Satisfactory
Satisfactory
Game
Game2012
Crusader Kings Complete
Developer Paradox Development Studio
Crusader Kings is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive in April 2004. An expansion called Deus Vult was released in October 2007. A sequel, Crusader Kings II, was released in February 2012, and another sequel, Crusader Kings III, was released on September 1, 2020. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
151 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Sep 24, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
54
Mixed
80 positive · 69 negative
95% range 46–62%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 80 | 69 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
2 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mixed
150 of 256 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Critics, per Wikipedia
The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic, and many U.S. reviews came in a few months before the game's official U.S. release. In the 2013 book Digital Gaming Re-imagines the Middle Ages, the author explains that: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}} As digital medievalism, Crusader Kings models systems of cultural change in the Middle Ages rather than merely assigning cultural labels to people and geographic areas of Europe at specific…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 151 · most liked firstI took over Scandinavia as Norway,then sailed into Ireland and made them my ***** ,conquered land in modernday Russia and Italy and i am the papal controller,oh and my ruler is a demented madman with schizophrenia who is the king of Norway,Sweden,Denmark,Lithuania,Wales,Ireland,Scotland and Sicily,i battled Muslim sheiks and emirs in the Sahara desert,liberated Roma from the Seljuk Turks who have a province in the middle of the Scottish Highlands,England is in a alliance with Poland and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard to learn Difficult Stressing Upsetting Odd controls Odd interface No pause Unfair 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Grandness of Paradox Grand Strategy titles is not a misnomer. Shame the grandeur tends to also come with a small helping of bugginess. Crusader Kings 1 is perhaps the poster child for that. The title was initially developed by an outside studio, with a similar style to Europa Universalis but in the Middle Ages with a focus on families instead of nation states. Unfortunately, the outside studio kind of screwed some things up. Even with all the fixes eventually given to the title, there are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The King of Sicily went heretical and rebelled against himself, the King of Sicily, which in turn caused a massive revolt across my kingdom. Was unable to put down said revolt and the King's Grandson went on to defeat his grandfather and claim the title King of Sicily for himself. I still have no idea how any of that was possible but I'm having too much fun to care.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crusader Kings in many ways is a biographer's wet dream. It has mechanics of Europa Universalis 2, the warfare, the economics, the diplomacy but unlike that grand strategy epic, this grand strategy epic portrays you not as some nameless entity ruling your nation through the ages but as the head of a noble medieval family, your faith not tied into the success of the nation you rule but the rulers themselves. You start the game by picking which family to control, you can start off as a great…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a good idea when trying to complete a dissertation.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ah yes, the original incest simulator. “Wait, it's all incest?" "Always has been". I wrote a love letter to the pope. I murdered my own uncle for making fun of me at a feast. I slept with my sister. I then sat down to play some Crusader Kings, it's a pretty good game. CK1 was fantastic. It very effectively pulled me away from EU1/2/FTG, and far outshone Vic1/HoI1/2 for me. The character-based framing was just so much more immersive, even if the lack of AI challenge made it a map-painting…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am fairly dissapointed. Even though the game seems pretty complex, many of its mechanics don't work very well. For example, I tried to conquer some pagan tribes in the Eastern Europe, sent my armies there, but as I declared war on them, after some bigger battles, which they lost, they just kept trying to fight me with diminishing number of forces and even though I crushed them repeatedly, couldn't really defeat them. On top of that, they kept "spamming" peace negotiation proposals every few…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When I played this game as a kid, I didn't understand it at all and just got rid of all vassals and played as an absolute monarch. I had my fun with this game. Now after having played hundreds of hours of CK2 I returned to CK1 to find out that its interface is shockingly improper. I literally played hundreds of hours of Dwarf Fortress (a game known for its absurdly difficult interface) but CK1 broke my neck, imagine that. Now for 1 dollar it might be worth for nostalgia but please don't buy it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →CAUTIONARY REVIEW - This is about Playing the original Crusader Kings with known going-in expectations, and if you frame your approach in the way I present this Review, then the game can be enjoyable. First, you must think of this as the "Crusader Kings, Simplified Edition" compared to newer CK2 and now CK3 versions. This is an entry-level automobile, almost 20 years old, with a stick-shift that you need to learn how to drive with a clutch. If you're not willing to learn how to drive the old…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As some have said, this game has an extreme learning curve. But if you want a game that is super detailed in how much control you have over every aspect of your empire/kingdom, this is a game you want to try. From deciding who marries who to pass on good traits to their offspring, to what buildings each province has, to what type of armies you want to command. I thoroughly enjoy this game from time to time. WARNING, game does tend to crash when using cheat codes, so save often. Also, upon…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty interesting interpretation of medieval time. Although CK2 is better in every part, worth playing if on sale.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Right. I've played this game for 10 hours now and have come to several conclusions. Firstly, the lack of manual or even a tutorial is a bit of a disgrace, especially for such an unintutive game such as this (I had to download a manual from the internet and even that was pretty thin and not 100% useful). Secondly, the game seems to go on for much, much too long, even on high speed (those 10 hours I've played are almost entirely on the first game and I'm still probably not even half way…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played both Crusader Kings 2 and 3 and wanted to go back to the original to test it out. Since this is an older title, it is missing a lot of quality-of-life improvements that have come after the release of this game, and that makes it a lot harder to play. The menu is not intuitive, and a lot of the information is hidden from view. While I did like the art style and some of the systems, like how you can click the picture on your province and build buildings there, I would rather…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Worse than Crusader Kings 2 because it's old but at least it doesn't have 300$+ worth of dlcs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this game. It's a little difficult to understand initially, but once you pick up on the essentials it's really fun and pretty tough. Hint: your chancellor is your most important council member.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I never played this game and I just can't get into it now. It's wa-ay to outdated. The only reason I bought this is because I love CK2. CK2 is my favorite game and I wanted to see how the franchise started. For me this game is just a novelty game, the one you purchase and immediately put on the shelf to dust - just to check the check mark. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2150489270 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=747499009…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crusader kings 1 loses the fight against Crusader Kings II, but it is still fun and a cheap game. I like it and the only negative thing in this game in my opinion is that you cannot play as anyone else but a christian ruler
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →good for a hardcore gamer , it's not a game you can just jump into.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not bad, but honestly, there's no reason to play it nowadays when there's significantly superior, more entertaining, more complex and with much more content Crusader Kings 2.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WE WILL TAKE JERUSALEM! (Be warned, however, that there is a lot of work to do before finally wringing enjoyment out of this title, especially if one is new to the series.) https://howlongtobeat.com/user/mentalmynx/reviews/u-2057/1
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/4nxygxucYlo It's clear from all aspects that this is a product from 2004 and lacks many of the features, UX, and QoL elements of modern games. While revolutionary at the time, it's not worth investing time in now
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crusader Kings it's a good old classic game, for a 2004 game, it still holds up very well. In the last month and a half I've been playing CK for about 100+ hours (initially purchased in GoG), and this game got me hooked so bad that I have not even touched the new StarCraft Legacy of The Void expansion, and by the looks of it, I'm going straight to CKII after I finish at least one full game, from 1066 to 1453. In CK you manage a royal dynasty, a Monarch and his blood line, and of course his…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FYI This had fatal, horrible display issues on Win 7. Just get CK2.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →4 Hours. Spent FOUR HOURS trying to get this to run. Bink Video causes the first problem, right at startup. Then once you get to the Main Screen and set up a game and try to start it, a Fatal Error ends all attempts. Surfed the web, posted pleas for help, tried this, tried that, and four hours is long enough. If you put in four hours into trying to get a game you bought with your hard to come by cash, then I'd say that's giving the game a fair chance. Don't waste your money. Or your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd give a positive as I have a major soft spot for this game despite its age and flaws compared to its successors, but it's so insanely unstable and crashes so often on modern hardware that I can't give it a positive.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of the very early Paradox turn based grand strategy games where you are the monarch of a European kingdom during the Crusader era (1095-1492). Amass armies, invade neighbouring countries, sit through endless politics and intrigue. The game is completely superseded by Crusader Kings 2, so there's immediately no point in buying this outdated version. Also, Paradox have done nothing to modernise or maintain the game. It's buggy, has fixed resolution and no widescreen support.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Play the second game instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →lot of people complaining about complexity, lack of graphics, tutorials or problems with graphics. all of this is complaining is worthless. the game is reaaly great. imagine somthing like mount&blade (im still big fan M&B. look at my hour counter) as pure strategic simulation of medieval feudal life for the cost of graphics and personal involvement into a battle. no tutorial ? so what. everything is described in game. it is enough to read all descriptions. after half an hour of gameplay i…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More addictive than crack.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played it to the end and I enjoyed it, so I can't in good conscience give this a thumbs down. But it's definitely a game showing its age, and there is not much of a reason to play this over CK2 or CK3, unless you're curious to see where the series began.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great! I buy it from Steam. The game is compatible with Windows7 64-bit. It's easy and funny to play in face of his old age. I recomend it for people who can not afford at the moment the second chapter. In fact this game proves to be an excellent alternative to familiarize yourself with the mechanics and the intrigues of courts.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just impossible to play as a vassal, everytime that i rage war i have to deal with my king keeping my claims/lands for himself, it's impossible to make peace agreement in time, he gets there first. Everytime that i declare war against my goal (neighbour counts or dukes), i have to deal with the enemy king as well instead of his vassal. The mechanics are unbalanced, just go and play ck2 or ck3 instead of this crap. The only way to achieve victory playing as a vassal is being lucky, by plots or…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really no reason to get this when ck2 is out, it is a superior game in every single way, reason I got it was because I figured it would requite less resources from my laptop which has intel HD graphic which is basically not graphics at all. And while it does use less resources it looks horendous and has nothing on CK2 which is superior as stated before.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you enjoy intrigue, war, and political skulduggery, this game is for you. In my most recent game, my ruler's youngest illegitimate son and steward (and a fine one at that), attempted to install himself as the king's successor and failed. Last night, he assassinated the king, but the crown fell to the eldest legitimate son (more powerful than even the king), making him King of Aragon, Castille, Navarra, and Portugal. Of course, all this happened after a round of strategic assassinations,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really loved this game as a kid. Unfortunately it is unplayable now due to constant crashes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve played Crusader Kings 2 and wanted to try the original to see where the series started. But it definitely shows its age. There’s not much reason to play this over CK2 or CK3, unless you’re just curious. As an older game, it lacks many of the quality-of-life features that came later. The menu isn’t very intuitive, and a lot of important information is hard to find, which makes it harder to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wow, what a game. I started as the King of Sicily, took back the Holy Land, controlled the Pope, and was the most prestigious King in Europe. All this, even though I was blind and depressed. Then the heretics in Egypt overpowered me, and I was forced to give up my crusader lands. To make matters worse, my rival Simon took control of my African lands. (Simon fell in love with his sister when he was a kid.) Then, Genoa, supposedly my ally, conquered my mainland Italian provinces and forced me to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Historical gaming primarily focused on family management (yes, there is war and conquest but I end up spending more time managing family affairs than managing armies and territories.) It feels very "Darwinian" going through the list of brides in the general ledger, searching for the stats and traits that will improve the descendency for your family and your courtier's families. Having played this and CKII I have to say I find the original more enjoyable. The graphics are less polished and it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Now, I understand that this game is old as dirt but I feel I was tricked into buying it due to the phoney release date set on the Stream store page. I would also like to point out that the publisher of this game has a new game out called Crusader Kings 2, As it happens they were able to release about 20 different DLC packs for that game to nickel and dime you to death but are incapable of updating this game to work properly with a modern PC. One word comes to mind here and it is "lazy". What…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played many games like this. Games like this seem to confuse "difficult" with "cluster-♥♥♥♥". As soon as you press play, the game goes full speed ahead without you. In order to stop this, you have to click this tiny banner which does not even look like a button. The game throws out notifications all over your screen before you even know what is going on, and even then it is difficult to ascertain what it is trying to convey. The UI is not even remotely intuitive. The AI makes decisions…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Superb grapics, although some may call them minimalistic, an easy to use interface and fleshed out time line/period mark this down as a genre leader for those with an acquired taste.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Europe is in turmoil. The lands are fragmented into petty fiefs and the Emperor struggles with the Pope. At this very moment the Pope has declared that those who go to liberate the Holy Land will be freed of all sins. Gather prestige and piety and the world will whisper your name in awe. Will you co-opt other monarchs, and the Pope, under your leadership to liberate the Holy Land? Do you have what it takes to become a Crusader King?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If I could I would refund all my Paradox games.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very outdated. Not worth it when there's Crusader Kings 2 and 3
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has a lot of issues that make it unpleasant, even unplayable. Crusader Kings II is better in every aspect. Don't waste money on this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It won't start up. Seems like to me devs want the money but don't want you to play it. play 2 instead! Thumbs Down.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you like games but don't play that much? Are you ok with old (unique) graphics and no tutorial? Do you like cheap (good) games? You are interested in Medieval warfare, diplomacy and religion? You don't have a good pc maybe? Then this game is for you. It's Crusader Kings 2 with less features but no DLC madness. You will also get the Deus Vult expansion for few bucks. Basically, a steal. I have almost all old Paradox games (Victoria, EU:Rome, For the Glory, Darkest Hour, Sengoku, Knights…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish I could recomend this, but I can't get it to work. After the intro video, there's a black screen and nothing on the official forums say how to fix this - even after several people complained of the exact same situation. What's worse is: this is the second Paradox game that I bought and can not play this week.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →well this game is not for casual strategy player this is for who have no life :D 1 game can taken more than 2 hours with many complex factors, this game will make you forget about your daily and just sit in front of the computer all day long pros: complex gameplay, more than 1 way to win, lots of choice cons: not for people who dislikes grandstrategy games like this one 70/100
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is probably THE reference for all medieval grand strategy fans out there. You can spend hours managing your dynasty's spread across Europe, or keeping in check its many rivals. For a more recent game, check out the sequel : Crusader Kings II.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all, I don't care that it came out in 2004. It's still a game and I'm reviewing it compared to every other game, no nostalgia or pity points here. Crusader Kings is a great foundation, the idea of controlling a kingdom after the dank imperial abyss that was antiquity but before the world became so globalised and mathematical is so special. Since you have this era where the world was so lost and brutal, technology had dropped into darkness, society had upgraded into feudal serfdom…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Literally no reason to get it. Worse than CK2 in every conceivable way, and actually costs money. Plus, no workshop, no resolution settings, buggy, prone to crashing and barren in terms of features. Best to leave it the the steam wasteland and out of your library.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The original grand strategy game that I can't get anywhere in, Crusader Kings is a....well, grand strategy game, but unlike other games in which you take the helm of a nation, you sit in the big-boy (or big-girl) chair of a noble family in the era of the crusaders, this being medieval times, that is. Plot murders, sire children, eff your neighbors out of provinces, get effed by their bigger, better neighbors who like them more than you, and get back stabbed by a baron for not paying him enough…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Inherited Kingdom of Hungary and Croatia after my king fell onto a pike during the seige. New King promptly declared war on half of his own realm, was excommunicated, and then got ♥♥♥♥♥-slapped by France after losing all his men trying to seize Rome. Good times.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No tutorial to speak of and an unparsable interface.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well i wouldnt recomend this game for modern gamers but back then was good. either way Still better than I:Rome.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's OK that's all I can say, but it's no where near as good as it's counterpart and successor CK2.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a CK2 player, it's not worth it. It's not an early version of CK2, it's a very different game, that's not as neat. So if you want more CK2-goodness, go with a total conversion mod.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice game, I like much more some of the mechanics of Crusader Kings than those of Crusader Kings 2
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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