The strategy game Crusader Kings III lets you experience the Middle Ages as an noble ruler like hardly any other game before. Now the title is expanding to the east and lets you feel the different region.
What is Crusader Kings III about? The strategy game CK3 is one of the most popular games on Steam. With 91 % positive reviews for over 78,000 votes cast, the gamers’ opinion coincides with the opinion of Meinmmo editor-in-chief and strategy expert Schuhmann. He spent almost 1,500 hours in CK3 and previously said what could change in the title this year. One of his predictions is now becoming true.
In 2025 for Crusader Kings III, the greatest year is to be the biggest year if it comes to the developers (via Steam). Although the game already has 16 DLCs that have all sorts of new functions, properties and rulers, one of the greatest innovations so far is added.
Here you can see the trailer from Crusader Kings III:
Crusader Kings 3: Trailer
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Expansion to the east
What innovation comes next? As the developers say in a developer diary on Steam, they are currently working on the expansion of their game to the east. Specifically, the upcoming DLC should go to the nomads in the steppe.
The gameplay of these peoples will differ significantly from the previous game mechanics. Instead of enlarging your lands through a chance of ranks, siege or love affairs, the new DLC is about herds and hordes. Your game run as a nomade will develop very differently than the typical process as the ruler of a growing empire in Europe.
The nomads do not have a firm seat, but move around with their herds. Herd also means the new currency that these peoples use for all kinds of mechanics. For example, they also recruit their military from their herd.
The rank game also works differently. Instead of sending as many children as possible to the princely houses of Europe, the nomads are all about dominance and obedience. The more powerful a ruler is perceived, the more vassals and domains it can have. However, all vassals have an obedience value that determines whether they will fight for your cause or act against you.
How do the lands work? The nomads are known for their freedom of movement. They travel through the lands of the steppe and always chase the most fertile piece of land. In CK3 this means that you and your horde deprive your own lands of fertility and then move on as soon as the place becomes a fallow land.
This migration, as it is called by the developers, ensures that there are always conflicts between the nomads. All peoples want to graze the best piece of earth, but only the strong ones will prevail.
Abandoned lands are restored by shepherds. They regenerate the fertility of the country so that you can populate it later. Fertility is also influenced by the seasons. In winter, all peoples are probably pushing to warm places where there can be a conflict again.
The different peoples can ally, for example to stop a mighty gurkhan. The Gurkhan is the most powerful ruler of the steppe and is the character in the game that has reached the highest level of dominance.
In addition to a completely different gameplay system, of course, new characters, decisions and events are also waiting for you that are inspired by the nomadic life, for example from stories of the famous Dschingis Khan. However, it will take a while for the DLC to appear. Until then, you can find out how strategy expert Schuhmann provided with a lonely Viking for 12,300 offspring: Steam: I started as a lonely Viking-400 years later I have half Europe, 12,300 and a problem