Get your hammer and chisel at the ready, the insanely popular city builder Manor Lords is here! In this medieval strategy game, build your city, conquer your enemies in tactical battles, and ensure your settlement thrives above all else!
We’re here to tell you everything you need to know, including gameplay details and our top PCs and laptops that are perfect for Manor Lords.
Gameplay
Experience life as a medieval lord as you work to grow your small village into a bustling city. Manage resources, optimise production gains, and conquer new lands to expand. Your settlement begins as a small central marketplace from which you can build residential, commercial, and industrial districts. Establish thriving farms based on soil fertility, hunting grounds on animal populations, and ensure you have access to a consistent flow of natural resources.
As your medieval city grows, you’ll need to assign areas for housing and watch your residents build their homes. These homeowners can grow vegetables and raise chickens or goats to supply the townsfolk with even more essentials. All whilst you manage the demands of each season from spring rains to harsh winters.
Resource Management
Manor Lords features plenty of essential goods that will truly make you feel like you’ve stepped back into Medieval times. Your resources are scattered across the huge map, meaning you’ll need to work to expand and establish multiple settlements. From mining colonies designed to collect valuable ore, to farming villages working to perfect the art of growing crops and herding animals.
To ensure all your residents can take advantage of these resources, you’ll need to build trade routes between settlements and sell any surplus goods to travellers. Manufacturing and selling goods will provide your city with plenty of wealth, allowing you to upgrade homes and much more.
Warfare
You aren’t the only settlement. Rival lords with competing ambitions threaten the future of your city. Lead your people into war as you command real-time tactical battles where you’ll have to strategically plan every moment. Fatigue, weather, and equipment can make the difference between victory and defeat.
Endless Freedom
The building mechanic is inspired by real-world medieval towns and villages in which trade routes and the landscape influenced settlements. With no restrictive grid, you’ll have complete freedom over where you place your buildings, roads, and more.
Plus, developers have made sure Manor Lords is packed with plenty of historical accuracy, such as the burgage plot system for resident houses, to fully immerse you in your medieval city. However, some common tropes have been avoided.
What is Early Access?
Manor Lords was originally a passion project created by a solo developer. As a result, it’s been released in early access first. This means the game will continue to be developed and expanded on as you play. You can give feedback to the developer on gameplay, bug fixes, and much more to help ensure you and other players get the best possible experience. As the game was on 3 million Steam wish lists, there’ll be plenty of players giving crucial feedback!
Does Manor Lords Include Multiplayer?
Currently, Manor Lords is a single-player game only. However, there is still hope for some form of multiplayer to be added at a later date. Back in 2020, the developer stated they wanted to perfect the single-player gameplay first, meaning multiplayer isn’t completely out of the question yet!
Is Manor Lords a PC Exclusive?
Manor Lords is available to play on PC and XBOX Series X/S and One.
Official PC System Specification
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
| Processor | Intel i5 4670 or AMD FX 4350 | Intel i5 7600 or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G |
| Memory | 8GB RAM | 12GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or AMD Radeon RX 460 | NVIDIA GeForce 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580 |
| DirectX | Version 12 | Version 12 |
| Storage | 15GB available space | 15GB available space |
Our Top PCs to Play Manor Lords
Is your gaming PC not up to the task of supporting your medieval city? At Overclockers UK, you can find your next PC or laptop upgrade which is perfect for powering all your city building in Manor Lords.
We’ve picked out our top selections for you below, but if these systems don’t come packed with all the tools you need, you can shop the full range instead.
Refract Gaming Jade Pre Built PC
- Pre built gaming PC
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU and NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti
- Up to 32GB DDR5 RAM
- 1TB M.2 SSD
- Comes with a three-year warranty
Gigabyte G6X Gaming Laptop
- 16.0” FHD display
- 165Hz refresh rate
- Intel Core i7 13650HX CPU and NVIDIA RTX 4060
- 16GB DDR5 RAM
- Windows 11 Home
OcUK Gaming Khopesh Configurable PC
- Configurable gaming PC
- Customisable base hardware specification
- As standard includes an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU and NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti Super
- Up to 32GB DDR5 RAM
- Optional secondary hard drive
Have You Played Manor Lords?
Have you played Manor Lords? Share your thoughts on the gameplay in the comments below.
*Prices correct at time of writing and PC specs are subject to change.
- 5 min read
Ruth Rowley
Author
Ruth has been with Overclockers UK for over a year and has gone on to write about everything ranging from in-depth hardware guides to monthly game releases.
Outside of writing blog posts, she can be found wrapped in a blanket with her black cat, engrossed in a book or playing life-simulation games such as The Sims, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing.
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