Grand Strategy gets a boost

Crusader Kings III is the next grand strategy game on its way to PCs. What is grand strategy, you may ask. Well, it’s a strategy game with a grand scope, typically a conquer the world (or at least the game map) with some empire management in there too.

The Civilization and Total War series of games are probably the most well known, but there are many more.

Genre fans tend to look to titles such as Europa Universals or Hearts of Iron for their fix. These games come from the same publisher, Paradox, who have a well-earned reputation for producing games with detailed (and dense) historical information and accuracy.

Crusader Kings II was a rare example of a grand stratgey game which crossed over into more mainstream – at least mainstrem by the standards of computer games. Civilization and Total War series are squarely aimed at the general market – and this is why many grand stratgey fans would have been triggered when I used them as examples of the genre.

The things about Crusader Kings II, though is that it’s quite obtuse to play. If is often not clear what is happening from what is in front of you on the screen. The game throws many alerts at you, some of which are critical, others are irrelevant. It can be hard to tell which is which.

Crusader Kings III seems to have set out to change that – to an extent. I fell in love with this game (which isn’t out yet!) with my first look at the campaign map.

The possibilities!

Crusader Kings III takes a different angle than other games. Conquest and expansion are important, but critical is keeping your in-game dynasty intact and in charge.

Character have traits you can develop to make them a better pawn for your ultimate schemes, but even the best character is mortal, and this game has a span of centuries, not weeks.

I have long been a fan of deep strategy games that have the potential for emergent narrative, which is a fancy term for stories that emerge from the act of playing the game, as opposed to stories which are written into the game.

Crusader Kings III looks like it will be added to my library come September.

The rabbit hole goes deep on this game, and if you feel like jumping in, this video is a good place to start: