That was what made the AAR I was reading so fascinating. It was your job to steer not a country, but a dynasty though the ages, from the bad times, where your immediate family might resemble a wonky trolley of squabbling inbreds, and the good times, where a timely marraige to a gifted foreign Queen ushers in a new golden age of peace, prosperity and- most importantly- good genes.Īs usual, some of the game was spent raising armies and going to war with your neighbours, but far more of your time was spent fretting over marriages, courtiers, children and potential betrayals, making the game more akin to a strategic soap opera than anything else. The game was another of Paradox’s characteristically in-depth historical strategy games, with the twist that it focused on the human elements of being a medieval regent. The first Crusader Kings came to my attention when I found an impressively colourful after-action report on the Something Awful forums.

It’s because you can cheat on your wife, kill your idiot son, raise a bastard child as your heir and send your father-in-law to rot in prison for the rest of his days. Why would I want to play a game like Crusader Kings 2, which models all of this in a medieval environment?” Well, I’ll tell you why. You’re thinking “Yes, that is certainly my life.