Manor Lords

Manor Lords is a medieval city-builder and real-time tactics video game developed by Greg Styczeń from Slavic Magic and published by Hooded Horse. The most anticipated game on Steam upon release, with over three million wishlists, it released into early access on 26 April 2024.

Gameplay
Set in late 14th-century Franconia, Manor Lords is a city-builder game which also includes real-time tactical warfare. The game's three different modes, titled Rise to Prosperity, Restoring the Peace, and On the Edge, are differentiated by the aspects they focus on: Rise to Prosperity and On the Edge respectively emphasise growth through city-building and conquest through warfare, while Restoring the Peace gives a more balanced experience. The game offers a degree of customizability, with players able to adjust in-game values such as starting position and off-map threats.

The city-building aspects focus on expanding an initially-small settlement through gathering resources, managing supply chains and expanding trade networks, while also managing threats to the settlement's internal cohesion. The game's emphasis on in-depth historical accuracy means players must manage six types of taxation, and balance quick growth with environmental effects such as weather and the possibility of environmental degradation including soil exhaustion and deforestation. Manor Lords, normally viewed through a top-down isometric perspective, also includes a feature which enables players to explore their settlements using a third-person camera mode.

Development
Greg Styczeń was the creator and solo developer of Manor Lords through his studio Slavic Magic. In the early years, development was funded in part through donations on Patreon. In 2021, Styczeń also received a grant from Epic Games through their Epic MegaGrants program.

Releasing an announcement trailer in July 2020, Styczeń initially aimed for the game to be wishlisted 14,000 times on Steam. However, anticipation grew steadily, with Manor Lords being wishlisted over two million times by January 2024, overtaking Hades II shortly before release to become the most-wishlisted game on Steam, with over three million by release.

The game was originally planned to be released in late 2023, but was delayed to the following year because Styczeń felt it needed "more bugfix and polish". Manor Lords was released for early access on 26 April 2024. Styczeń released a statement a week before release which attempted to temper expectations, highlighting that the launch was early access, that Manor Lords was the first game he had developed, and that it was not intended to be a rival to Total War or role-playing games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

Reception
Reception to initial demos, such as one showcased at the Xbox Partner Preview in late October 2023, was very positive, with praise directed especially at the game's complex nature. Matt Jarvis of Rock Paper Shotgun compared its various aspects to the established franchises of Total War, Crusader Kings, and Age of Empires, calling it "hugely ambitious" and "filled with potential". The game has been noted for its relatively high degree of historical accuracy. However, Styczeń has stated in interviews that in some cases considerations of gameplay superseded concerns of historical exactness.