Why is everyone so interested in Manor Lords? The game, an ambitious city builder/RTS hybrid, attempts to simulate how medieval towns were constructed by embracing organic layouts and doing away with the grid systems common in the genre. And, today, it hit 3 million wishlists on Steam – that's no mean feat. It's currently above even Hades 2. That's impressive.
Its trailers have been attractive, interesting, and intriguing – but there's something else to the game's rampant success. It's 2022 demo managed to persuade half a million people to wishlist the title alone, and since then that base of interest has swelled even more.
I think it has something to do with the high degree of historical authenticity, and the pleasing rags-to-riches premise that the whole thing is built around. Right now, in today's world, social mobility feels a bit stuck – and we all feel a bit hemmed into whatever monetary situation we're in. Manor Lords gives us a fantasy in which we can own land – imagine that! – and lift ourselves out of serfdom.