at a bundle in the Steam shop in which the base game is discounted 70% and many older DLC are marked down between 20-50% – but the grand total for all still comes out to a whopping $170 US. This includes a pre-purchase of the 2025 content, but even so, that’s a steep cost of entry for players who want the full experience. Luckily, bundles do frequently go on sale, so content can be accumulated slowly and more cost-effectively.
In all, CK3 has been a very fun and interesting, if sometimes frustrating, game to learn. I’m always high on games that are trying to do something unique, especially if they’re mostly succeeding. If you’re looking for something that ticks the boxes for grand strategy, roleplaying, character-centered, and medieval history – with a side of optional multiplayer – then this may be one to keep an eye on!
Note: Some of the features discussed above are enabled via DLC. I have all of them and don’t know which ones enable which mechanics!
The world of online gaming is changing. As the gray area between single-player and MMO becomes ever wider, Massively OP delves into this new and expanding frontier in Not So Massively, our column on battle royales, OARPGs, looter-shooters, and other multiplayer online titles that aren’t quite MMORPGs.
