Maybe I’m crusading a bit much here, but Crusader Kings II is one of the many PC games that you need to play at some point in your PC life.

In a much similar style to their other developed games, Paradox has brought us this great gem of a game because it uses all that they have learned in making games while adding true personality to it as well. Literally, I mean; each of your royalty members or important individuals are characters with personalities and conflicts and relationships and sins—and decisions. The decisions are the things that really make the game.

Of course, at the end of the day, it’s still a grand strategy game, so if that’s not your thing, then you probably don’t really need to play this. If it is, then this is definitely a properly polished game to try on for size. Take your king out for a wild ride, secretly lusting after the neighbor’s sister, plotting against the Pope and assassinating the ruler of a neighboring land to worm his way into great power. Get away with anything you want as long as you have the money and the ingenuity to pull it off.

Like the other games Paradox has developed, you’re free to play as just about any country imaginable, and each country offers unique scenarios that provide a worthy challenge no matter which direction you turn.

Crusader Kings II is available on Steam or through GamersGate, and there are a few pieces of DLC available, including the Ruler Designer. Just like it sounds, this allows you to essentially create a ruler from scratch, designing his personality like a young Frankenstein—and not necessarily with less of the murderous anger.

Keep an eye out here in the future for more Games You Need To Play.

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