Collections: Teaching Paradox, Crusader Kings III, Part I: Making It Personal

I love the idea of the Paradox grand strategy games, but they seem to me to be almost gratuitously complex. Everything has so. many. parameters. In turn, this seems to make the games (1) require learning a lot of details that are &#x27;coincidental complexity&#x27; rather than &#x27;essential complexity&#x27; (like a staggering number of unit types and combinations), serving only the purpose of having a (superficially) richer backdrop, and (2) involve a lot of micro-management at the most miniscule levels, again seemingly just to have those things in there, not necessarily because they make a big difference in how the game plays out.<p>This has kept me from jumping in. From my point of view, I would love it if there would be simple way to dumb down some of the systems, have the game handle some of the micro-management, possibly remove some of the nuance of units, traits, and so on. I know it exists in the games to some extent, but from what I have seen enabling these things in itself required quite a bit of work. Perhaps I just haven&#x27;t looked hard enough.<p>So for now I am resorted to watching youtube playthroughs with some fascination. Maybe one day when I have a few <i>weeks</i> of time to spare, I will try my hand at one of these games.

&gt; Crusader Kings III doesn’t actually feature any states in the narrow sense of the word; none of these rulers have a monopoly on the legitimate use of force<p>I find this kind of adaptations incredible interesting. Most games look at the past with modern eyes and create duplicates of all institutions from Judges to teachers. But it is not as simple as that.<p>I hope to see more this kind of approach in more movies and other mass media, even if it could be more historical accurate.

Crusader Kings 2 were the only single-player game I could play, where AI wouldn’t be immersion-breaking reminder that I am simply doing another version of computer work.<p>If anyone has any interest in gaming whatsoever you owe to yourself to check out that (or Crusader Kings 3) masterpiece.<p>It’s also the closest I’ve ever seen the game come to a book reading experience. It usually delivers the same sensation as reading some Crusade’s chronicles. Incredible, really.<p>Also, incredibly, it’s a game where winning doesn’t matter. Not in a GTA-like sandbox where you aimlessly wander. In CK2&#x2F;CK3 you are trying to fulfill your dynansty’s destiny. And sometimes you’ll conquer Europe, but sometimes you’ll rise and fall and fizzle on the outskirts of the civilized world. The story is always there.

Man, I wish I could get into 4X games. Stellaris and CKII are games I&#x27;ve tried to put &quot;tutorial time&quot; into, but they don&#x27;t catch as much as Factorio or Rimworld.

Thanks for this, really great and engaging dive into the mechanics and design of CK3.