Manor Lords is all about medieval construction and seeing the violence inherent in the feudal system

I like building stuff. To me there’s nothing more cathartic than spending hours creating, whether it’s through a Gundam model kit, drawing on my iPad or playing a good ol’ strategy game on PC. I’m also an unrepentant bastard, because there’s a certain thrill in using everything I’ve created in those games to tear down the opposition with absolute precision while I sit comfortably in my Ultra-fort of doom.

I swear I was born a century too late, because I’d have gladly thrown troops at the enemy in World War One just so that I could move my drinks cabinet a few meters closer to the frontline. Anyway, those incredibly constructive and homicidal urges of mine are usually assuaged by playing city building simulators or massive strategy games of war. Wouldn’t it be nice if the two ideas could come together into one product?

That’s exactly what Manor Lords is looking to do. Feast thine eyes on the trailer below, which stars you as a medieval ruler who has to build a stronghold and make good use of repressed peasants with which to run the land and soak up enemy spears:

https://youtu.be/SV9gNI5DHy0

Looking good! There’s a more organic nature to how you build your village into a kingdom, while the massive battle sections definitely have a Total War flavour to them. Realism seems to be the order of the day, with developer Slavic Magic emphasising this more natural expansion of your city across authentic buildings and historical growth patterns:

Manor Lords aims to provide a gridless, organic city-building experience with full freedom of placement and rotation, but utilizing snapping tools to make the planning more comfortable. The building mechanic is motivated by the growth of real medieval towns and villages, where major trade routes and landscape often influenced how the settlement shaped and developed.

Not bad for a game being developed by a single person so far.

Last Updated: July 7, 2020