Norland is a strategy role-playing game in which players lead a medieval kingdom, face political intrigue, oversee the economy, and manage social interactions. We will tell you more in the preliminary review of the project.
- Developer: Long Jaunt
- Publisher: Hooded Horse
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: May 2024
Externally similar to Rimworld, Norland is a medieval kingdom simulator, more focused on diplomacy, trade and military affairs, like Ceasar. It is prettier than Rimworld, more colorful and richer in detail.
You are in charge of a small settlement, the management of which falls on the shoulders of local lords and the king. The ruling family are the only characters in the game that the player can directly control.
Each of the lords, including the king, has a set of characteristics that determine their usefulness in a particular area of activity. Thus, a lord with developed manners is more likely to capture the attention of another ruler, and a lord with the gift of persuasion will be better at negotiations, as well as bribery and intrigue.
On the interface panel, the player sees how many people live in his settlement, what their financial status is, what the mood of the people is and what cultural composition they belong to – Kaiden Tanaya, Makha or Varna. In addition, it is clear how many peasants, how many warriors, how many prisoners and vagabonds are in your charge.
Defeated but not killed opponents on the battlefield automatically become prisoners, and mostly unemployed peasants engage in vagrancy. To prevent the latter from committing lawlessness, it is necessary to set up patrols and take other measures to prevent crime in the city.
The system of assignments and even construction in Norland also involves the participation of lords. So, in order for the peasant workers to start building something, it is necessary to appoint a lord to the main hall, from where he can give them the appropriate instructions.
After building structures such as a sawmill or a mine, as well as after organizing fields for rye or wheat, you will again need a lord, whom the player will instruct to monitor the progress of the work. The higher his management characteristic, the more efficiently the peasants will harvest crops and extract resources. On average, one lord can manage 7-10 buildings.
It is important to remember that both workers and soldiers are full-fledged citizens with their own system of priorities. During the day they work, and in the evenings, having received their salary, they spend it on alcohol and purchasing goods, relax and go for walks. Even the guards, if they are not on patrol.
In a separate menu, the player can manually manage the cost of food in the local market and the prices of alcohol, as well as determine the daily salary of his subjects, allocate some funds to the unemployed and supply prisoners with provisions.
On average, one person consumes one unit of food and one unit of drink per day, so it is extremely important to ensure that the townspeople have enough funds for their daily needs, replenishing the treasury through trade or military means.
Lords also have needs and desires, and if they are not satisfied, they will refuse to carry out your orders, or even completely lose their loyalty and leave the clan. So, if one of the high-ranking subjects is suffering from a lack of jewelry, it may be worth instructing the king to reward the lord for faithful service, and if one of them has a grudge against the other, arrange a relatively safe duel so that the lords can let off steam.
The king can appoint an heir, greatly increasing the loyalty of the chosen lord, or force him to comply with threats. In addition, you can organize leisure activities for the lords, during which they can relax, have fun or have a serious conversation, exchanging knowledge.
In general, lords improve their parameters as they complete orders concerning them, but the player is free to organize training for them, and also hire a free lord with a high level of teaching as a teacher.
Young lords generally can only study, but this is an excellent chance to raise a ward with developed skills that your house lacks. For example, if one of your lords is good at trading, another is an excellent manager, and his wife is a skilled negotiator, then it would not be a bad idea to raise a master of military affairs, and at the same time, a skilled commander.
The development system in Norland is represented by a library, where you will deliver books purchased from the caravan. Thanks to literature, your settlement will master various crafts and tools, learn to build new objects, improve agriculture, and so on.
It is noteworthy that since there are four cultures in the game, books can also be written in different languages, so lords will have to study languages in order to gain knowledge of other cultures. And yes, the books in the library should also be studied by the lord. Preferably one with better intelligence.
Finally, epic medieval battles with unfriendly clans or bandit organizations can unfold in Norland. To lead an army into battle, you must also choose a lord who can lead it.
After which the player can form an army of warriors, mercenaries and other lords. If really necessary, staff it also with unfortunate peasants or prisoners. Then give everyone combat equipment and send them off to fight.
The player has direct control of the army, but the formations fight automatically. If you attack a settlement, the battle animation can be skipped altogether.
Norland makes a pleasant impression as a promising strategy simulation, where you not only develop a settlement and fight from time to time with neighbors, but sort out class conflicts, fight crime and uprisings, including religious ones.
The game allows you to customize the economy of a settlement in detail and initiate very large-scale wars. And what’s especially nice is that you don’t have to spend hours mastering all the intricacies of the project, as in Crusader Kings, but the barrier to entry here is also by no means low.
Norland will be released in Early Access in May. In the future, the authors intend to implement a battle planning system, the ability to create your own culture, more tactical elements, cavalry, shooters and much more interesting things, turning the game into the promised “generator of medieval stories.”
Norland on Steam
