Treachery, blood and barbarism await you in the mighty halls of Norland

This year Norland stands out as one of the few colony sims we've exhibited at the PC Gaming Show. The new trailer, debuting today, gives us insolent plebs a taste of noble steel, rampant disease, and capital punishment. Ah, just what we crave from a story-generating strategy game.

Inspired by the likes of Rimworld, Crusader Kings, and Caesar, it's a single-player colony sim that sees you take on the role of a noble family as you muddle through trying to manage a lively population of pawns that won't always agree with your rulings.

In overseeing the everyday escapades of your medieval kingdom, you'll build farms, workshops, and great armies as the struggles of honor, wealth and politics unfold. All in all, it looks to be a pretty comprehensive view of the vicissitudes of medieval life. And since the teaser trailer was an utter bloodbath, we know the game will feature a consistent trail of bodies.

With assassinations, epic bloody battles, riots, beheadings, and good old-fashioned bar brawls sweeping your homeland, it's clear Norland's devs have a knack for illustrating the violent struggles of an ancient kingdom.

Since each member of your colony has their own personality, drawn from a deep well of motivations, skills and preferences, they're going to form complex relationships. And with substantial colonies that stretch further than you'd expect from an average Rimworld session, organic social structures, religious and political controversies, and riots are sure to ensue.

It looks like there'll be enough scope for immense drama across Norland to keep even the turbulent Randy Random likers amused, so prepare yourselves for a rollercoaster of events and some subsequent emotional turmoil. The trailer gives us flashes of raunchy encounters, temple fires, and the epiphanies of scholarly kings. Along with the dilemmas that'll either have your armies laying siege to—or laying with—neighboring kingdoms, Norland seems like a pretty accurate representation of the horror and depravity of the middle ages. I can't wait to get stuck in.

There's a bunch more cool stuff to spot at the PC Gaming Show, so take a look if you're wondering what you can expect from PC gaming over the next year.