Games Of Throne: How Crusader Kings 2 is the greatest Littlefinger simulator around

Welcome to Games Of Throne, a new irregular feature on games and Game Of Thrones! As the media juggernaut of GOT/ASOIAF grows in strength, its influences and adaptations are going to increase in number. Game Of Thrones seems particularly well-suited to gaming—it’s right there in the title! I’m excited to use my experience as a game critic to highlight games that might appeal to Thrones fans, as well as use games to highlight explore aspects of Game Of Thrones’ story.

For example: strategic games are built around rules and constraints, highlighting what choices the players can make by restriction what they can’t. The feudal system of Westeros, where lords have autonomy and their own armies but are supposed to follow the laws of the king, contains its own rules and wiggle room. For example, Robb Stark cannot declare for the Iron Throne at the start of the War Of The Five Kings, because the Starks have no claim to the throne, so instead he declares independence, which ends up making his war strategically muddled, leading indirectly to his downfall. Rules guide his play.

There’s no video game better at exploring the game of feudalism than Crusader Kings 2 from Paradox Interactive. I even saw a presentation by its lead designer where he lamented the fact that the Game Of Thrones name was taken, since it was perfect for his game of politics, backstabbing, arranged marriages, and war. Why’s that?

Crusader Kings 2 is a slow-paced strategy game, where you control the dynastic head of a family in medieval Europe, from lowly count to Holy Roman Emperor. Its original chronology took place between Norman invasion of England in 1066 and the fall of Byzantium in 1453. However, several expansions have started the game hundreds of years earlier, and also make Vikings, Muslims, and even the Indian sub-continent playable.

What makes Crusader Kings 2 that makes it the ultimate Game Of Thrones strategy games is its use of characters. It fills its world with characters, gives them all personality traits, then relationships with one another, and all this is transparent for players to see. Cynical characters hate Zealous religious characters, while powerful lords who’ve crushed rebellions earn respect.

For example, CK2 models the conditions of Game Of Thrones’ War Of The Five Kings almost perfectly on its own. In the game, vassal lords are more likely to rebel if they don’t like their liege. Every new king is initially disliked for being new, which is strike one. Joffrey’s personal traits/history would include things like “suspected bastard” and “cruel,” both of which would make people dislike him. Then his execution of Ned Stark would cause everyone in the Stark family to loathe him, and every vassal in the realm to dislike him a little more. And then as soon as one powerful vassal rebels, the others see their chance and attack as well: Stannis, with his rightful claim, and ambitious Renly and Balon follow suit.

It’s not just that Game Of Thrones could be modeled in the game, but that Crusader Kings 2 exists to create GOT-like stories all the time. As a powerful lord, its game rules encourage you play like Tywin Lannister: ruthlessly crushing rebellions, aggressively using marriages to build alliances, and pursuing stability as a priority. A minor lord, on the other hand, could follow Petyr Baelish’s example by sowing chaos wherever possible, then taking advantage of it to fulfill his or her ambitions. And a medium-sized lord, well, they’ll have to do both at once, which is a fascinating role to play.

Describing it like this makes Crusader Kings 2 seem almost too good to believe. I’ve played games for decades looking for a cutthroat political intrigue simulator, and was starting to believe it wasn’t really possible before playing CK2. But the power of its storytelling engine comes at a cost: it’s a complex game, and it doesn’t do a good job of introducing new players to that complexity. There are a bunch of video tutorials on YouTube, or, if you’re like me and prefer to read your instructions, I’ve written a guide. Once the game clicks with you, it’s a lot simpler than it looks, but that’s sadly not immediate.

Finally, the Crusader Kings 2 engine is so perfect for Game Of Thrones-style storytelling that fans immediately decided to make GOT in the game. That user modification (“mod”) is one of most popular and best-constructed of any in CK2, and I’ll definitely be examining it and its gorgeous map of Westeros on its own soon. However, I find that its attempt at simulating the Seven Kingdoms accurately can be a little less fun than the chaos of European expansion in the original Crusader Kings 2.

Either way, the way Crusader Kings 2 creates and recreates the chaos of feudal ambitions makes it an astonishingly good model of Westerosi politics. It’s one of my favorite strategy games of all time, and easily the best I’ve ever played for King’s Landing-style intrigue.

• Published on 09/15/2014 at 7:16 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:40 PM CDT