Top 10 Best Games of 2012: The Critic’s Choice

Two: Crusader Kings II

Every few months, I start a new campaign in Crusader Kings II. Every time, this campaign dominates my life. For days it’s all I can think about. If I’m lucky, my medieval dynasty collapses early, stabbed in the back by a former ally or invaded by a horde of Mongols or simply unable to survive the lack of a legal heir to my lands. Then the game only ends after a day or two. Or what happens in my last game might happen, where I take a duchy on the boot of Italy, turn it into the Kingdom Of Naples after 150 years, the Sicilian Empire after 200, and by the game’s end in 1453, I’ve managed to recreate the gains of the early Roman Republic, dominating the western Mediterranean. 

But what makes Crusader Kings II so epically good is that this isn’t done via a military and building simulation. It’s a game of relationships. You’ll get more out of figuring out the proper marriage for your half-sister to gain an alliance with a nearby king than you will from properly choosing your victory path. And even when you’re at your peak, the relationship system means that it could all collapse—a single assassination kills your powerful king, his son isn’t of age, and the regency can’t hold the kingdom together as your once-best friend of a Duke takes it all from your new character…and you have to build everything up again. It’s the best ever game for creating emergent and meaningful stories.