''Crusader Kings'' is a

grand strategy game A grand strategy wargame or simply grand strategy game (GSG) is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of a nation state or empire's resources. The genre has considerable overlap with 4 ...

developed by

Paradox Development Studio Paradox Development Studio (PDS) is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series ''Europa U ...

and published by

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independ ...

in April 2004. An expansion called ''Deus Vult'' was released in October 2007. A sequel using the newer Clausewitz Engine, ''

Crusader Kings II ''Crusader Kings II'' is a grand strategy game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Set in the Middle Ages, the game was released on February 14, 2012, as a sequel to 2004's '' Crusader Kings''. On Octob ...

'', was released in February 2012, and another sequel, ''

Crusader Kings III ''Crusader Kings III'' is a grand strategy role-playing video game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to '' Crusader Kings'' (2004) and ''Crusader Kings II'' (2012). ...

'', was released on September 1, 2020.

Setting

The game is set primarily in Europe in the mid to late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

in the time-period from December 26, 1066 (the day after the coronation of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

) until December 30, 1452 (five months before the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

). Three scenarios are also included in the game, namely: the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

(1066), the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

(1187), and the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

(started in 1337).

Gameplay

Unlike other Paradox titles (such as the first two ''

Europa Universalis ''Europa Universalis'' is a Grand strategy game, grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published in 2000 by Strategy First. Development The game was originally based on a French board game of the Europa Universali ...

'' series), ''Crusader Kings'' is a dynasty simulator with similarities to

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s in that it focuses on a trait-based individual whose primary goal is the growth and enrichment of their

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

. In the game, the player attempts to lead their dynastic

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

across four centuries, while managing its familial, economic, military, political, and religious affairs and stability. Rulers are supported by appointed councillors, a Chancellor, Steward, Marshal, Spy Master, and Diocese Bishop, and oversee

scutage Scutage was a medieval English tax levied on holders of a knight's fee under the feudal land tenure of knight-service. Under feudalism the king, through his vassals, provided land to knights for their support. The knights owed the king militar ...

from their vassals. In addition, yearly random events, as well as hundreds of pre-scripted ones based on the historical themes, make for varied game play and challenges. ''Crusader Kings'' also differs from many similar

turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...

strategy games in that time flows continuously rather than taking place in discrete turns. As such, the player is able to pause the game, examine the map and its characters, and make decisions and give orders, then speed up or slow down time as events take their course. Over time, based on the territories and titles held, characters can be elevated upwards in status (from count, duke, king, to emperor substantive titles) or regress as status and lands are lost. The lowest level count vassal tiers (i.e. castle baron, city mayor, church bishop), as seen in ''

'' are not represented. The game is lost if no direct member of the playable dynasty holds or inherits an imperial, royal, or noble rank.

Development

The lead

game programmer A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall ...

was Johan Andersson. The engine for the game was based on the one developed for '' Europa Universalis II'', i.e. the updated Europa Engine, which had been released in December 2001. The similarities between the two games, and the release of a save game converter, allow players to continue their game after 1419 through ''Europa Universalis II''. In North America, ''Crusader Kings'' was originally planned to be published by

Strategy First Strategy First Inc. is a Canadian video game publisher based in Montreal. Founded in 1988 by Don McFatridge, Steve Wall and Dave Hill, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and was subsequently acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2005. Initia ...

. However, Paradox revealed in June 2004 that it would self-publish the game, which it called "a way for Paradox to secure our intellectual property and to serve our customers in a better way."

Reception

The game received "average" reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, and many U.S. reviews came in a few months before the game's official U.S. release. In the 2013 book ''Digital Gaming Re-imagines the Middle Ages'', the author explains that:

As digital medievalism, ''Crusader Kings'' models systems of cultural change in the Middle Ages rather than merely assigning cultural labels to people and geographic areas of Europe at specific chronological dates. The game attempts to avoid anachronism through historically based systems of gameplay, rather than through rote inclusion of historical facts.

Awards

* Strategy Gaming Online Editor's Choice award * Game Vortex Top Pick award

Expansion

A downloadable expansion pack called ''Deus Vult'' was released in October 2007. Improvements to the base game included: * graphics overhaul including new windows and alert icons * inter-character relations (including the addition of friendship and rivalry) * new realm stability and diplomacy options (e.g. sending fosterlings to other courts) * new character traits and the evolution of childhood stats from age 0 * new random events * additional tools for modders As with other Paradox games, within days of release, fan made mods began to appear such as ''The Deus Vult Improvement Pack'', aimed at fixing bugs and making the map, cultures, and characters more historically accurate.

Notes

References

External links