Manor Lords is Total War, Crusader Kings and Age of Empires in a blender, and it's headed to Game Pass

rockpapershotgun.com:

We first saw Manor Lords a couple of years ago, when its mix of Crusader Kings-like simulation, Ages of Empires-y city-building and sweeping battles a la Total War made it one to watch. We weren’t alone in that anticipation either, as the ambitious medieval strategy game - created by a solo dev, no less - rocketed up the Steam charts to become one of its most wishlisted games.

Two and a bit years on, and we’ve had another taste of Manor Lords thanks to its reappearance during today’s Xbox Partner Preview stream, which showed off more of its ambitious gameplay and revealed a release date.

Manor Lords plonks you in the leather boots of a ruler overseeing your 14th-century lands, needing to deal with both bandit attacks and the more underhanded threat of an illegitimate baron who is trying to seize control of the northern territories.

That Age of Empires comparison comes through in the ability to build up your settlement with buildings, assigning your peasant villagers to various tasks - chopping trees, growing vegetables, rearing animals and the like - to help you sustain and grow.

There’s a solid foundation of historical realism at Manor Lords’ base, though, with the game apparently following an accurate simulation of how towns grow, trade routes appear and villagers establish their homes, in line with the historical burgage plot system - something I had to look up, but basically means you’re a medieval landlord renting homes to residents who pay you taxes to live there. Over time, those homes might expand to gain access to extra income and resources, adjusting their focus to the changing seasons and even the fertility of the soil. The environment will respond in kind to your actions, with overexploitation of