For instance, a character's first trait could be based on his education. Traits can be picked up through education, illness, training, or special events. Open a character's relationships, click on his children, move back to your starting point, open another character, check his kingdom, click on their cousins, and eventually you can get lost in a fascinating latticework of who's who, complete with names that get harder to pronounce the farther you get from England.Įach character has four basic attributes (martial, diplomacy, intrigue, and stewardship skills), but there are dozens of potential traits. You can click through the relationships as if you were navigating a web browser. Each character occupies a place in a tree of interwoven relationships, married to so-and-so, offspring of someone else, liege or vassal, to yet another character. True to its name, Crusader Kings is about the politicians of the time, from kings to courtiers to sycophants.
Armies, provinces, and taxes, staples of strategy gaming, are all key players. The subject this time is Medieval Europe, after the Battle of Hastings and up until the Renaissance. The latest is Crusader Kings, which approaches the subject of historical strategy from a refreshing new angle. But those of us willing to patiently sort through these tangled webs have found a set of uniquely gratifying historical strategy games, some more successful than others (Hearts of Iron was a terribly a clunky representation of World War II and Two Thrones was an ill-conceived attempt at streamlining). They make the kinds of games that you can't discuss without the caveat that they're not for the casually inclined. Starting with Europa Universalis, the developers at Paradox Entertainment have been twisting thick clots of numbers and formulas into crowded busy maps of the world. As their dynasty gains power and prestige, players receive special awards from the Pope, and can choose to join a religious order like the Knight's Templars, The Knights of St John, The Teutonic Order, the Order of Calatrava, and the Order of Santiago. Combat features exotic units like Mongolian light cavalry and English long bowmen. Feudal society is represented with laws, nobles, burghers, priests, peasants, and religious superstitions. Gameplay takes place in real-time, though players can choose to pause the game at any time, allowing for careful strategy. Saved games can also be converted into Europa Universalis games for additional gameplay. Contending with bishops, feudal lords, and the magnates of other provinces is much of the challenge. In a twist, games of Crusader Kings focus on wealth and honor more than territorial acquisition, with players trying to hoard as much Prestige and Piety as possible. The Crusader Kings map includes the Urals on the eastern edge, as well as parts of Persia and the coast of North Africa. Crusader Kings utilizes the Europa Universalis game engine, but presents the medieval fiefdoms of Europe from 1066 to 1419.
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