Curious little turn-based medieval strategy game Rising Lords musters for a January release

Turn-based strategy game Rising Lords will release on January 18, 2024 after nearly three years in Early Access. The hybrid of PC turn-based strategy with more traditional board game and card game design focuses around strategically expanding a medieval fiefdom's economy while raising armies to defend yourself against—or conquer—your neighbors.

Writing in the magazine back in 2019, Andy Kelly called said that he was "immediately struck by how nice Rising Lords looks and feels" and that it moved "like a medieval tapestry come to life."

Rising Lords focuses on manipulating your realm to output the resources you need to prosper, focusing on the balance of building up fortified cities and castles with training and equipping armies of soldiers. The battles are extremely tactically-focused, with troop types countering each other over terrain modifiers, while a card-based skill system boosts troop morale and broadens what they can accomplish in the field.

Rising Lords will launch with a full campaign mode and skirmish battles for singleplayer, but also looks to have a pretty robust multiplayer mode with up to four people taking simultaneous turns. That's a big plus for a complex game like this one if you've got a group that enjoys multiplayer rounds of chunky turn-based strategy and board games.

Rising Lords is developer Argonwood's first game, and it's a pretty big game for a novice studio. That said, they did hit their goal: They said in their Early Access description they wanted to release in the first quarter of 2024, and they're right on the money with that target.

You can find Rising Lords on Steam for US $20, 25% off until January 4th. It's in Early Access now, and will release its full version on January 18, 2024.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.