Lords and Villeins
- November 10, 2022
- Honestly Games
- 18h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreIn "Lords and Villeins," players govern a new land and manage a feudal economy, with the ability to zone out plots, build houses, and set taxation policies. Families, each with their own profession and business, operate autonomously, while players must balance supply and demand, secure resources, and maintain stability. The game offers a complex simulation of markets and city-building within a sophisticated feudal system.
Reviews
- Unique take on the colony sim genre with a focus on family dynamics and economic management.
- Engaging gameplay that allows for creative town building and resource management.
- Active developer support with regular updates and community engagement.
- Steep learning curve with a confusing tutorial that doesn't adequately explain core mechanics.
- AI pathfinding issues and villagers often fail to complete tasks, leading to frustration.
- Unbalanced economy where certain professions struggle to sustain themselves, causing gameplay challenges.
- gameplay84 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Lords and Villeins" is characterized by a steep learning curve due to its complex mechanics, which include economic simulation, crime management, and unique lord-villager interactions. While the game offers a rich and immersive medieval experience with deep mechanics, many players find the tutorial lacking and the AI villagers often uncooperative, leading to frustration. Despite these issues, the game shows promise with its original concepts and engaging gameplay loop, though it requires further polish and refinement to fully realize its potential.
“This game has more in-depth mechanics and gameplay opportunities than it displays on first glance.”
“Great mechanics of simulation worth the huge learning curve to master it and enjoy it after you follow the very well made campaign that helps you with that.”
“The draw of the game, in my opinion, is the market mechanics, where villagers will buy and sell goods and it has real-world economic behavior of supply and demand.”
“Game mechanics are very difficult to understand.”
“The tutorial is also very lackluster, and takes way too long to complete. There are lots of mechanics in the game that have no real explanation, and the in-game help seems to only cover things from when the game was first released, with no information on mechanics since updates.”
“I feel like this game could be great, but is suffering from some very underdeveloped gameplay features.”
- optimization23 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 26 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues, especially in late-game scenarios and with larger towns. Many users experience frame rate drops, stuttering, and CPU underutilization, leading to frustration and a feeling that the game is not fully polished despite being labeled as "1.0." While some updates have shown improvement, the consensus is that further optimizations are necessary to enhance gameplay, particularly for larger populations and map sizes.
“I would also like to see additional optimizations for larger population sizes, especially for the larger maps.”
“I definitely want bigger maps with steady performance.”
“The only real issue that remains is the performance, and I'm not sure there's a way to improve that.”
“There are frame rate drops that cause long periods of stuttering, which becomes extra frustrating knowing the game refuses to use more than 30% of my CPU.”
“Incredibly poor optimization.”
“So while the game is fun, I cannot say I 'recommend' it when it feels beta at best with a lack of polish and the optimization it currently has.”
- grinding21 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is slow, tedious, and lacks engaging mechanics, leading to frustration among players. Many find the user interface cumbersome, with no shortcuts to streamline tasks, and the food economy is poorly balanced, resulting in food shortages despite farming efforts. While there are opportunities for families to grow and diversify, the overall experience becomes monotonous, prompting some players to recommend waiting for improvements before purchasing.
“It's slow and tedious with no reason to interact with the game for extended periods of time.”
“This really needs to get fixed; it's impossible to replace more than one family a year, since even a simple farming family costs 80 reputation.”
“It is simple tedious stuff like this which has changed my review from 'definite buy' to 'stay away for at least another six months to see if they finally come to their senses'.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some players criticizing the outdated and clunky art style, while others appreciate its unique charm and simplicity. Although there are concerns about the graphics not reflecting the game's depth, many find the pixel art appealing, especially for fans of retro aesthetics. Overall, while the visuals may not meet everyone's expectations, they are considered enjoyable by a segment of the player base.
“The game offers some nice graphics and environments; although there are some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same and has a really great aesthetic.”
“I love the art style, and the way each of the seasons feels distinct and real.”
“The graphics are simple and robust, making it easy to recognize things and to find anything you are looking for.”
“The game is very clunky and graphics-wise it just feels outdated and ugly.”
“It's not what I expected; especially the graphics are too bad for this price.”
“While the game emphasizes poverty and riches, there seems to be minimal room to truly reflect that in the art style.”
- story18 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game's story is perceived as lacking depth, with many players feeling that it serves more as a tutorial than a narrative-driven experience. Missions often feel broken or overly lengthy, leading to frustration, and the overall storytelling is overshadowed by gameplay mechanics reminiscent of simulation rather than traditional storytelling. While the premise of ruling over a plot of land is intriguing, the execution leaves much to be desired, with comparisons drawn to more engaging story-driven games like *RimWorld*.
“As a matter of example, 'RimWorld' stands out brilliantly as a roleplaying, story-making game, while 'Stonehearth' and 'Going Medieval' explore more the 3D universe and building aspects.”
“You're given a plot of land, being the map you spawn into, by the crown and are in charge of ruling over it and the starting families that have gathered there with you.”
“First time I've purchased a game purely off of the devs' good vibes and the story of how the game was made.”
“It took me three days and several attempts to finally finish it, and I feel as though some information was skipped because it allows you to move to the next mission even if it's not done teaching you.”
“The campaign is meant as a tutorial, but a few of the missions are broken: they require restarting to get different random generation to be able to complete it.”
“This is less of a story-generator and more of a simulator than something like RimWorld or even the somewhat comparable Clanfolk.”
- stability11 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 91 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting persistent bugs, stutters, freezes, and memory leaks that detract from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the game's potential and aesthetics, the technical issues have been a consistent point of frustration since its early access launch. Overall, while the game shows promise, its current state is marred by instability that may deter potential buyers.
“Overall, it's a very nice game. I would recommend it for the €17 price point; maybe the €20 price point is a bit high for the current amount of content, but it's very polished and bug-free for an early access product, so I don't mind that much if they keep at it.”
“It's buggy, but you can sandbox around that.”
“Game is still very buggy; check the subreddit before you buy if you don't believe me.”
“The longer the game is played, the more frequent the game freezes.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is considered to have strong replayability due to its challenge and the ability to set different goals for each playthrough. Recent updates have added significant content, enhancing its longevity, while ongoing developer support suggests potential for further improvements. However, as it is still in early access, the full extent of its replay value remains to be seen.
“There is longevity in the challenge, and tons of replayability by setting yourself different goals about how to do things each time you play.”
“In terms of gameplay, I think there is definitely some replayability.”
“The last update already added a ton of new content to make the game more playable, and the developers also listen to suggestions and bug reports on the Steam forum.”
“I don't know how much replay value is here at the moment, but it released less than a month ago into early access.”
“Points on value and replayability.”
“Luckily, some simple changes could make this game more playable.”
- music5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as soothing and beautiful, with a unique style that blends elements reminiscent of both RimWorld and Songs of Syx. Players appreciate the charming art and the seasonal changes that accompany the shifting musical themes, enhancing the overall experience.
“The art is adorable and the music is so soothing and beautiful.”
“I love the seasonal changes and the changing music.”
“It's a lot different from what I'm used to, almost like the middle ground between RimWorld and Songs of Syx.”
“A lot different from what I'm used to, almost like the middle ground between RimWorld and Songs of Syx.”
“Love the seasonal changes and the changing music.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its dark and absurd scenarios, such as unexpected incestuous relationships and the comedic potential of spying and assassination mechanics. Players find the blend of humor with cute and challenging elements to be entertaining, although some feel that micromanagement can detract from the overall comedic experience.
“I should say I have two queens on the throne, but the game decided that they're not a couple, and had two of their children make an incest child Game of Thrones-style instead, which is pretty funny.”
“There's also a mechanic to spy on and assassinate people; I found that hilarious, lol.”
“Funny, cute, challenging.”
