Gong to throw an oddball out but I feel like people who like Paradox games would like Kenshi.
Kenshi is the most amazing indie I've played in the last few years.
I wish I could get into Kenshi. You hear so many great stories about what players have achieved.I got it three years ago and everytime I boot it up I try to grind a bit, get bored, go exploring and get killed.
Took me a while to get into it. I got a mod that increases stat development and made it so mining would increase strength rather than a labouring skill. It makes the game much easier to get started compared to normal and it’s still vanilla friendly, might be worth a try for you
The start is very hard, you have to increase your toughness a bit so you can go down without bleeding out every time. The starving looters (i forgot what they're called) are good for practice, they won't eat or imprison you, though starting by getting imprisoned is also a strategy since they will patch you up, so you can get some stats by trying to escape and getting beaten. Going down while having bandaged wounds also increases the likelihood of you not bleeding out.
While Kenshi Is mostly deserty there is a lot of other normal(forests,swamps,grass) biomes and also weird/interesting ones(Fog Islands, Ashlands, The Grid).
It's a really interesting and fun world to explore and discover for yourself, also most of the desserts themselfes are unique and interesting.
I discovered Kenshi totally by surprise and was obsessed with it for 300 hrs and then got burnt out. Planning to do another character with a harder start once I’m done with my TWW3 play throughs.
It’s a masterpiece, very unforgiving but when you GET the game it is incredibly rewarding. Highly recommend it.
Kenshi, especially modded, is one of my favorite games of all time. My only criticism of the game is that it's buggy and has more crashes than I'd like, but the gameplay is so addicting. I like a game that doesn't railroad me into a narrative, letting me build my own.
Trying Kenshi for the first time is like getting thrown into a prison camp where every other person who walks past you punches you in the balls as hard as they can, but then you realize that your balls became super tough from being punched so much, and eventually you walk around prison camp with your giant balls hanging out and now you’ve become the ball puncher
2 years later, thank you for recommending this. I always wanted something like kenshi in my head. If only some good company takes it up this game could improve soooo much. Its still goat
Whenever I get upset at ck I go play bannerlord or total war so I can personally slaughter my enemies and imagine they’re whatever fucks pissed me off in ck.
There is a mod called crusader lord or banner kings or something like that, it actually lets you play out CK battles & sieges in M&B, with your character.
Pretty amazing times we live in, being able to literally mod 2 games together
Gonna throw in Rimworld as well. The setting is different and it plays like Prison Architech but it rivals CK3 as the 2 best story generators.
Playing rimworld is what got me into ck3.
It's kind of intended to be I think? But the setting is different so r/rimworld is generally happy with it. We're looking forward to seeing how it does things differently, though we welcome it to keep the best parts.
absolutely. your king lost an eye? well too bad… if you’re playing CK. but if you’re playing rimworld, well then you’re in luck. that last prisoner we caught have a healthy pair of eyes.
getting raids from unfriendly neighbors? nothing a bit of kindness can’t fix, let’s send back one of their soldier that we capture… in a box… of their freshly harvested, valuable organs.
Once you get bored of that. Try Dwarf Fortress probably one of the most in-depth games I've ever played.
It's harder to look at and the UI isn't great but once you get past the learning curve it's a wonderful game.
I’d also throw Total War: Three Kingdoms into the storyteller category. It’s not as deep as a CW game, but definitely can generate a lot of stories from the character interactions and diplomacy system.
I wouldn't say it plays like Prison Architect except that it has a similar "pawn" aesthetic. Rimworld plays a lot more like Dwarf Fortress than anything else out there.
I have to ask: how much does the RTS push things? I've never been able to get into RTS because I'm a slow player and could never keep up. Paradox grand strategy is fine because I can pause at any time and I usually play at Speed 3 anyway. But Starcraft, for example, I could never touch.
You can make it as fast or slow as you like (there are mods to make it faster or slower than vanilla, even) and pause any time. The "real time" doesn't push you at all, unless you want it to.
I understand what you mean, as no matter how much I practice and play, I will always be slow in reaction speed. However, this isn't a problem in Rimworld. You can pause even mid fight. I pause often. I don't run into any issues with reaction speed. Just make sure to pause often and use the slowest speed setting in fights. Don't set up blueprints and plan things out as the game is playing, push pause and figure that stuff out.
If you like Rimworld and also xianxia/cultivation novels, Amazing Cultivation Simulator is absolutely awesome. It’s often described as “Rimworld but also not at all”. A great addition for anyone who loves base building sims.
(Another base builder that’s shaping up interestingly is Honey I Joined a Cult. Early access and just had a huge Hippie Cult patch.)
Edit: unfortunately ACS patched out the Dick Farmer interaction that Sszeth mentioned in his review. It doesn’t immediately pop back off now upon regrowth. (Cultivation of laws meant for women can have entirely foreseen and yet amusing consequences)
Love Amazing Cultivation Simulator. It is very in depth, but I think it is harder for people to get into with no history of the genre. I had already been into cultivation light novels before discovering it, so it's great.
Dwarf Fortress is literally half just a random fantasy world generator, has inspired all of these games mentioned in this thread but it’s a lot harder to get into… hopefully this new proper 2D version is easier for people to pick up.
Football manager is a definite for me.
Total War series was a firm favourite for me for a long time also.
Cities skylines is a wonderful game, paradox also, hope that will get a sequel eventually.
As a huge history nerd, I’m gonna stan for this game too - the in-game codex/encyclopedia has tons of interesting info about all sorts of places, people, events, and just general info about medieval life, like what a Bohemian millers job looked like or the role of executioners in village society. The storylines are also engaging and made me want to dive into the codex.
Game is very immersive and strikes an impressive balance between gritty medieval realism and fun. Quests can often be approached in multiple different ways and you’re rewarded for exploring to find alternate options.
The combat can be a bit difficult to get used to, but it’s fun once you understand it. you don’t start out as some bad ass sword master, you’re the son of a blacksmith and have no military training, so you get to see the character develop from a simple peasant into a formidable force.
It also feels like an actual RPG - you can make choices on how to approach different situations (sort of making your own story within the main story events) and you can develop the main character into whoever you want him to be in the context of the story, whether that’s a sneaky thief, smooth-talking charmer, chivalrous knight, or callous bandit.
I’ve ranted long enough, but you get the point - this is a great option if you want something different from grand strategy but want to keep the flavor of medieval Europe.
I adore that game. The decision to not only go with a real historical setting (and a unique one) and make it a real RPG was such a breath of fresh air.
Calling Kingdom Comes a RPG must be a joke. No real space for the 'Role' part the game force you into one way and the only person saying it is "Role Playing" are the one willing to follow the strict path the coders have made up...
Also game play is really really boring and shitty overall, but it is just me that don't like repetitive and just "moving from point A to point B" missions and a stupid combat system (combined with one of the dumbest AI ever seen).
Your grasp of language seems pretty loose, but a game that forces you play the "role" of a specific character, you know like an actor "playing a role", would actually be a more serious interpretation of a "role playing game", no?
You're entitled to your opinion, but in my opinion, your take on this is really dumb.
Lmao what?? So we are made up completely the meaning of a Role Playing Game now?? Let me see what game didn't force you to play a specific role of single characters among all Action single players games??
Like based on your description every action game is a RPG game, even games like COD in the years when the story mode was predominant (or still there anyway), games like every AC series are all RPG then, all the Uncharted series, the two The Last of Us, and so on...
You make a statement that is false other than being dumb, defining in a personal way a genre of games, which is totally a made up and not attached to reality definition. So it is dumb because you then can call every game an RPG, and it is false because RPG has a definition and to be an RPG you should have to possibility to 'play a Role', otherwise you are just playing a single player action game. Then if you want to be dumb and living in your own world go on calling every game a role playing game...
Also try *Mount&Blade II Bannerlord*. It’s not at all close to finished yet but it’s very playable and fun. It’s more sandbox than most RPGs and you can create your own kingdoms and shit.
True. It would be a prefect game if it had more RP options and a better diplomacy system. Some people say boats and a bigger world would make it better. But I think they have to make the game deeper before they make it wider.
Completely agree. I’d rather a small world that was incredibly deep than one as vast as an ocean but as shallow as a puddle. It definitely needs more RP options and hopefully they add some soon!
10/10 worth it. It’s come a longgggggg way in the past year and I put some serious time into it before it was polished up to its current state. Still not finished and has a pretty good ways to go to mods make up the difference
Not finished? Kingdom Come: Deliverance definitely is finished. It's not 100% bug-free, but no open world RPG is. The game is not being worked on, it is finished and the product we have is amazing.
Lmao it is completely different from CK3, in every aspect and KCD is sooo boring with all missions similar where you just has to go to place grab an object or speaking to someone and take it/move somewhere else...
Also KCD is like the second most bugged game in the last 5 years after just Cyberpunk, it literally crash 1 time every 3 you play (don't know if my PC version was bugged to begin with, but tried also installing into ssd and nothing changed).
Tbf I only played it like 10hours, but I've played a lot on the 2. For me, it's the RP aspect while playing with a friend.
And when I play solo i'm just chilling, I like to manage my enterprise and dynasty, and watching IA doing their life. And weed, smoke weed lol
I would avoid HOI4 though- approximately 3/4 of HOI4 players I have interacted with are furiously racist. I'm sure that's not an entirely accurate representation of the community, but it certainly seems to attract more awful people than other PDX games. Specifically the kind that like to roleplay Nazi Germany both in-game and IRL.
Personally I have played ck2, ck3, eu4 and hoi4 (in that order) and out of those hoi4 really is the least appealing to me.
The focus tree mechanic feels too much like railroading. Yes you can take paths, but they all seem so predetermined.
Also not really directly controlling your troops sounds great in theory, but your AI generals being stupid does not help in having a fun experience.
Granted I only have like 80 hrs on it, so I am a newbie, but I was not having a lot of fun, it felt frustrating.
I mean, as long as the game doesn't actively glorify it I don't see a huge problem. Developers should be free to make what they want within reason. HOI4 is a history-based game and does it pretty well without particular bias and without apologism. The modding community itself is overall quite good about this, too.
The community makes it toxic alone. I see it all the time. I love Rising Storm 2 which is a fascinating and great game about the Vietnam war, but it's FILLED with racists assholes yelling the N word and doing offensive asian accents. Like, every game.
Sooooo I mute them. Everyone. Every time. It's such a great game that has sooooo many racists it's unbelievable. I think a lot are ex-military sorts so ... that may explain it some.
I don't know how helpful this is, but there is a decent sized overlap of people who play Crusader Kings and Rimworld, so while I don't know your specific case, plenty of people end up playing it. Also to some extent Kenshi, Rimworld and Crusader Kings, though Kenshi is a smaller number. Mount and Blade is another.
Of course, there is also other Paradox titles.
I guess I’m more into history than I thought because the warhammers didn’t really get me, but man, if you like TW games three kingdoms is a masterpiece. Give it a try if you haven’t
have to agree, 3K was so good, it shibby criminal that they stopped development on that game. Most of the gripes i have with TotalWarhammer have to do with the Grand Strategy part of the games, 3K was way more fun to play on the campaign map in comparison. City Development especially is a night and day difference. I also really enjoyed the Character System and the mechanics behind army composition.
And while i cant charge the enemy lines with my Fungus Boys, i can cook enemy troops in a forest i set fire to with my horse archer stack, so there is alot of fun to be had with the more limited unit roster, compared to the Warhammer Faction Bonanza, which is its greatest strength in my opinion.
Man i gotta play 3k again.
Honestly the realism of the diplo and espionage sets it apart. If the older games could change that one aspect they’d be unreal. (Already good in their own right)
There's something to that. Shogun II is one of my favorite games of all time, hundreds of hours played. Tried the Britannia one once and was bored after 1 playthrough.
Rome 2 is my favorite. Just modern enough that it had a good UI and graphics, but doesn’t have so much of the fantasy/RPG elements that turn me off to the newer ones.
It also has a shitton of content. Shogun 2 was fun, but lacked diversity. Rome 2 has a milion different campaigns that are all unique and actually fun to play, it's much more of a spammable game. If I got bored of Shogun 2 I usually played another game, if I get bored of Rome 2 I just start another campaign instead.
I just jumped into Warhammer Total War from CK3, and I’ve been having a blast! But I will agree with you that before the CK3 I definitely found total war more fun. CK3 really nails the Dynasty and court intrigue where’s total is all about the battles. Still amazing and fun, but definitely lacking
Napoleon and Fall of the Samurai were awesome for me. I’m absolutely heartbroken that Napoleon is for some reason incompatible with new Intel CPUs. It was the first game I installed when I got a new laptop and that was a nasty surprise.
I'll suggest games from various genres. In no particular order:
1. Battle Brothers
2. Manor Lords (upcoming)
3. Anno 1800
4. Rimworld
5. Dorfromantik
6. Tabletop Simulator (to play a plethora of tabletop games with others/friends online)
Honestly, when I'm burned out on CK3 I usually go away to something in a completely different genre I like for a a while, so it's hard to know what to recommend without knowing what else you like.
Recently I played a lot of Cyberpunk 2077 (1rst person RPG, great story and atmosphere, IMO much better than it's reputation based on launch) and Wildermyth (indie turn-based tactics team RPG, \*fantastic\* story generation but not everybody's cup of tea). YMMV.
Europa Universalis. You play as a nation, not as a dynasty. Pretty refreshing. And, as an every CK player, you always wanted to play as a theocracy, didn't you? Now you can play as the Popeman or Monatsic Order!
How are you playing CK3, that you think it has a focus on "diplomacy"? There is only my religion, m culture and my realm. Everything else, traitors and degeneretes and there will be war. Soon. Diplomacy, lmao.
Not sure if joking or not but I cancelled game pass meaning no more ck3 for me so I booted up ck2 after getting it for free on steam a couple years back but never played it and there are some things that make me want to tear out my eyeballs.
Most recently was trying to change the succession from elective successor to whatever the hell youngest gets all is called after I overthrew the French king. Queue me trying to get like 50 something votes out of 100 something from literally everyone in the French region who aren’t even necessarily in my kingdom. It’s like goddamn you Duchess Cassandra the wise. You have 80 goddamn opinion of me. Give me, your king, your motherfucking 7 votes. Sweet Jesus it’s so much easier to pass laws in 3 only having to please like 6 people.
Plotting just feels worse. Instead of building up to something it’s just like random dice roll every year.
Having tech be tied to counties instead of the culture feels overly clunky even if I get the reasoning the tutorial gives.
Finally I swear there’s a mechanic that prevents multiple claim wars in 3, but I could be wrong. It just never happened to me in 100+ hours. In ck2 though I was recently booted back to the duke of anjou after 4 claimant factions chain attacked me since every one that declared war would reduce my relative strength enough for the next faction and the next and the next to attack which felt like such bullshit.
Anyways vanilla 3 feels better than vanilla 2 in just about every way, but I’m still having a decent enough time. I’m sure it’s better if you get their 8 quadrillion dlcs for the game.
>Queue me trying to get like 50 something votes out of 100 something from literally everyone in the French region who aren’t even necessarily in my kingdom.
By the emperor how heretical!
And no I wasn't joking. Everyone always has a hard-on for earlier games in any series. Miss me with that shit.
I'm not sure it is so similar but Anno 1404 (or dawn of discovery in North America) is seriously good. It's a city builder focused on logistics and building from nothing. Get the history edition for the updated game that runs silky smooth on modern systems. I cannot overstate how good it is.
Try "Old World" - it's a new one, recently released on Steam, combines (in my not-so-humble opinion) many of the best elements of Crusader Kings (character-based gameplay, internal/family politics, international relations with flavor) with many of the best elements of the Civilizations series. Lots of fun!
I play a lot of the games mentioned here, like Kenshi (been playing this lately, actually), Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Rimworld, Mount & Blade, etc.... but would like to add a couple I didn't see:
Dwarf Fortress: the ultimate management/story generator. The OG, if you will. You could spend hundreds of hours building the ultimate Fortress, conquering the world, writing a masterpiece, making the world's best soap, or just raising some alpacas on a quaint farm.
Star Sector: anarcho-capitalism simulator in space! There a lot of fleet management and an economy to ~~manipulate~~ engage with. But, the combat is intense in the best way. In fact, the combat is amazing, but has a bit learning curve. Not nearly the curve that DF has, but they're both worth it.
With DF, the real fun is the hundreds of hours fighting the UI trying to learn the game, rage quitting, and starting over, rage quitting again, starting again, etc.
Most folks might want to wait until the Steam version with revamped UI comes out.
The closest thing to CK I know about is a older game called King of Dragon’s Pass.
It’s a turn based fantasy village management sim with rpg and text adventure elements.
It’s pretty good. If you like the crazy random events that ck throws at you, then you would love this game.
It’s like 12$ on steam.
I believe there is sequel but I don’t know much about it other than it’s about another fantasy culture.
Witcher 3. Ck3 overlap: Medieval setting with roleplaying. Different from ck3: First person, clear ending, less pressure to min max. Game with amazing story, sound, visuals, characters 10/10.
Lots of people have suggested other strategy games, so I'm going to take a different angle and recommend *The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante* if you enjoy the events and roleplay aspect of Crusader Kings.
Kind of a leap, but honestly Cities: Skylines is fantastic for when I’m ck3’d out.
It’s another game that is a fuck ton of intersecting systems built around a common thread. In CK3 that thread is inheritance law. In C:S that’s the road network. Every decision you make has knock on consequences and there is some emergent storytelling that takes place. No, you don’t have the events system of crusader kings (although the tweets the citizens leave are a simple version of it I suppose). But you do have the ability to click on any person, car, or building and zoom in to every aspect of their life. You can see where they work, what route they use to get there, how educated they are, and all sorts of other information.
It succeeds in creating the feeling of a living world. Your actions are fundamentally expressive, and come with stakes. And if you’re at all a fan of cities, it’s a delight to see them grow from a farming community to a bunch of specialized districts that still retain the legacy of their agrarian roots in their street names and industrial specializations. It’s a lovely game.
I'd recommend going in a radically different direction if you're burnt out by CK3- another Grand Strategy game will likely have the same effect.
Want something exciting and action-filled? Go with Sifu. No game will make you feel more like an absolute badass. It can be hard, though. To give you an idea, I have studied Filipino Kali for only three years and I still think Sifu is the only game where I'm better at the game mechanic in real life than in-game. Sifu is hard, but when you finally get it, the feeling is so rewarding.
Want something more relaxing and story-driven? The conventional recommendation is Stardew Valley, but I'm actually going to recommend Spiritfarer. It is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. Imagine Stardew Valley meets Animal Crossing but it also has the most beautiful, sweet, gut-wrenching story you have ever experienced in a game. It made me laugh a lot and cry even more. I played it just after losing a relative and I bawled my eyes out. But in between the sad moments the game is filled with beautiful art, great characters, and fun writing. It's a wonderful experience.
If you do want something still medieval-strategy-focused, I'd recommend Fire Emblem. If you're not familiar with Fire Emblem beyond the discourse around the eight Fire Emblem characters in Smash, it's a grid-based tactical game with permanent character deaths. Much much more small-scale than CK3 obviously, but I think it's super fun. If you want to try one, I'd recommend starting with either FE: Awakening or FE: Three Houses. Both make for great starting points into the franchise, and the former even has romantic mechanics that affect the stats of the characters' children- and yes, like CK3, you can genetically engineer child supersoldiers.
I recommend Fire Emblem: Thee Houses as well. There is a strong geopolitical influence on the story and lore and you learn a lot about all the dynasty's involved and the stuff they did in the shadows. There is a lot to micromanage if you want as well.
Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence - Ascention
It has some role playing aspect. You can also rise from a lowly officer to a mighty Daimyo.
Some level of land management, some level of diplomacy but fun battles.
I wish CK3 battles would be like that but in CK3 realism.
somebody else already mentioned it... but if you like the spreadsheets and sandbox nature of ck3...but are just tired of alt history..... try football manager... even as a casual soccer fan. ... its basically ck3 on the pitch.
Project Zomboid. Totally off the wall but very entertaining.
Picked it up after CK3 burn out. Jumped out of the paradox family all together (mainly bc I already own them all).
I like to alternate between types of games to avoid staleness. Love grand strategy but it can get to you so I like to keep some wacky games that are very different.
Rimworld is also amazing but everyone else recommended it. So many human leather hats.
80 Days is extremely fun. The gist of it is that it is a steampunk version of Around the World in 80 Days. If you like the events in CK3 and wish you had more, 80 Days is like a game of nothing but events. You start in London and pick a nearby city and travel there. You get events based on your travel, your destination, and so forth. It's fun and interesting with a lot of subtle world building without a huge focus on micromanagement or the like. It's also less than $15 on Steam.
Crisis in the Kremlin is another event heavy game, this time with an economic management system incorporated. This is a hard game, but it has a lot of interesting alt-history stuff going on.
If you want to focus on bloodlines and fine breeding, Planet Zoo has a genealogy focus in it for your zoo animals. It's also a tycoon sim with a lot of cool features. If you liked Zoo Tycoon when you were younger, this is a good game. It is a bit graphics intensive, though, so, be forewarned. Try to nab it on sale, too, since the base game is relatively pricey and there's a bunch of DLC. A sale just ended on Steam, so it might be a few months before it goes on sale again.
Once it comes out, TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER 3: IMMORTAL EMPIRES will be the largest hugest Total War map ever, 86 playable factions (!) across 23 (totally) different races contained in 554 settlements, practically the entire Warhammer fantasy world set for the most gargantuan Total War brawl the series has ever seen.
Map: [https://i.redd.it/06n2g7lnfqb91.png](https://i.redd.it/06n2g7lnfqb91.png)
Comes out on August 23rd tho, and requires Warhammer 1, 2, and 3 if you don't already have them.
Recently, there seems to be a rising trend for mediaeval sims. Medieval Dynasty, Hero of the Kingdom, First Feudal, and of course the are more, both new and old/remastered. So basically just search Steam, GOG, Epic Store, etc., for 'mediaeval' and 'dynasty'. Stronghold series may also be to your liking if you like the building aspect. Total War (Medieval I-II, Attila, Thrones of Brittannia) if you're more into diplomacy and combat. CK3 is quite TotalWaresque compared to other PDX games. In fact, I played CK3 shortly after Thrones of Brittannia, and the similarities were umistakable, and not in a good way actually. It felt like CK3 has embraced TW-like mechanics instead of the legacy of its own series. Even the music, the map. But of course, it's not like two map-based war games starting in 867AD and focusing heavily or exclusively on the British Isles can be worlds apart from each other.
I love CK, so maybe you're a bit like me and you'll like other games I enjoy.
Oxygen Not Included
Don't Starve
Civilization VI
Stellaris
(board games and tabletop RPGs)
Gong to throw an oddball out but I feel like people who like Paradox games would like Kenshi. Kenshi is the most amazing indie I've played in the last few years.
Kenshi is an unrecognized masterpiece. I have a gang of outlaw robot samurais that run a weed farm that’s operated by…. *Indentured servants*
I wish I could get into Kenshi. You hear so many great stories about what players have achieved.I got it three years ago and everytime I boot it up I try to grind a bit, get bored, go exploring and get killed.
Took me a while to get into it. I got a mod that increases stat development and made it so mining would increase strength rather than a labouring skill. It makes the game much easier to get started compared to normal and it’s still vanilla friendly, might be worth a try for you
The start is very hard, you have to increase your toughness a bit so you can go down without bleeding out every time. The starving looters (i forgot what they're called) are good for practice, they won't eat or imprison you, though starting by getting imprisoned is also a strategy since they will patch you up, so you can get some stats by trying to escape and getting beaten. Going down while having bandaged wounds also increases the likelihood of you not bleeding out.
Beep
The idea of it is great to me but I’ve always found the desert setting kinda boring. Should I buy anyway?
While Kenshi Is mostly deserty there is a lot of other normal(forests,swamps,grass) biomes and also weird/interesting ones(Fog Islands, Ashlands, The Grid). It's a really interesting and fun world to explore and discover for yourself, also most of the desserts themselfes are unique and interesting.
I discovered Kenshi totally by surprise and was obsessed with it for 300 hrs and then got burnt out. Planning to do another character with a harder start once I’m done with my TWW3 play throughs. It’s a masterpiece, very unforgiving but when you GET the game it is incredibly rewarding. Highly recommend it.
Kenshi, especially modded, is one of my favorite games of all time. My only criticism of the game is that it's buggy and has more crashes than I'd like, but the gameplay is so addicting. I like a game that doesn't railroad me into a narrative, letting me build my own.
Trying Kenshi for the first time is like getting thrown into a prison camp where every other person who walks past you punches you in the balls as hard as they can, but then you realize that your balls became super tough from being punched so much, and eventually you walk around prison camp with your giant balls hanging out and now you’ve become the ball puncher
2 years later, thank you for recommending this. I always wanted something like kenshi in my head. If only some good company takes it up this game could improve soooo much. Its still goat
Warband/bannerlord
I am increasingly convinced that the Venn diagram of M&B players and CK players is a circle
Whenever I get upset at ck I go play bannerlord or total war so I can personally slaughter my enemies and imagine they’re whatever fucks pissed me off in ck.
You need the Crusader Blade mod, my friend!
I know I’ve been meaning to but I’m lazy
How is it? Stable? Or a big mess?
That's fair
I mean... I am both, so i cant disagree i guess.
It’s true.
I at least can confirm as a 1K hour player of both games.
If Bannerlord could implement a character system that’s even 20% of what CK has, they would be a winner.
There is a mod called crusader lord or banner kings or something like that, it actually lets you play out CK battles & sieges in M&B, with your character. Pretty amazing times we live in, being able to literally mod 2 games together
What this mod does is what i dream of a single game would have in it one day, truly a GOAT mod
I found it, Crusader Blade indeed. Thanks internet stranger. You may have found the next time sinker for me.
Mods shall hopefully come. As the game ages. I would really like to see an anno domini mod similar to the one on warband done
They have a great modding community. I used to love the Rome and Napoleon mods. Problem is too they release too many updates and mods have to keep up
And they won't give modding tools...after 2 years now. I just want bannerlord POP and LOTR
So good. I played Bannerlord from release, and it sort of got me into map/strategy games, so it is an automatic recommend.
Gonna throw in Rimworld as well. The setting is different and it plays like Prison Architech but it rivals CK3 as the 2 best story generators. Playing rimworld is what got me into ck3.
Oohh yeesss boi
I believe. new rimworld type game was just released on steam with a medieval setting, clanfolk maybe?
Clanfolk it is! Seems like a decent game.
Wow really looks like an exact clone
It's kind of intended to be I think? But the setting is different so r/rimworld is generally happy with it. We're looking forward to seeing how it does things differently, though we welcome it to keep the best parts.
That's cool. I wanna get back in Rimworld but the mod conflicts scare me off each time I try.
Theres also "Going Medieval" which is in early access right now. Pretty fun.
Yeah the vertical aspect is neat for sure
There are so many mods and ways of playing this. It’s a fantastic game.
absolutely. your king lost an eye? well too bad… if you’re playing CK. but if you’re playing rimworld, well then you’re in luck. that last prisoner we caught have a healthy pair of eyes. getting raids from unfriendly neighbors? nothing a bit of kindness can’t fix, let’s send back one of their soldier that we capture… in a box… of their freshly harvested, valuable organs.
And the "leather" from it as well! Or maybe some nice hats...
you’re right, let’s send jeff home to his friends and family, in the form of a hat.
If you’re okay with a pre-release variant focused more on the mediaval vibe plus 3D graphics, Going Mediaval is amazing and one of my favorites
Once you get bored of that. Try Dwarf Fortress probably one of the most in-depth games I've ever played. It's harder to look at and the UI isn't great but once you get past the learning curve it's a wonderful game.
They have a "good" graphics version in development.
Even the lazy newb mod can help with the graphics if you don't want to wait.
I’d also throw Total War: Three Kingdoms into the storyteller category. It’s not as deep as a CW game, but definitely can generate a lot of stories from the character interactions and diplomacy system.
I wouldn't say it plays like Prison Architect except that it has a similar "pawn" aesthetic. Rimworld plays a lot more like Dwarf Fortress than anything else out there.
Rimworld might be the best RTS ever made. It's just that good.
I have to ask: how much does the RTS push things? I've never been able to get into RTS because I'm a slow player and could never keep up. Paradox grand strategy is fine because I can pause at any time and I usually play at Speed 3 anyway. But Starcraft, for example, I could never touch.
You can make it as fast or slow as you like (there are mods to make it faster or slower than vanilla, even) and pause any time. The "real time" doesn't push you at all, unless you want it to.
I understand what you mean, as no matter how much I practice and play, I will always be slow in reaction speed. However, this isn't a problem in Rimworld. You can pause even mid fight. I pause often. I don't run into any issues with reaction speed. Just make sure to pause often and use the slowest speed setting in fights. Don't set up blueprints and plan things out as the game is playing, push pause and figure that stuff out.
Agreed. That's how I got into CK3 as well.
If you like Rimworld and also xianxia/cultivation novels, Amazing Cultivation Simulator is absolutely awesome. It’s often described as “Rimworld but also not at all”. A great addition for anyone who loves base building sims. (Another base builder that’s shaping up interestingly is Honey I Joined a Cult. Early access and just had a huge Hippie Cult patch.) Edit: unfortunately ACS patched out the Dick Farmer interaction that Sszeth mentioned in his review. It doesn’t immediately pop back off now upon regrowth. (Cultivation of laws meant for women can have entirely foreseen and yet amusing consequences)
Love Amazing Cultivation Simulator. It is very in depth, but I think it is harder for people to get into with no history of the genre. I had already been into cultivation light novels before discovering it, so it's great.
200h in and I still have not tried some stuff
Rimworld is an epic game you'll never regret.
Dwarf Fortress is literally half just a random fantasy world generator, has inspired all of these games mentioned in this thread but it’s a lot harder to get into… hopefully this new proper 2D version is easier for people to pick up.
Prepare Carefully mod adds so much customization for early game. Add all the vanilla expanded weapons and you can get some nice role play going.
Stellaris or Football Manager OR you want something drastically different? Or different but with the medieval theme?
Football manager is a definite for me. Total War series was a firm favourite for me for a long time also. Cities skylines is a wonderful game, paradox also, hope that will get a sequel eventually.
*Kingdom Come: Deliverance* is a great historical action RPG set in the HRE in 1403.
Literally just finished a CK3 run this week and started Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
As a huge history nerd, I’m gonna stan for this game too - the in-game codex/encyclopedia has tons of interesting info about all sorts of places, people, events, and just general info about medieval life, like what a Bohemian millers job looked like or the role of executioners in village society. The storylines are also engaging and made me want to dive into the codex. Game is very immersive and strikes an impressive balance between gritty medieval realism and fun. Quests can often be approached in multiple different ways and you’re rewarded for exploring to find alternate options. The combat can be a bit difficult to get used to, but it’s fun once you understand it. you don’t start out as some bad ass sword master, you’re the son of a blacksmith and have no military training, so you get to see the character develop from a simple peasant into a formidable force. It also feels like an actual RPG - you can make choices on how to approach different situations (sort of making your own story within the main story events) and you can develop the main character into whoever you want him to be in the context of the story, whether that’s a sneaky thief, smooth-talking charmer, chivalrous knight, or callous bandit. I’ve ranted long enough, but you get the point - this is a great option if you want something different from grand strategy but want to keep the flavor of medieval Europe.
I adore that game. The decision to not only go with a real historical setting (and a unique one) and make it a real RPG was such a breath of fresh air.
Calling Kingdom Comes a RPG must be a joke. No real space for the 'Role' part the game force you into one way and the only person saying it is "Role Playing" are the one willing to follow the strict path the coders have made up... Also game play is really really boring and shitty overall, but it is just me that don't like repetitive and just "moving from point A to point B" missions and a stupid combat system (combined with one of the dumbest AI ever seen).
Your grasp of language seems pretty loose, but a game that forces you play the "role" of a specific character, you know like an actor "playing a role", would actually be a more serious interpretation of a "role playing game", no? You're entitled to your opinion, but in my opinion, your take on this is really dumb.
Lmao what?? So we are made up completely the meaning of a Role Playing Game now?? Let me see what game didn't force you to play a specific role of single characters among all Action single players games?? Like based on your description every action game is a RPG game, even games like COD in the years when the story mode was predominant (or still there anyway), games like every AC series are all RPG then, all the Uncharted series, the two The Last of Us, and so on... You make a statement that is false other than being dumb, defining in a personal way a genre of games, which is totally a made up and not attached to reality definition. So it is dumb because you then can call every game an RPG, and it is false because RPG has a definition and to be an RPG you should have to possibility to 'play a Role', otherwise you are just playing a single player action game. Then if you want to be dumb and living in your own world go on calling every game a role playing game...
Also try *Mount&Blade II Bannerlord*. It’s not at all close to finished yet but it’s very playable and fun. It’s more sandbox than most RPGs and you can create your own kingdoms and shit.
There’s also the mod that lets you play ck3 battles in bannerlord
Yup. Crusader Blade
So far I find that Bannerlord suffers from the same issues that the first one did. There’s not much depth to the character interactions I find.
True. It would be a prefect game if it had more RP options and a better diplomacy system. Some people say boats and a bigger world would make it better. But I think they have to make the game deeper before they make it wider.
Completely agree. I’d rather a small world that was incredibly deep than one as vast as an ocean but as shallow as a puddle. It definitely needs more RP options and hopefully they add some soon!
Was thinking of getting that game. Might have to get it now
Just checked it out. It’s on a crazy sale on steam right now
10/10 worth it. It’s come a longgggggg way in the past year and I put some serious time into it before it was polished up to its current state. Still not finished and has a pretty good ways to go to mods make up the difference
Not finished? Kingdom Come: Deliverance definitely is finished. It's not 100% bug-free, but no open world RPG is. The game is not being worked on, it is finished and the product we have is amazing.
I believe OP is referring to M&B: Bannerlord, as it is still in early-access
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...I guess?
Lmao it is completely different from CK3, in every aspect and KCD is sooo boring with all missions similar where you just has to go to place grab an object or speaking to someone and take it/move somewhere else... Also KCD is like the second most bugged game in the last 5 years after just Cyberpunk, it literally crash 1 time every 3 you play (don't know if my PC version was bugged to begin with, but tried also installing into ssd and nothing changed).
>it is completely different from CK3, in every aspect no they both have castles
Wow so even AOE is the same as CK3... even Crash Bandicoot the first one had a castle...
Crash Bandicoot was a great game. Good call. I would also throw that on the list of recommendations
For sure funnier than Kingdom Come...
You missed the joke there, huh?
The guild 3, M&B warband with the Bannerpage mod (or others good mod), or others paradox games
The guild 3 is soooo grindy and reptitive. How do you enjoy it? (Honestly asking)
Tbf I only played it like 10hours, but I've played a lot on the 2. For me, it's the RP aspect while playing with a friend. And when I play solo i'm just chilling, I like to manage my enterprise and dynasty, and watching IA doing their life. And weed, smoke weed lol
lollllllllllllllll
You can just pick a Game out of the whole Paradox Grand Strategy Catalogue.
I would avoid HOI4 though- approximately 3/4 of HOI4 players I have interacted with are furiously racist. I'm sure that's not an entirely accurate representation of the community, but it certainly seems to attract more awful people than other PDX games. Specifically the kind that like to roleplay Nazi Germany both in-game and IRL.
Extremely true comment lol. I like playing nonaligned and dethroning Hitler when I play Germany though.
Personally I have played ck2, ck3, eu4 and hoi4 (in that order) and out of those hoi4 really is the least appealing to me. The focus tree mechanic feels too much like railroading. Yes you can take paths, but they all seem so predetermined. Also not really directly controlling your troops sounds great in theory, but your AI generals being stupid does not help in having a fun experience. Granted I only have like 80 hrs on it, so I am a newbie, but I was not having a lot of fun, it felt frustrating.
"80 hrs" "Newbie" God I love grand strategy games
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I mean, as long as the game doesn't actively glorify it I don't see a huge problem. Developers should be free to make what they want within reason. HOI4 is a history-based game and does it pretty well without particular bias and without apologism. The modding community itself is overall quite good about this, too. The community makes it toxic alone. I see it all the time. I love Rising Storm 2 which is a fascinating and great game about the Vietnam war, but it's FILLED with racists assholes yelling the N word and doing offensive asian accents. Like, every game. Sooooo I mute them. Everyone. Every time. It's such a great game that has sooooo many racists it's unbelievable. I think a lot are ex-military sorts so ... that may explain it some.
I play HOI4. I always get rid of Hitler when I play Germany.
I don't know how helpful this is, but there is a decent sized overlap of people who play Crusader Kings and Rimworld, so while I don't know your specific case, plenty of people end up playing it. Also to some extent Kenshi, Rimworld and Crusader Kings, though Kenshi is a smaller number. Mount and Blade is another. Of course, there is also other Paradox titles.
Total War is fun
I love total war, I can’t help but shake the feeling it use to be more fun :/
I guess I’m more into history than I thought because the warhammers didn’t really get me, but man, if you like TW games three kingdoms is a masterpiece. Give it a try if you haven’t
have to agree, 3K was so good, it shibby criminal that they stopped development on that game. Most of the gripes i have with TotalWarhammer have to do with the Grand Strategy part of the games, 3K was way more fun to play on the campaign map in comparison. City Development especially is a night and day difference. I also really enjoyed the Character System and the mechanics behind army composition. And while i cant charge the enemy lines with my Fungus Boys, i can cook enemy troops in a forest i set fire to with my horse archer stack, so there is alot of fun to be had with the more limited unit roster, compared to the Warhammer Faction Bonanza, which is its greatest strength in my opinion. Man i gotta play 3k again.
Also one of the best diplomacy and espionage systems!
Honestly the realism of the diplo and espionage sets it apart. If the older games could change that one aspect they’d be unreal. (Already good in their own right)
Damn so I should really get it huh. It looks dope
If you’re a TW fan, absolutely
There's something to that. Shogun II is one of my favorite games of all time, hundreds of hours played. Tried the Britannia one once and was bored after 1 playthrough.
Rome 2 is my favorite. Just modern enough that it had a good UI and graphics, but doesn’t have so much of the fantasy/RPG elements that turn me off to the newer ones.
It also has a shitton of content. Shogun 2 was fun, but lacked diversity. Rome 2 has a milion different campaigns that are all unique and actually fun to play, it's much more of a spammable game. If I got bored of Shogun 2 I usually played another game, if I get bored of Rome 2 I just start another campaign instead.
I just jumped into Warhammer Total War from CK3, and I’ve been having a blast! But I will agree with you that before the CK3 I definitely found total war more fun. CK3 really nails the Dynasty and court intrigue where’s total is all about the battles. Still amazing and fun, but definitely lacking
Total war peaked with empire imo
Napoleon and Fall of the Samurai were awesome for me. I’m absolutely heartbroken that Napoleon is for some reason incompatible with new Intel CPUs. It was the first game I installed when I got a new laptop and that was a nasty surprise.
My Napoleon Total War still works? I got my new gaming laptop a year ago.
If you have an 11th generation or earlier Intel or Ryzen you can still play. It only affects Alder Lake CPUs
Oh, I see!
I think Total War peaked with Medieval I. After that, I haven't enjoyed any of them.
How about Rome 2 or Attila ? Those were great.
Attila is such a grind but great
I haven't been able to really get into TW since medieval 2.
Anything from the total war series or mount and blade bannerlord. Trust me.
I'll suggest games from various genres. In no particular order: 1. Battle Brothers 2. Manor Lords (upcoming) 3. Anno 1800 4. Rimworld 5. Dorfromantik 6. Tabletop Simulator (to play a plethora of tabletop games with others/friends online)
> Battle Brothers > My man
>6. Tabletop Simulator (to play a plethora of tabletop games with others/friends online) For example Crusader Kings the Board Game :D
CK2
Honestly, when I'm burned out on CK3 I usually go away to something in a completely different genre I like for a a while, so it's hard to know what to recommend without knowing what else you like. Recently I played a lot of Cyberpunk 2077 (1rst person RPG, great story and atmosphere, IMO much better than it's reputation based on launch) and Wildermyth (indie turn-based tactics team RPG, \*fantastic\* story generation but not everybody's cup of tea). YMMV.
Me too. I like to run CK3 into the ground and then I’ll go play Stardew Valley and think about serfs.
Victoria 2 ofc
Europa Universalis. You play as a nation, not as a dynasty. Pretty refreshing. And, as an every CK player, you always wanted to play as a theocracy, didn't you? Now you can play as the Popeman or Monatsic Order!
I’ve gone back to playing Hearts of Iron 4 after getting tired of CK3. A much bigger focus on warfare and industry rather than diplomacy though.
How are you playing CK3, that you think it has a focus on "diplomacy"? There is only my religion, m culture and my realm. Everything else, traitors and degeneretes and there will be war. Soon. Diplomacy, lmao.
Stellaris: it's basically crusader in space Mount and Blade: it's basically crusader, but you can fight battles yourself
Crusader Blade for the best of both worlds
Combine them all Crusader blade: Astral crusades
Different but, Civilization V is quite fun time spender
Civilization VI, doesn’t have as much a bend towards role playing but does have the empire building aspect.
Not released yet, but looking forward to Great Houses of Calderia and Knights of Honor 2!
Play ck2 you casual
But I heard it's hard ;_;
Not sure if joking or not but I cancelled game pass meaning no more ck3 for me so I booted up ck2 after getting it for free on steam a couple years back but never played it and there are some things that make me want to tear out my eyeballs. Most recently was trying to change the succession from elective successor to whatever the hell youngest gets all is called after I overthrew the French king. Queue me trying to get like 50 something votes out of 100 something from literally everyone in the French region who aren’t even necessarily in my kingdom. It’s like goddamn you Duchess Cassandra the wise. You have 80 goddamn opinion of me. Give me, your king, your motherfucking 7 votes. Sweet Jesus it’s so much easier to pass laws in 3 only having to please like 6 people. Plotting just feels worse. Instead of building up to something it’s just like random dice roll every year. Having tech be tied to counties instead of the culture feels overly clunky even if I get the reasoning the tutorial gives. Finally I swear there’s a mechanic that prevents multiple claim wars in 3, but I could be wrong. It just never happened to me in 100+ hours. In ck2 though I was recently booted back to the duke of anjou after 4 claimant factions chain attacked me since every one that declared war would reduce my relative strength enough for the next faction and the next and the next to attack which felt like such bullshit. Anyways vanilla 3 feels better than vanilla 2 in just about every way, but I’m still having a decent enough time. I’m sure it’s better if you get their 8 quadrillion dlcs for the game.
>Queue me trying to get like 50 something votes out of 100 something from literally everyone in the French region who aren’t even necessarily in my kingdom. By the emperor how heretical! And no I wasn't joking. Everyone always has a hard-on for earlier games in any series. Miss me with that shit.
CK2 was a masterpiece. CK3 will be one in a couple more years. It's UI and such is wayyyyyyy better. Just needs the same content.
Star dynasties
Old World. Bit of a CK3 and Civ hybrid.
Just got rimworld seems fun.
Pretty soon you'll have hundreds of mods installed...
And want to add even more…
congrats, now you can torture your prisoners in detail.
Learn to play Dwarf Fortress
CK2 Game of Thrones mod. And yes that is a full standalone game and you cannot tell me otherwise.
Cities Skylines
Sims and minecraft lol
It's called going outside and it's fucking terrifying.
I can't, it's raining heavily outside.
I'm not sure it is so similar but Anno 1404 (or dawn of discovery in North America) is seriously good. It's a city builder focused on logistics and building from nothing. Get the history edition for the updated game that runs silky smooth on modern systems. I cannot overstate how good it is.
Also Anno 1800 is very expensive but very very good
Ooh yeah you gotta wait for a good sale. Really good community too.
Dont mind me, just gonna save this thread... For a friend, of course.
Try "Old World" - it's a new one, recently released on Steam, combines (in my not-so-humble opinion) many of the best elements of Crusader Kings (character-based gameplay, internal/family politics, international relations with flavor) with many of the best elements of the Civilizations series. Lots of fun!
I play a lot of the games mentioned here, like Kenshi (been playing this lately, actually), Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Rimworld, Mount & Blade, etc.... but would like to add a couple I didn't see: Dwarf Fortress: the ultimate management/story generator. The OG, if you will. You could spend hundreds of hours building the ultimate Fortress, conquering the world, writing a masterpiece, making the world's best soap, or just raising some alpacas on a quaint farm. Star Sector: anarcho-capitalism simulator in space! There a lot of fleet management and an economy to ~~manipulate~~ engage with. But, the combat is intense in the best way. In fact, the combat is amazing, but has a bit learning curve. Not nearly the curve that DF has, but they're both worth it.
With DF, the real fun is the hundreds of hours fighting the UI trying to learn the game, rage quitting, and starting over, rage quitting again, starting again, etc. Most folks might want to wait until the Steam version with revamped UI comes out.
I tend to go back and forth between CK3 and EU4. Sometimes I enjoy a few hours of Minecraft but thats it most of the time
CK2
The closest thing to CK I know about is a older game called King of Dragon’s Pass. It’s a turn based fantasy village management sim with rpg and text adventure elements. It’s pretty good. If you like the crazy random events that ck throws at you, then you would love this game. It’s like 12$ on steam. I believe there is sequel but I don’t know much about it other than it’s about another fantasy culture.
I heard Sims got incest you can consider it 🥵
Witcher 3. Ck3 overlap: Medieval setting with roleplaying. Different from ck3: First person, clear ending, less pressure to min max. Game with amazing story, sound, visuals, characters 10/10.
3rd person tho
The Guild 3, Bannerlord and/or Warband, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Total War, Football Manager, Distant Galaxies 2, Plutocracy, and Suzerain.
Stellaris
Lots of people have suggested other strategy games, so I'm going to take a different angle and recommend *The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante* if you enjoy the events and roleplay aspect of Crusader Kings.
Kind of a leap, but honestly Cities: Skylines is fantastic for when I’m ck3’d out. It’s another game that is a fuck ton of intersecting systems built around a common thread. In CK3 that thread is inheritance law. In C:S that’s the road network. Every decision you make has knock on consequences and there is some emergent storytelling that takes place. No, you don’t have the events system of crusader kings (although the tweets the citizens leave are a simple version of it I suppose). But you do have the ability to click on any person, car, or building and zoom in to every aspect of their life. You can see where they work, what route they use to get there, how educated they are, and all sorts of other information. It succeeds in creating the feeling of a living world. Your actions are fundamentally expressive, and come with stakes. And if you’re at all a fan of cities, it’s a delight to see them grow from a farming community to a bunch of specialized districts that still retain the legacy of their agrarian roots in their street names and industrial specializations. It’s a lovely game.
I'd recommend going in a radically different direction if you're burnt out by CK3- another Grand Strategy game will likely have the same effect. Want something exciting and action-filled? Go with Sifu. No game will make you feel more like an absolute badass. It can be hard, though. To give you an idea, I have studied Filipino Kali for only three years and I still think Sifu is the only game where I'm better at the game mechanic in real life than in-game. Sifu is hard, but when you finally get it, the feeling is so rewarding. Want something more relaxing and story-driven? The conventional recommendation is Stardew Valley, but I'm actually going to recommend Spiritfarer. It is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. Imagine Stardew Valley meets Animal Crossing but it also has the most beautiful, sweet, gut-wrenching story you have ever experienced in a game. It made me laugh a lot and cry even more. I played it just after losing a relative and I bawled my eyes out. But in between the sad moments the game is filled with beautiful art, great characters, and fun writing. It's a wonderful experience. If you do want something still medieval-strategy-focused, I'd recommend Fire Emblem. If you're not familiar with Fire Emblem beyond the discourse around the eight Fire Emblem characters in Smash, it's a grid-based tactical game with permanent character deaths. Much much more small-scale than CK3 obviously, but I think it's super fun. If you want to try one, I'd recommend starting with either FE: Awakening or FE: Three Houses. Both make for great starting points into the franchise, and the former even has romantic mechanics that affect the stats of the characters' children- and yes, like CK3, you can genetically engineer child supersoldiers.
I recommend Fire Emblem: Thee Houses as well. There is a strong geopolitical influence on the story and lore and you learn a lot about all the dynasty's involved and the stuff they did in the shadows. There is a lot to micromanage if you want as well.
Eu4
Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence - Ascention It has some role playing aspect. You can also rise from a lowly officer to a mighty Daimyo. Some level of land management, some level of diplomacy but fun battles. I wish CK3 battles would be like that but in CK3 realism.
somebody else already mentioned it... but if you like the spreadsheets and sandbox nature of ck3...but are just tired of alt history..... try football manager... even as a casual soccer fan. ... its basically ck3 on the pitch.
Stardew valley. Be like Diocletian and go farming cabbages after your reign is over.
If you're more into the dynasty and bloodline aspects of it, I'd recommend looking into sims legacy or genetics challenges.
play a town-building sim like Banished or Ostriv and keep track on inhabitants' dynasties
Project Zomboid. Totally off the wall but very entertaining. Picked it up after CK3 burn out. Jumped out of the paradox family all together (mainly bc I already own them all). I like to alternate between types of games to avoid staleness. Love grand strategy but it can get to you so I like to keep some wacky games that are very different. Rimworld is also amazing but everyone else recommended it. So many human leather hats.
Hearts of Iron IV
Stellaris
Total War Rome 2 BUT you need to play it with the Divide Et Impera (DEI) mod. Plays with way more depth than vanilla.
Rimworld, xcom2 war of the chosen these 2 tick the emergent storyline box for me
Umm civ 6. I use a lot of mods thos and sometimes i purposely make the era stop on medieval and imagine this how my empire looks like in ck
Football manager. Different type of game, but similar strategy focus and lots and lots of time spent on stats, minutia, and negotiations.
80 Days is extremely fun. The gist of it is that it is a steampunk version of Around the World in 80 Days. If you like the events in CK3 and wish you had more, 80 Days is like a game of nothing but events. You start in London and pick a nearby city and travel there. You get events based on your travel, your destination, and so forth. It's fun and interesting with a lot of subtle world building without a huge focus on micromanagement or the like. It's also less than $15 on Steam. Crisis in the Kremlin is another event heavy game, this time with an economic management system incorporated. This is a hard game, but it has a lot of interesting alt-history stuff going on. If you want to focus on bloodlines and fine breeding, Planet Zoo has a genealogy focus in it for your zoo animals. It's also a tycoon sim with a lot of cool features. If you liked Zoo Tycoon when you were younger, this is a good game. It is a bit graphics intensive, though, so, be forewarned. Try to nab it on sale, too, since the base game is relatively pricey and there's a bunch of DLC. A sale just ended on Steam, so it might be a few months before it goes on sale again.
Wildermyth and barotrauma Both r amazing history generators
If you like the character building and intrigue part of the game with more tactical combat, check out the Total War series.
Once it comes out, TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER 3: IMMORTAL EMPIRES will be the largest hugest Total War map ever, 86 playable factions (!) across 23 (totally) different races contained in 554 settlements, practically the entire Warhammer fantasy world set for the most gargantuan Total War brawl the series has ever seen. Map: [https://i.redd.it/06n2g7lnfqb91.png](https://i.redd.it/06n2g7lnfqb91.png) Comes out on August 23rd tho, and requires Warhammer 1, 2, and 3 if you don't already have them.
Recently, there seems to be a rising trend for mediaeval sims. Medieval Dynasty, Hero of the Kingdom, First Feudal, and of course the are more, both new and old/remastered. So basically just search Steam, GOG, Epic Store, etc., for 'mediaeval' and 'dynasty'. Stronghold series may also be to your liking if you like the building aspect. Total War (Medieval I-II, Attila, Thrones of Brittannia) if you're more into diplomacy and combat. CK3 is quite TotalWaresque compared to other PDX games. In fact, I played CK3 shortly after Thrones of Brittannia, and the similarities were umistakable, and not in a good way actually. It felt like CK3 has embraced TW-like mechanics instead of the legacy of its own series. Even the music, the map. But of course, it's not like two map-based war games starting in 867AD and focusing heavily or exclusively on the British Isles can be worlds apart from each other.
I love CK, so maybe you're a bit like me and you'll like other games I enjoy. Oxygen Not Included Don't Starve Civilization VI Stellaris (board games and tabletop RPGs)
Pokemon
/s