The 15 Best Medieval Games (2024)

Deep Silver / Warhorse Studios / TaleWorlds Entertainment / Prime Matter / Tripwire Interactive / ONE37pm

Published Feb 14, 2024

Being a gamer is such a fascinating activity for historians. Thanks to franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto, and more, you can get whisked away to prior eras in time that you've read about in history books. Fans of the action/adventure, strategy, and competitive multiplayer genres of gaming have a lot to enjoy when it comes to the tumultuous period of the Middle Ages. Constant warfare between rival kingdoms, political turmoil, continued efforts toward royal expansion, and the daily lives of commoners provide fascinating gameplay scenarios for our list of the 15 best medieval games of all time.

RELATED: The 16 Best Mystery Games

Tripwire Interactive

• Developer: Warhorse Studios
• Rating: M for Mature

For the first selection on our list of the best medieval games, we're going to throw heaps of praise upon the highly immersive open-world action/adventure game Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Its story takes place during the rule of the Holy Roman Empire where you set out on a quest for revenge to avenge the deaths of your parents. As you make your way through the vast kingdom of medieval Bohemia, you'll engage in various combat situations tailored toward ranged, melee, and stealth encounters. Your actions will have a huge impact on how your story unfolds as you fight, steal, seduce, threaten, persuade, and bribe your way toward your preferred outcome.

• Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment
• Rating: M for Mature

The kingdom of "Calradia" will play host to the epic clashes that transpire between your empire and its many rivals during a bloody civil war. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord gives you the means to raise a formidable army and take the fight to your AI or human enemies via third- or first-person combat. This game's signature directional combat system adds a cool wrinkle to your encounters, plus the chance to fight side by side with your massive army brings a high level of excitement to its epic real-time battles.

• Developer: Asobo Studio
• Rating: M for Mature

A Plague Tale: Innocence will hit you right in the feels and make you sympathetic towards the life-threatening struggle Amicia de Rune and her ill brother Hugo find themselves in. As you venture through mid-14th century Aquitaine, France, you'll need to carefully lead both characters through locales filled with pursuers hailing from the French Inquisition. Careful sneaking, using floods of rats to overwhelm your foes, steering clear of those same rats during tense explorative sections, and solving all manner of puzzles lie at the heart of this heart-tugger of a medieval adventure game.

• Developer: Asobo Studio
• Rating: M for Mature

Once you've aided Amicia and Hugo to the end of their first journey, you'll be compelled to head right into their follow-up adventure in A Plague Tale: Requiem. Both characters hit the road once again to find a way to cure Hugo's blood disease. Bigger locales are featured here, which gives you more ground to cover as you must find ways to steer clear of Inquisition soldiers and the rats in your vicinity brought upon by the Black Plague. Hugo's special ability to command those same rats to overwhelm your foes is a neat little trick that changes up the gameplay loop of the first game.

• Developers: Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Toronto, Blue Byte
• Rating: M for Mature

For Honor dropped in 2017 and has received a steady influx of updates and DLC in the years since. Its focus on pitting five historical factions against each other in a fantasy warfare type of situation includes a clan made up entirely of the "Iron Legion" (Knights). Like the other factions in this game, the Iron Legion features is made up of four combatants - "Vanguard," "Assassin," "Heavies," and "Hybrid." By selecting this medieval group, you'll head into battle alongside your allies and troops while engaging in For Honor's unique tactical combat system to emerge victorious after epic online multiplayer skirmishes.

• Developer: Torn Banner Studios
• Rating: M for Mature

The Chivalry franchise has gotten plenty of fanfare due to how visceral its combat is and just how well it handles its medieval source material. Chivalry 2updates everything seen in its predecessor to a fine degree and presents the series' traditional team-based and free-for-all skirmishes through newly improved visuals and gameplay mechanics. The first-person medieval warfare that transpires inChivalry 2is super gruesome and bloody, which should be right up the alley of some of you bloodthirsty gamers out there. Swinging your long sword to and fro is so much fun here, trust us. Plus the sounds of clanging swords, raining arrows, and screaming infantrymen will rev up your hype meter during your many online battles.

• Developers: Creative Assembly, Feral Interactive
• Rating: T for Teen

Development studio Creative Assembly has mastered the art of turn-based/real-time strategy experiences thanks to its Total War series. That IP does a fine job of theming its many installments after different eras - the one we've chosen to showcase on our list of the best medieval games is Medieval II: Total War. Your campaign in this game is set between the years 1080 and 1530 - you'll be tasked with ruling your chosen medieval faction and attempting to spread its influence across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. This means you'll be inspiring your army to participate in plenty of wars and increasing the strength of your medieval state through less violent means.

• Developer: Paradox Development Studio
• Rating: T for Teen

For those of you who get enticed by the moniker of a "grand strategy game," seek out the third entry in the long-running Crusader Kings franchise. This threequel places you in either 867 or 1066 and tasks you with building a medieval dynasty uo until 1453. Pushing your dynasty to greatness will entail plenty of battlefield action with your men-at-arms units and powerful knights doing your bidding, a whole lot of politicking, and other methods that go toward strengthening your dynasty's rise to power.

• Developers: Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg
• Rating: T for Teen

We're going to make you aware of another real-time strategy game that appeals to medieval fanatics. Bad North features a cartoonish art style that's endearing while including a challenging gameplay amalgamation of real-time tactics and roguelite mechanics. Your job here is simple - command your army of knights to fend off an invading army of Vikings. The battles your loyal followers will find themselves in will take place on procedurally generated islands, which will keep you on your toes as you adjust your strategies during each proceeding clash.

• Developers: Relic Entertainment, World's Edge
• Rating: T for Teen

For all of you reading this right now who enjoy spending a whole day playing an amazing real-time strategy game, then we're sure you've poured countless hours into the Age of Empires series. The most recent series installment marks the first time that the series has made its way over to consoles via Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. Age of Empires IV features 16 civilizations to kick off your dynasty - the medieval-themed ones you can choose from include the Holy Roman Empire and the variant civilization Jeanne d'Arc. Get into war commander mode as you push your ground and naval troops to victory and construct a grand kingdom through four different ages (the Dark Age, Feudal Age, Castle Age, and Imperial Age).

• Developer: Level-5
• Rating: T for Teen

The beloved PlayStation Portable handheld console sure had its fair share of quality RPGs and strategy games to enjoy. From those genres comes another one of the best medieval games, which owes its creation to the Japanese development studio Level-5 (makers ofDragon Quest VIIIand theProfessor Laytonseries).Jeanne d'Arctaps into world world-renowned legend of the great Joan of Arc and plays out her struggles against the English occupation of France in turn-based combat form. IfFinal Fantasy Tacticsis your jam, then you'll enjoy everything this super slept-on strategy RPG has in store.

• Developer: Destructive Creations
• Rating: M for Mature

The latest real-time strategy game to show up on our list of the best medieval games is the development house Destructive Creations Ancestors Legacy. You'll spend your time taking control over one of five civilizations, which are the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Teutons, Slavs, and Saracens. The single-player portion of this game is a worthwhile investment, especially if you're looking to venture through medieval times via the Anglo-Saxon campaign, which features real-world historical figures William the Conqueror and the Earl of Huntingdon. Once you've become acclimated to this Ancestors Legacy's tactical combat, resource management, and village construction mechanics, then you'll get the confidence to hop online to go to war with rival war commanders.

• Developer: Foxy Voxel
• Rating: N/A

Going Medieval feels and looks like a medieval take on classic building simulators such as SimCity and Cities: Skylines. Your responsibilities in this game entail building a massive fortress, defending it against raids, and keeping your villagers happy during one of the tumultuous times in ancient history (that period is at the end of the 14th century when the threat of a plague puts everyone's lives in constant peril). Getting to know your village inhabitants, upgrading your buildings from small huts to towering castles, and taking down outside forces that wish to destroy your settlement are the main gameplay pillars of this quality city builder.

• Developer: Render Cube
• Rating: T for Teen

We're sure you've spent some time reading about the everyday lives of people who lived out their days during the Middle Ages and thought to yourself, "I wonder how it'd be if I was alive back then..." Medieval Dynasty presents that intriguing premise within the confines of a first- and third-person survival RPG that you can experience on your own or with some online survivors. To thrive in this game's savage world, you'll need to hunt and build to make any headway daily. Eventually, you'll get the opportunity to become a town planner/warden and oversee the layout of a village whose community needs your aid.

• Developer: Yaza Games
• Rating: E for Everyone

For our final recommended title on our list of the best medieval games ever made, allow us to push you toward one of the most visually distinct turn-based strategy games we've ever come across. Inkulinati features an art style patterned after the style commonly seen in medieval manuscripts. Your mind will be blown when you see a random hand pop up on the screen to sketch out anthropomorphic characters that become your troops (referred to as "Beasts"). Put them to good use and make sure you take advantage of the tide-turning combat actions that can be activated via the actions of powerful "Inkulinati Masters." Adapt to changing battlefields as you hop into a bevy of single-player and competitive multiplayer skirmishes.