Salvic Magic rolled out their new medieval city building simulation on 26th April 2024 and it is published by the Hooded Horse.
“Manor Lords is a strategy game that allows you to experience the life of a medieval lord. Grow your starting village into a bustling city, manage resources and production chains, and expand your lands through conquest.”
Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game which features in-depth city building and large-scale tactical battles. The game also offers economic and social simulations. Your main purpose is to build and expand. Make the correct strategic move to become your area’s Medieval Lord.
A Flourishing Manor
The game is inspired by art and architecture of late 14th century Franconia. The game starts of by offering you a decent piece of plot where you are tasked to transform it into a medieval manor. Usually in other building simulation game some recourses are given at the start of the game. However, in Manor Lords players are encouraged to take strategic decisions.
The players are encouraging to plan their fields of crops, mine for resources and dedicate an area for logging. Each family in your land represents an only single unit. You need to make sure their happiness bar is fulfilled to progress seamlessly in the game.
You can increase their happiness bar by fulfilling their demands. As your village expands the villagers will develop desires for a higher quality of life. You need to build structures like wells, taverns and marketplace to enhance the quality of your village.
The Art of Building
If you previously played games like Age of Empires or other city building simulation then you will be familiar with the core mechanics. Manor Lord provides a gridless city building experience you can place whatever you want wherever you want.
“Building mechanics are inspired by the growth of real medieval towns and villages, where major trade routes and the landscape influenced how settlements formed and developed.”
The Manor Lord introduces a production chain. You will need to gather raw materials like ore, woods and stones for construction. However, you need to take these raw materials to various workshop like the blacksmiths to actually get some usable goods.
However, each decision has its impact for example if you make mindless expansion the wild animals might migrate away from that place. Cutting down too many trees can also lead to deforestation. So, make sure you take informed decision that will balance everything.
City Building Experience
The city building experience is literally like building an empire from scratch. Firstly, you need to understand the assign areas for housing and watch the families build the houses according to historical plot system. Salvic Magic tried to implement historical accuracy wherever they could.
Of course, as every city’s core mechanics the residents needs to pay some sort of tax. You can build extension area behind resident’s buildings. The residents can grow vegetables, raise chickens and goats. You can use these goods to sell at the workshops.
Moreover, you can also have assigned plot for farming. Each soil represents different fertility level which means you need to make proper decisions about it. You can also have hunting grounds to get supplies from animals.
The Rhythm of the Seasons
“Guide your settlements through the unique demands and opportunities of each season, enjoying the bounty brought by spring rains and preparing for the harsh snows of winter.”
The game offers a dynamic cyclical nature of medieval life. The game offers all the seasons offering seasonal crops, animals and at the same time you will face seasonal challenges. During spring you need to make sure you timely sow seeds to get the optimal outcome from your harvest. Autumn is the ripe time to enjoy the harvest. However, winter can be challenging as it is the season where everything is scarce. So, make sure you stock up before winter.
Medieval Warfare
“Lead your people into battle, not as expendable units to be easily replenished, but as your beloved loyal subjects where every death is a cost worth considering.”
You need to train skilled warriors to fight battles alongside building towns. The soldiers will be needed to suppress bandits from terrorizing your town. Moreover, you also need to armies to conquer territories o expand your land. You can also command real-time tactical battles and you need to consider weather conditions as well. Position your troops wisely remember even if you are outnumbered a well strategy can still make you win the battle.
Conclusion
Manor Lords will teach patience and meticulous planning. The game is not fast-paced but it is rather a strategic planning gradual rewarding game. If you are into city building then give Manor Lords a try. Moreover, it is still in early access which means you can encounter some bugs but developers are doing their best to polish the game.