Crusader Kings II


Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Crusader Kings. It was released for Microsoft Windows on February 14, 2012. An OS X version, Paradox Interactive's first in-house development for the operating system, was released on May 24, 2012. A Linux version was also released on January 14, 2013. Since being released, it has sold over 1 million copies, which made it Paradox's most successful release before the release of Europa Universalis IV in August 2013. The game has been released as free to play in October 2019, and a sequel, Crusader Kings III, is set to release on September 1, 2020.

Gameplay

The game is a dynasty simulator in which the player controls a Medieval dynasty from 1066 to 1452. Players are able to start at any date between January 1, 1066, and December 31, 1337, though the Old Gods and Charlemagne DLCs allow for earlier start dates of 867 and 769 respectively, along with 936 with the Iron Century update. Through the strategic use of war, marriages and assassinations among many other things, the player works to achieve success for their dynasty.
The game contains numerous historical figures such as William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, Genghis Khan, Harold Godwinson, Robert Guiscard, Robert the Bruce, Harald Hardrada, El Cid, Constantine X Doukas, Harun al-Rashid, Alexios I Komnenos, Richard the Lionheart, Ivar the Boneless, Alfred the Great, Baldwin I of Jerusalem, Boleslaw the Bold and Saladin, but allows for the player to choose less significant figures such as minor dukes and counts, and creation of entirely new characters with the use of the "Ruler Designer" DLC.
Success is defined solely by the player. The only in-game objective is to obtain as many prestige and piety points as possible in order to surpass the various historically relevant European dynasties in a fictional prestige ranking. The game ends when the player's current character dies without an heir of the same dynasty to succeed him/her, when all landed titles of the count rank or above are stripped from all members of the player's dynasty, or when the game reaches its end in 1453.
The game employs a genetics and education system, through which children will inherit many traits, culture, religion and skills from their parents and guardians. This adds an additional layer of strategy to marriages, such that a player will attempt not only to form beneficial alliances, but also to select marriage partners with strong heritable traits to maximise the quality of offspring and thus strengthen the dynasty. This requires balancing sometimes conflicting interests; for example, while one possible marriage might allow some desirable alliance to be formed with another ruler, it may also require marrying a spouse with some undesirable traits. Such a trade-off can occur in the reverse as well: one possible spouse could possess highly desirable traits but yield no new alliances for the player's dynasty.
While the player can choose any noble with at least a county in their possession to play as, there are some Government types that are unplayable without modding the game. These include Theocracies, holy orders, mercenaries, and republics. The merchant republic government type, however, is playable with The Republic expansion. In addition, all non-Christian characters are unplayable without the purchase of the DLC that unlocks them, including Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Zoroastrians, Jains, Zunists and various Pagans.

Expansion packs

NameRelease dateAccompanying PatchDescription
26 June 20121.06This expansion pack allows the player to play as Muslim rulers. It also adds story events involving Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Legacy of Rome16 October 20121.07Legacy of Rome is focused around the Byzantine Empire, adding new events and game mechanics. It also adds the "Retinue" mechanic allowing the player to maintain a standing army.
Sunset Invasion15 November 20121.08The main feature of Sunset Invasion is the fictional invasion of more technologically advanced Aztecs, from the late 13th century onwards to the end of the game alongside a new religion and culture unique to them.
The Republic15 Jan 20131.09Makes naval-based merchant republics playable with their own unique play-style centering around wealth and elections. It also adds a few new casus belli and events concerning Republican politics and familial feuds.
The Old Gods28 May 20131.10Adds a new 867 AD start date and makes pagans playable with their own unique mechanics. Also unlocks new revolt mechanics and adventurer claimants.
18 November 20132.0Gives further depth to the three Abrahamic faiths; Christianity in particular, but has also added some content for Muslims, as well as the Jewish faith. Also adds Holy Orders for all faiths alongside new Events.
Rajas of India25 March 20142.1Makes Hindu, Buddhist and Jain rulers playable. Expands the map as far east as Bengal. With Patch 2.8, Taoist rulers will now also be unlocked by this DLC.
Charlemagne14 October 20142.2Unlocks several improvements to narrative aspects of the game, custom kingdoms and empires, vice royalty and the 769 start date.
Way of Life16 December 20142.3Improves role-playing and immersion, by letting player influence more directly the type of events that may happen, rather than relying solely on personality traits or randomness.
Horse Lords14 July 20152.4Unlocks playing as a nomadic government.
Conclave2 February 20162.5Improves interaction with your vassals, gives power to the council and overhauls the education for children system.
The Reaper's Due25 August 20162.6Improves the Plague, epidemics, minor diseases, prosperity and interactions with your court.
Monks and Mystics7 March 20172.7Adds societies, artifacts and relics, new councilor jobs and the ability to give commands to allied armies.
Jade Dragon16 November 20172.8Adds interactions with China, new Chinese artifacts, new Casus Bellis, and Rally Points along with making the Tibetan plateau playable.
Holy Fury13 November 20183.0Allows the player to "design" Pagan religions upon reformation, introduces new crusade mechanics and events, mechanics for coronations, sainthood and bloodlines and also includes shattered and random maps.

Release and reception

A demo was released on February 4, 2012, which featured four playable characters over a 20-year span. A marketing campaign for the game featured light comedy videos on the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins.
The game, based on the Clausewitz Engine, was met with generally positive reviews and has attained a metascore of 82 at Metacritic. GameSpot reviewer Shaun McInnis stated "Through a complex system of diplomacy and backstabbing, Crusader Kings II makes every power struggle an engrossing one" and he lauded the gameplay while noting the "lackluster tutorials". IGN summed up their review by saying "An intense learning curve, but a unique strategy experience". IGN rated the gameplay and "lasting appeal" a 9/10. A reviewer for Rock, Paper, Shotgun stated that Crusader Kings II was "probably the most human strategy game" he ever played. Rob Zacny of PC PowerPlay, who gave the game a 7/10 score, called it a "brilliant treatment of feudalism in terms of strategy and story" but also stated it "requires major investment to overcome information overload". Kotaku named the game as one of their game of the year nominees.
By September 2014, Crusader Kings II had sold more than 1 million copies, with the expansion pack and DLC sales totaling over 7 million units. According to Paradox Interactive, the game was played by an average of 12,500 players every day, with an average playtime of 99 hours per player.

Modding

When a Crusader Kings II game is launched, Paradox servers collect information about the game setup such as game version, single player or multiplayer, and what mods are in use. Data collected on 23 April 2017 showed that at least 42% of users on that day had activated at least one mod. Data also reveals that multiplayer "cheat mods" are popular too, as are graphics or GUI mods.
A few accuracy and realism mods have also been produced by fans such as Historical Immersion Project and CK2+. A large number of total conversion mods are also available:
Paradox actively encourages such modding, and the company regularly tweaked the game in order to make modding easier.