Emergent dynasty storytelling
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“Come for the medieval strategy, stay for the family drama, betrayals and completely unhinged dynasties.”
Steam review · 1 h played ↗
Crusader Kings II
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 92%Very Positive · 92%Paradox Development Studio2012Grand Strategy · Strategy · Simulation
The verdict
A deep, endlessly replayable dynasty-and-intrigue sim that produces wild emergent stories. Skip it if you hate steep learning curves, tiny UI, or paying for pricey DLC.
Great for
Players who enjoy emergent roleplay, dynastic scheming and medieval history, and are willing to learn complex systems
Main risk
Base game feels gutted without expensive DLC, and the opaque tutorial and UI can stop new players cold
What changed in the last 30 days
24 recent reviews
Recent negatives mention poor performance, a UI that is hard to learn, and DLC pricing, and one Russian reviewer is upset CK3 replaced CK2. Evidence is thin, so low confidence.
24 recent reviews
What players love
Deep, complex systems and replayability
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“The amount of content and depth is massive, especially with expansions.”
Steam review · 403.6 h played ↗
Free to play, base game is enjoyable
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews
“It's free to play on Steam now, just take it.”
Steam review · 68 h played ↗
Huge modding scene (AGOT etc.)
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“most of that time has been with the AGOT mod, which honestly turns the game into its own world.”
Steam review · 4379.7 h played ↗
Better than CK3 for some
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“I know that CK3 is supposed to be better and I am sure that some people find it that way but I much prefer CK2”
Steam review · 458.1 h played ↗
Addictive and time-consuming
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“There's a dark magic associated with this game, that makes days turn into weeks, weeks into months”
Steam review · 513.8 h played ↗
What players complain about
Expensive DLC and content locked behind paywalls
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“This game claims to be free, but might as well just cost money. More than 90% of the game is pay-walled.”
Steam review · 1.9 h played ↗
Poor tutorial and steep learning curve
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“The tutorial doesn't explain jack, to play this game you need to look up a youtube tutorial for every minor mechanic.”
Steam review · 1.1 h played ↗
Tiny, cluttered, unintuitive UI
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“A wonderful idea, but made completely unplayable by a microscopic text size (which cannot be changed).”
Steam review · 21.6 h played ↗
Intrusive ads, subscription and launcher
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 negative reviews
“the new subscription model is horrendous.”
Steam review · 64 h played ↗
Won't launch, crashes or multiplayer issues
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 negative reviews
“Fails to launch, good thing its free but why is it even allowed in the store if it doesnt work?”
Steam review · 3 h played ↗
No Russian localization, mod blocks achievements
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews
“I dislike that developers add almost every language except Russian; you have to download a Russian patch that blocks achievements.”
Steam review · translated · 7.3 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable2 GB
Minimum
OSWin7 64-bit
ProcessorIntel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+
Memory4 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900, 512mb graphics memory required.
Storage2 GB
OSWin7 64-bit
ProcessorIntel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+
Memory4 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900, 512mb graphics memory required.
Storage2 GB
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