The latest Crusader Kings 3 expansion now has a release date. Tours and Tournaments will be dropping on May 11, bringing a host of new features for the popular medieval intrigue simulator.
Available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, Crusader Kings 3 is a deep and rewarding strategy game from Paradox Interactive where you take on the role of a noble in a historically accurate imagining of the medieval world. Rather than simply charging you with the affairs of state, Crusader Kings 3 champions emergent storytelling and player choice. The life events and personal quirks of your leader do as much to affect the outcome of your political machinations as the state of your treasury or the strength of your army. In short, it's one of the best strategy games out there.
Tours and Tournaments places an emphasis on politics and storytelling, letting players plan chivalric tournaments to gain glory and prestige. The latest expansion will also let you organize Grand Weddings, creating another key stage for political wheeling and dealing. The most interesting new feature, however, comes in the form of the new travel mechanic.
As an influential noble, you can tour your lands, carefully picking out your route as you move about your holdings. You’ll be able to visit your vassals and shower them with gifts (or tax collectors if you’re feeling cruel). You’ll also bump into interesting new characters and cultures, too.
A noble goal
Crusader Kings 3 has always emphasized storytelling worthy of even the best RPGs. Whether you’re going to war or neglecting your children, the game is full of choices that make for an immersive and personal experience.
As is par for the course with Crusader Kings, Paradox’s latest expansion seems dead set on adding more layers of realism to the experience. However, rather than make the events dull or excessively granular, Paradox seeks to use added realism to provide players with more decision points and agency in their games.
I have fond memories of taking over Italy while passing all my worst personal traits on to my daughter.
Both the previous Crusader Kings titles and their ambitious sci-fi strategy game Stellaris have shown that Paradox is extremely talented in this sort of game design. Crusader Kings 3 is no exception, offering a deeply customizable and eminently replayable experience that charmingly oscillates between grim machiavellian geopolitics and anachronistic absurdity.
Tours and Tournaments look like a perfect fit for this formula. I’ve not played Crusader Kings 3 in a while, but I have fond memories of taking over Italy while passing all my worst personal traits on to my daughter. Despite upsetting the course of history, my experience felt refreshingly grounded. Tours and Tournaments will bring me back into the game by doubling down on the story-driven shenanigans and political intrigue that make the game so memorable in the first place.
