Knights of the Crusades

About

Knights of the Crusades is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Reverie World Studios and was released on September 6, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Knights of the Crusades is an immersive blend of real-time strategy, city-building, and sandbox gameplay set during the Crusades. Lead a knightly order from Western Europe to the Holy Land, manage resources like silver and piety, and engage in epic land and sea battles. Build and defend settlements while navigating a complex economy in a war-torn world.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 97 reviews

gameplay4 positive mentions

stability6 negative mentions

Knights of the Crusades offers a unique blend of real-time strategy, base building, and grand strategy elements, providing a nostalgic experience reminiscent of classic RTS games.
The game features a rich historical setting with engaging mechanics, allowing players to manage armies, resources, and cities while navigating the complexities of the Crusades.
The development team is responsive and actively working on updates, showing a commitment to improving the game and addressing player feedback.

The game suffers from frequent crashes and stability issues, particularly during battles and transitions between modes, which can disrupt gameplay and lead to lost progress.
Many players find the user interface and unit controls to be clunky and unresponsive, making it difficult to execute strategies effectively during battles.
Despite its potential, the game is criticized for feeling undercooked and lacking polish, with some mechanics and features not fully realized or explained.

gameplay
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
61%
17%
The gameplay combines elements of diplomacy, research, and economic management, offering a blend of Total War-style battles and city-building mechanics. While the AI behavior can be questionable at times, the overall mechanics are engaging and nostalgic, though some players feel that certain features are outdated and require further polishing. The intuitive controls and fun empire management system contribute to an enjoyable experience, despite some minor issues.
- “Diplomacy, research, and economic gameplay are all present and well done; this game does not feel like a spreadsheet.”
- “You can command, administrate, and grow a military order, switching focus between Europe and the Holy Land. You can move armies around the map to deal with threats in real time and engage in low-complexity economic mechanics.”
- “It's an interesting blend of Total War-esque battles, but there are still some base building and resource collecting mechanics.”
- “I like the AI allies in battle, but the enemy AI on the world map makes some questionable moves, like trying to siege my village with far more defenders than attackers. This seems like a mechanic to force you to either stay close or put a large garrison in it.”
- “Hats off to you for fixing performance and stability issues in a short amount of time; it runs way better than when I bought it. However, the gameplay needs a lot of work for me to invest the amount of time it demands.”
- “In terms of gameplay mechanics, they stuck with the predecessor from 2019, which I thought was already outdated back then.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
82%
9%
9%
The music in the game is widely praised for its immersive quality and ability to enhance the overall experience, with many players noting that the soundtrack remains fresh and engaging throughout gameplay. Additionally, the voice acting contributes positively to the storytelling, creating a rich atmosphere that complements the game's visuals and mechanics. Overall, the soundtrack and audio elements are considered a strong point, adding depth and nostalgia to the gaming experience.
- “The soundtrack and audio effects are immersive and enjoyable.”
- “The soundtrack is very immersive and the voice overs when something major happens feels like I'm creating a rich history for my new world!”
- “Good music and voice work enhance a rich and engaging story.”
- “So many times playing, my characters won't move on the map and I have to log out and back in for it to work, or for no reason the music goes out or the game just shuts down.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many users noting that they feel outdated and reminiscent of early 2000s titles, which is surprising for a 2025 release. While some players appreciate the nostalgic aesthetic and find the visuals satisfactory, others criticize the limited graphical controls and performance issues. Overall, improvements are needed to appeal to a younger audience accustomed to modern graphics standards.
- “The graphics are actually really nice and the music is great.”
- “The graphics, soundtrack, and gameplay are all very nostalgic!”
- “Now yes, it doesn't have the highest graphical fidelity or animation work, but what is here works and is satisfactory.”
- “The graphics control is severely limited, not something you'd expect from a 2025 game, but oh well.”
- “Surprisingly fun and satisfying once you get past the sporadic crashes (although the dev team has been great at releasing numerous hotfixes) and the 2000s style graphics.”
- “The visuals of the engine, map, units, and weather simulation need improvement; for a 2025 game, this feels like it came out in 2000.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
12%
38%
The game's story is praised for its immersive and engaging narrative, set against a rich backdrop of the Crusades, where players start as a no-name lord on a quest to the holy land. Reviewers highlight the phenomenal lore, effective storytelling, and the enhancement of the experience through good music and voice work, making it accessible even for newcomers. Overall, the combination of strategy and narrative creates a fun and captivating gameplay experience.
- “This game has a fantastic setting and story.”
- “Immersive and fun to play, good strategy and storytelling.”
- “The story line and lore is phenomenal and was easy to grasp for a newbie.”
- “Starting you off as a no-name lord and sending you on a quest to the Holy Land.”
- “Well, the crusader armies are at strength 275-300, so your little army just stays out of the way and performs mop-up missions.”
- “So far, mission accomplished.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has received significant criticism, with users reporting frequent bugs and crashes, particularly when playing as templars. While some express optimism about the game's potential, the overall consensus is that it feels unfinished and unreliable, leading to a lack of recommendations until these issues are addressed.
- “However, I still cannot recommend the game yet as it is still buggy, at least while playing as the Templars.”
- “Releasing such buggy and apparently unfinished games is outright scam!”
- “Promising but buggy as hell.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Overall, players have mixed feelings about the game's optimization. While some commend the developers for improving performance and stability over time, others report a decline in graphic quality and campaign scripting, leading to concerns about overall gameplay experience.
- “Hats off to you for fixing performance and stability issues in a short amount of time; it runs way better than when I bought it.”
- “Graphic performance became worse, campaign scripting became worse, game stability became worse.”
- “Hats off to you for fixing performance and stability issues in a short amount of time, it runs way better than when I bought it, but the gameplay needs a lot of work for me to invest the amount of time it demands.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is significantly enhanced by its unique first crusade setting, which many players find engaging and immersive.
- “I’m really into the first crusade setting—it’s a unique theme that adds a lot of atmosphere.”