The Best Medieval Games

Best medieval games at a glance

How these medieval games were selected

The ranking considers:

• Historical detail or a strong medieval-fantasy identity
• Combat, strategy, role-playing or settlement depth
• Whether the world reflects medieval politics, architecture or social structures
• Meaningful progression through skills, armies, property or dynasties
• Solo, cooperative and competitive options
• Replay value through choices, sandbox systems or different campaigns
• Clear differences between historical and fantasy experiences
• PC memory and storage requirements where listed

Manor Lords is identified as an Early Access game because its mechanics, balance and content can continue changing.

1. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

Best overall historical medieval game

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II places the player in 15th-century Europe through the continuing story of Henry.

The open world emphasizes towns, roads, social standing and practical daily systems rather than filling the landscape with magic.

First-person combat requires control of direction, distance and timing. Training matters because Henry’s abilities develop alongside the player’s understanding of the system.

Dialogue, reputation and equipment affect how people respond. Clothing suited to one situation may not create the same impression in another.

Quests support different approaches, including persuasion, stealth, investigation and direct combat.

The game is single-player with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 16 GB RAM and 100 GB of storage.

Choose Kingdom Come: Deliverance II for historical immersion, character progression and a story-led open world without fantasy creatures or spellcasting.

2. Manor Lords

Best medieval city-building game

Manor Lords begins with a small settlement and asks the player to develop a productive medieval territory.

Roads and buildings can follow the landscape rather than remaining restricted to a rigid grid. This makes settlement planning feel connected to terrain.

Households, agriculture, production and trade create an interdependent economy. Expanding one industry can introduce new labor or supply pressures elsewhere.

Seasons and weather affect the rhythm of development. Food and resources must support the settlement beyond one successful harvest.

Military conflict uses local levies and tactical formations, connecting battlefield strength to the population and economy behind it.

Manor Lords is single-player and remains in Early Access, so content and systems can continue changing. Minimum requirements include 8 GB RAM and 15 GB of storage.

Choose it for organic city building and local economic simulation. Crusader Kings III is better for dynasty-scale politics.

3. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Best game for large medieval battles

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord combines action RPG systems, strategy and sandbox warfare.

The player begins with a character and a small group, then recruits soldiers, trades, completes contracts and builds political influence.

Real-time battles allow direct fighting alongside troops while issuing commands to formations.

Cavalry, infantry and ranged units create tactical relationships across open battles and sieges.

The campaign supports a gradual rise from minor adventurer to mercenary, vassal or independent ruler.

It offers single-player and online competitive multiplayer. Minimum requirements include 6 GB RAM and 60 GB of storage.

Choose Bannerlord when commanding an army should not mean watching from a distant strategy map. Players seeking a focused authored story should choose Kingdom Come: Deliverance II instead.

4. Crusader Kings III

Best medieval grand-strategy game

Crusader Kings III treats medieval power as a family project rather than a single ruler’s campaign.

The player manages titles, marriages, heirs, alliances, religion and personal relationships across generations.

Succession can divide carefully assembled lands or place an unsuitable heir in power. Planning for death is therefore as important as expanding during life.

Characters have traits and opinions that influence political behavior. A loyal ally under one ruler may become a rival after succession.

War remains important, but schemes, diplomacy and marriage can achieve results without one decisive battle.

It offers single-player and online competitive multiplayer. Minimum requirements include 8 GB RAM and 20 GB of storage.

Choose Crusader Kings III for dynastic stories, political improvisation and a medieval sandbox where personal relationships become state policy.

5. Medieval Dynasty

Best medieval survival and settlement game

Medieval Dynasty begins at the level of one person gathering food, materials and shelter.

Crafting and construction gradually transform individual survival into a functioning settlement.

Residents can be recruited and assigned to production, allowing the player to manage work rather than perform every task personally.

Seasons influence farming, resources and preparation. A settlement must remain productive across the full year.

Family and succession extend the campaign beyond one character, supporting the dynasty promised by the title.

It offers single-player and online co-op with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 8 GB RAM and 20 GB of storage.

Choose Medieval Dynasty for a slower progression from survival to leadership. Manor Lords provides deeper city planning, while Medieval Dynasty keeps the player physically present in the world.

6. A Plague Tale: Requiem

Best medieval narrative adventure

A Plague Tale: Requiem follows Amicia and Hugo through a dangerous historical-fantasy journey shaped by war, disease and supernatural forces.

Stealth remains central because direct combat can be costly and dangerous.

Tools, environmental hazards and distractions create multiple ways to cross hostile spaces.

The game uses a guided cinematic structure rather than an open sandbox. This supports controlled pacing and detailed story scenes.

Its depiction of medieval environments provides a grounded visual foundation even as the narrative becomes supernatural.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is single-player with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 16 GB RAM and 55 GB of storage.

Choose it for a focused emotional story and stealth-led adventure rather than settlement management or strategic conquest.

7. Wartales

Best tactical medieval mercenary RPG

Wartales places the player in charge of a mercenary group traveling through an open medieval world.

Contracts provide income and direction, while exploration reveals settlements, ruins and regional problems.

Turn-based battles reward positioning, engagement control and coordinated class abilities.

Companions develop through equipment, professions and combat roles. Injuries, wages and supplies connect the battlefield to company management.

Online co-op allows players to share the mercenary campaign.

It offers single-player and online co-op with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 8 GB RAM and 30 GB of storage.

Choose Wartales for tactical combat and a persistent roaming company. Bannerlord is better for armies of hundreds, while Wartales focuses on a smaller customizable group.

8. FOR HONOR

Best competitive medieval combat game

FOR HONOR focuses on direct melee competition between heroes inspired by different warrior traditions.

The Art of Battle system uses directional attacks and guards. Reading an opponent is more important than repeating one long crowd combo.

Heroes differ through range, speed, defensive tools and team roles.

Duels emphasize individual decisions, while larger modes add objectives and coordinated pressure.

It offers single-player, online co-op and competitive multiplayer. Minimum requirements include 4 GB RAM and 90 GB of storage.

Choose FOR HONOR for controlled duels and team-based PvP. Bannerlord is better for large army simulation, while FOR HONOR concentrates on the mechanics of one confrontation.

9. Baldur’s Gate 3

Best party-based medieval fantasy RPG

Baldur’s Gate 3 uses the societies, weapons and architecture of high medieval fantasy inside a Dungeons & Dragons role-playing framework.

Character creation and dialogue choices shape how quests develop.

Turn-based combat rewards positioning, elevation and combinations between spells, abilities and environmental objects.

Companions have personal goals and react to major decisions, making party relationships central to the campaign.

It offers single-player, LAN co-op and online co-op with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 8 GB RAM and 150 GB of storage.

Choose it for fantasy role-playing and narrative freedom. It is not a historical medieval simulation.

10. ELDEN RING

Best dark medieval fantasy game

ELDEN RING uses castles, knights, ruins and feudal power as foundations for a supernatural open world.

Combat depends on spacing, stamina, timing and commitment.

Weapons, spells, attributes and Ashes of War support many builds, from heavy melee to magic-assisted combat.

The open structure allows players to leave a difficult encounter, explore elsewhere and return with greater knowledge or strength.

Storytelling is indirect, with environments and item descriptions providing much of the world’s history.

It offers single-player, online co-op and competitive multiplayer with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 12 GB RAM and 60 GB of storage.

Choose ELDEN RING for difficult bosses and dark fantasy, not for historical realism or ordinary medieval life.

11. DOOM: The Dark Ages

Best medieval-inspired first-person shooter

DOOM: The Dark Ages combines science-fiction weaponry with castles, shields, demons and dark medieval imagery.

The combat is built around direct first-person action rather than historical swordplay.

Heavy attacks and defensive mechanics give encounters a distinct rhythm within the modern DOOM formula.

Its medieval identity is deliberately fantastical and exaggerated, using the period’s visual language for a war against Hell.

The game is single-player with full controller support. Minimum requirements include 16 GB RAM and 100 GB of storage.

Choose it for a medieval-themed shooter and high-impact combat. Players seeking an authentic historical setting should choose Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.

12. Dragon’s Dogma 2

Best companion-focused medieval fantasy action RPG

Dragon’s Dogma 2 places a player-created Arisen inside a fantasy world of kingdoms, villages, roads and large creatures.

Vocations determine weapons, abilities and combat roles.

AI-controlled Pawns form the adventuring party and can provide information, support and combat specialization.

Large monsters create physical encounters where movement and positioning can matter across the creature’s body.

Travel is deliberately consequential, making preparation and party composition important outside combat.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is single-player. Minimum requirements include 16 GB RAM.

Choose it for action, party composition and emergent journeys through a medieval-fantasy world.

13. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Best classic medieval fantasy sandbox

Skyrim provides a broad northern fantasy world filled with towns, ruins, guilds, civil conflict and dragons.

The player can follow the central story or spend long periods exploring side quests and faction campaigns.

Skills improve through use, allowing the character to evolve according to actual play style.

Weapons, armor, magic, crafting and stealth support flexible character builds.

The Special Edition includes the base game and major add-ons alongside technical updates associated with that release.

Skyrim is single-player. Minimum requirements include 8 GB RAM and 12 GB of storage.

Choose it for open-ended fantasy exploration and character freedom. Its systems and presentation reflect an older game more clearly than the newer RPGs above.

Which medieval game should you play first?

Match the recommendation to the experience you want:

• Historical open-world role-playing: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• City building and local tactical warfare: Manor Lords
• Large battles and sandbox conquest: Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
• Dynasty politics and succession: Crusader Kings III
• Survival, crafting and settlement life: Medieval Dynasty
• Linear cinematic storytelling: A Plague Tale: Requiem
• Turn-based mercenary tactics: Wartales
• Competitive directional melee: FOR HONOR
• Choice-driven party fantasy: Baldur’s Gate 3
• Dark open-world fantasy: ELDEN RING
• Medieval-inspired first-person shooting: DOOM: The Dark Ages
• Companion-led action fantasy: Dragon’s Dogma 2
• Classic fantasy sandbox: Skyrim Special Edition

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the strongest first choice for historical immersion. Manor Lords suits city builders, Bannerlord suits battlefield commanders and Baldur’s Gate 3 is the best choice for party-based fantasy.

Best historical medieval games

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the strongest historical RPG because its world, combat and social systems avoid conventional high fantasy.

Manor Lords approaches the period through settlement economies and local warfare. Crusader Kings III works at the level of noble families, religion and dynastic politics.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord uses a fictional world, but its armies, equipment and political sandbox closely follow a medieval framework without spellcasting.

Medieval Dynasty focuses on daily survival, production and settlement growth rather than court politics or large wars.

Best medieval strategy games

Crusader Kings III provides the deepest political strategy, where succession and relationships can matter more than battlefield tactics.

Manor Lords combines city building with local territorial conflict, but it remains in Early Access.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord lets the player command formations while fighting inside the battle.

Wartales reduces the scale to a mercenary group and uses turn-based tactical combat.

Choose Crusader Kings for dynasties, Manor Lords for settlements, Bannerlord for armies or Wartales for a small persistent company.

Best multiplayer medieval games

Medieval Dynasty offers online co-op for players who want to build and survive together.

Wartales supports a cooperative mercenary campaign with turn-based battles.

FOR HONOR provides duels and team-based competitive melee, while Bannerlord supports large-scale online PvP.

Baldur’s Gate 3 delivers a cooperative fantasy RPG rather than a historical medieval experience.

ELDEN RING includes online co-op and competitive play, though its multiplayer structure is less like a continuous shared campaign.

Historical medieval games versus medieval fantasy

Historical games try to represent recognizable societies, technologies and conflicts. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Manor Lords and Crusader Kings III are the clearest examples here.

Medieval fantasy uses the same visual and social foundations but introduces magic, monsters or supernatural cosmology. Baldur’s Gate 3, ELDEN RING, Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Skyrim belong to this group.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is further removed from history, combining medieval imagery with science fiction and demons.

The distinction matters because castles and swords do not automatically make a game historically grounded.

Best medieval games for lower-spec PCs

FOR HONOR lists 4 GB RAM, the lowest memory requirement in this ranking, but requires 90 GB of storage.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord lists 6 GB RAM and 60 GB of storage. Skyrim Special Edition requires 8 GB RAM and has the smallest listed installation at 12 GB.

Manor Lords lists 8 GB RAM and 15 GB of storage, although its Early Access requirements can change.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and DOOM: The Dark Ages each list 16 GB RAM and 100 GB of storage.

Minimum requirements do not guarantee ideal performance. Compare the current processor, graphics, operating-system and complete requirements with the intended PC before purchasing.

Final recommendations

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the best overall historical medieval game in this selection. Manor Lords offers the strongest city-building concept, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord provides the best large battles, and Crusader Kings III leads for dynastic strategy.

Choose Medieval Dynasty for survival and settlement growth, A Plague Tale: Requiem for a cinematic story, Wartales for mercenary tactics, or FOR HONOR for competitive melee.

For fantasy, choose Baldur’s Gate 3 for party role-playing, ELDEN RING for difficult open-world action, Dragon’s Dogma 2 for companion-led combat, or Skyrim Special Edition for a classic sandbox.

The right medieval game depends on which part of the setting should define the experience: daily survival, dynastic politics, settlement economics, battlefield command, personal swordsmanship or fantasy built from castles and cold steel.