Elie Gould:
Manor Lords
came out at just the right time for me. Before landing on this medieval city builder/ management game, I played quite a few horror games and Metroidvanias, which can honestly be pretty tiring. So it was refreshing to be tested by a game in a different way.
Instead of needing to perfect reaction times, I had to do mental gymnastics to figure out whether this was really the right place to start an arable farm or solve trade issues by flooding the market with sheep. I’m not saying that I mastered this city builder, but I sure had a lot of fun growing my quaint town into a serious political and economic centre.
Andy Edser:
Manor Lords
is the sort of strategy-based city builder that I’d probably mess around with if it was a 2D, top-down, low-budget offering, before eventually leaving for more graphicallytemperate climes. But lo and indeed behold, it’s actually one of the better-looking games I’ve played this year.
I hate to sound shallow, but I am, so that’s just the way it comes out. At its core though, Manor Lords is a vibe game—a slice of middle-ages muckery that’s acted like a goblet of not-so-refreshing mead to swish away the spicier notes of my usual grand strategy adventures to create something altogether more grounded.
I expected it to crunch and jank with the best of them, a result of its mostly-single-dev production—but instead it’s been a smooth ride. The interface might be filled with a dizzying array of options, but it never feels overwhelming. That’s a trick that other city builders would do well to imitate, and lends itself perfectly to chilled-out after-work sessions. Sometimes I don’t need to save the world after a long day typing words about tech. Sometimes I just need to ponder history.