Medieval games are less common than you might expect. Rare is the videogame that does not include at least one sword, armor, or roast chicken, but they are often mixed in with bearded hermits slapping magic fireballs, which were reliably informed by your average medieval peasant.
A list of the finest PC games that shun all the pyrotechnics for some good old-fashioned steel-on-steel action. After all, a level ten Necromancer against a blacksmith wearing a potato sack is no basis for a fair fight.
After a long day mucking out your liege's pigpen for pocket change, put your feet down in the local tavern. Prepare to liberally apply leeches to any and all wounds you might have, before living a miserable existence of the plague. Here are the top medieval games and knight games on PC.
Best medieval games on PC
Here are the best medieval games for PC:
- Conquerors Blade
- Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
- Crusader Kings 3
- Mordhau
- Kingdom Come Deliverance
- A Plague Tale: Innocence
- Medieval II: Total War
- For Honor
- Bad North
- Northgard
- Age of Empires 2
Conquerors Blade
Conquerors Blade is a free-to-play MMO set in the Middle Ages, where you play as a warlord in command of an army in epic 15v15 PvP battles. You can customize your weapons and units to suit your style. Sure, you can go into battle with a sword and shield, or even a massive Japanese nodachi.
Youre eligible to join a House and become a member of a larger combined force in larger-scale conflicts such as Territory Wars, and if you're lucky, your bannermates will offer rewards and resources to help you strengthen your army.
Conquerors Blade is a free playable game.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
Bannerlord understands what fighting in medieval games is all about, and that is the sensation of being part of an extremely dangerous moshpit, jostling for a few inches of space to swing your mace into someones forehead, who then dies instantly because thats how maces and foreheads work. That means that Bannerlords massive battles are packed with vitality, tension, and danger.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlords is a massive medieval sandbox where warring factions and empires, trading, romance, sidequests, arena duels, and town management take place. On top of this, the battles themselves include an entire RTS layer, allowing you to order your troops into formations and give orders. It's all about creating something completely unique.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is still in its early stages of development, so there are a few minor flaws to iron, cracks to smooth out, and breastplate stretchers to fetch. But, even at this stage, it remains one of the finest medieval games out there. For fans of huge, epic battles, or just moving from one city to the next, it's still one of the finest medieval games out there.
Crusader Kings 3
Crusader Kings 3 is out. Its not only the most instantly accessible of Paradox Interactive's strategy games, but it also manages to deliver just about any depth, making it one of the finest medieval games out there.
Crusader Kings 3 is different from the medieval games crowd for one important reason: It's about people, not empires. As much an RPG as it is a statistic-laden map painter (perhaps moreso), Crusader Kings 3's average session focuses on the successes, failures, and heartbreaks of an individual ruler, and the people closest to him. It's basically a magic box you click on to create cool stories.
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On a given day, you might charge your spymaster to fabricate evidence your second cousin is engaging in witchcraft, just as a way to deprive them of land and titles. Or, you may spend your final years establishing your own nature-worshipping splinter branch and ruling stark-naked but for a glorious imperial crown. It's got something for everyone, or at least anyone who loves a bit of conniving, backstabbing, and betrayal.
Mordhau
Ok, so it's time to address the real question. What's the point in all thesenight games if none of them allows me to wander around the battlefield serenading players with a lute? Mordhau is the answer to your prayers.
Mordhaus combat is a fast-paced sword-and-board melee that includes siege battles, horses, ranged combat, and fortification building, much like The Witcher 3's classic card game Gwent.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
As an old saying goes, a single Dorito has more extreme nacho flavor than a peasant in the 1400s would get in his lifetime. It's also curious why more medieval games haven't taken advantage of the setting. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a game that recognizes that you're needing an escape from reality, and thus allows you to become a precariously employed twenty-something in a world of unrest, injustice, and epidemic.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance differs from other medieval games by incorporating disempowerment as a central mechanic while still preserving the kind of directed, character-and-quest-filled world that many dedicated survival games lack. Things soon improve though, as Henrys life is soon turned upside down by the civil conflict that has sweeping the country.
Bohemia from the Middle Ages is both realistically muddy and a real delight to see, either on foot or horseback. As far as medieval games that allow you to tell the story of a decidedly non-heroic individual, there is little else.
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Even those who aren't normally interested in medieval games will likely recognize Asobo Studios' recent work on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, and those same technical abilities are on display in the darkly atmospheric A Plague Tale: Innocence.
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Plague Tale follows Amicia and her little brother Hugo's journey through a bleak medieval world that has been destroyed by a near-death-on apocalyptic supernatural rat plague. It's arduous, cinematic, and sometimes heartbreaking. Not a pleasant journey by any means, but one worth taking.
Medieval II: Total War
Before there were Total War: Warhammer II's zombie pirates and nuke-dropping ratmen, there were a slew of shady dudes in armour who were prepared to fight and die for their lies, right to eat peacock seven times a week instead of just six.
The instantly recognisable strategic use of Medieval II's infantry, cavalry, and missile units makes it a great introduction to the series for new players, as well as a slew of new features that havent been included in the earlier Total War titles, such as the rousing (often Python-style) remarks you hear before a battle.
For Honor
For Honor is a quick-fire PvP adventure that focuses on strategy or simulation. NPC battles lend a cinematic flair to all sides.
Newcomers to For Honor may be in for a long learning curve. Keep going, though, and youll berewarded with visually stunning, meaty duels, as well as an answer to the age old question could my samurai dad defeat your viking dad?
Bad North
Bad North is a strategy game that appeals to strategy-minded fans of medieval games with its minimalist, sleek interface.
Bad North, built on the traditional genre pillars of rock-paper-scissors matches and unit positioning, involves you defending a series of procedurally generated islands from viking invaders. Continually increasing challenge and complexity keep things interesting, particularly when your tiny adorable soldiers get axed in the face and the crisp, inviting snow becomes stained with their entrails.
Northgard
This sounds quite similar to the previous one we listed. Yes, both include vikings in some capacity. And yes, both feature vikings in some capacity. However, Northgard is a fully-hatched RTS seagull, swooping down to steal your time and your chips.
This isn't just a buildy-clicky-attacky RTS game, it also has a fleshed-out town management system. New players may be assigned various roles in your settlements, and various different winning conditions allow for different styles of play. Perfect.
Age of Empires II
The Age of Empires 4 release date may be approaching faster by the day, but that hasnt stopped the developers from whetting our appetites with a platter of well-known medieval games. It manages each time period so well that we were all agreeing it matters.
The fact that the classic games were so successful is testament to how well-made they were. They are complemented by old and new players, and they have still got a decent competitive scene.
For all your head-chopping, plate mail-wearing, mead-chugging needs, here are the top medieval games for PC. Feel free to include your own suggestions via raven, but please make sure to season and marinade the raven thoroughly before using.