In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan take up the mantle of medieval kings in Crusader Kings 3, the newest and most approachable grand-strategy game from Paradox Interactive. We also go back to the excellent rogue-lite deck-builder, Monster Train.
Original recording date - April 29, 2022.
Recall: Monster Train
After we discussed the game in Episode 18 when Omer played it, Aviv recently got hooked on the game.
The short rounds and diverse strategies make this game something special. You have five different types of decks (and the DLC adds a six) and each run uses two of those decks. Even when playing with the same combinations you have different strategies that are based on the Champion you pick, the upgrade path and the different game mechanics that synergise well with those deck types.
Bottom line: highly recommended.
Game of the Show: Crusader Kings III
Published by Paradox Interactive, MSRP $50, Buy the game (Humble partner link)
Aviv has been a long time player of Paradox strategy games, with Stellaris, Crusader Kings 2, Heart of Iron 4 and Imperator Rome.
Crusader Kings 3 has proven to be the most approachable Paradox game to date. The interface is cleaner, tooltips help explain how to do everything a lot better. If in CK2 I was often stuck on how to get more money or how to advance in technology, those mechanics are better presented and just as deep.
At launch, CKIII have 50x the content that CKII had, such as diverse religions and cultures. When CK2 launched, you could only play as Christian kings; Muslim, Norse and other cultures were only available through expansions. In CK3, they are all present from the beginning. They also make other systems more generic so that they could be used by any ruler type and not just the crusaders.
Bottom line: if you always wanted to try those big grand strategy games, this is an excellent one to start with, and it’s included in Game Pass.
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