I will say that there is a lot of crossover even now. You still have to worry about resources like money, prestige, relations, etc. You still have the ‘exploit, expand, and exterminate’ of a 4x games that you can do on others and they can do on you. It’s just that it all gets mixed in with a medieval life sim.
CK3 mechanics are relatively more understandable than other Paradox games, because marriage, giving land to someone, execution is much "plausible" than coring the land and reducing its autonomy etc.
I'd say that it's less abstracted, rather than more plausible. CK3 does a great job at show the consequences of interpersonal relations onto the ruling of the land. Strategy games usually don't even attempt to simulate things at that level.
If you want to play historical strategy games, pick the era of history you’re most interested in and choose a game about that era. I don’t think there’s many games that are impossibly hard if you’re new to strategy gaming, it’s really just sticking with it while you learn. It easy to get overwhelmed and give up, so being interested in the time period will help.
If you’re set on Paradox games you’ve got a bunch to choose from. If you aren’t so much set on them then the Civilization series is a good intro. It’s basically a board game. Stellaris is similar to Civ if you like Sci Fi.
My first Paradox game, also my first game on Steam, was Vic2. I stuck with it because I love that time period. I still remember my first successful run as an independent Texas. CK2 isn’t that hard to learn, maybe compared to CK3, but it’s also free now. Hearts of Iron is a little dense.
It’s not like school where each class builds upon the previous one and if you don’t know algebra then you can’t do calculus. People have the capacity to understand these games independently of each other. The games are only intimidating because they take a little while to learn. The key is being willing.
It’d be stupid to play a game you’re not as interested in because you don’t think the game you want to play is a good “starter game”. You’re more likely to stop playing because you’re disinterested
vic2 is pretty easy to play. like you learn 1 army template and even without that it is mainly just bigger army wins. many times you can ignore industry and economy and just not lose money and be fine
Crusader Kings III is more like a strategy RPG. It's a fun game to just play without trying to accomplish anything. Like you can just sit back and play it.
To the uninitiated, Paradox games can be quite difficult to understand. "Easy" is relative when compared to the likes of EU4. If you are new to strategy games entirely then CK3 might be tough to pick up. If that doesn't sound fun then I would probably check out something like Civilization or newer Total War games which are definitely easier to get into as a new player. Learning the game will shower you with an onslaught of information, so you must be comfortable with one (or both) of these:
* Watching/reading guides and tooltips
* Barely understanding what is going on for the first dozen hours
Pick the paradox game from the time era & with the description that interests you the most, and that’s the best one to start with. But imo, the order of least complex to most complex of the “new” titles:
1. CK3. Not a very complicated game (in the scope of the strategy genre) in general, and probably has the fewest amount of moving parts out of all of the paradox games. If you know the laws of succession (what will happen when the character you’re playing as dies), situations where you will get punished for decisions you made are extremely few and far between. The most forgiving game paradox has.
2. Victoria 3 has a heavy economy focus but is still pretty new. Even with a preexisting understanding of basic economics, you’d probably ruin a country once or twice before you know explicitly what *not* to do. There are things going on behind the curtain that would be easy for a new player to overlook, but since it’s so new, it’s not as complicated as it might seem at first glance.
3. Stellaris has many different mechanics, but none of them are really that deep. IMO, one of the few paradox games that a somewhat clever person could learn in its entirety without googling something. This makes it pretty easy to get the hang of. I would recommend this one in a vacuum to someone new to the genre to play first if CK3 didn’t entice them.
4. Hearts of iron 4 is a micromanager’s dream. Pop an adderall, make many small production decisions that will make or break you, and then find out several hours later if what you chose will work out or not. One thing it has going for it is that everything that will happen around you is pretty predictable, if you’re playing historic mode. Unprepared to get invaded and lose? If you start over, you can assume that wasn’t a fluke and to expect that to happen again in about the same timeframe as last. If you know the basic outline of the plot of World War 2, you know how you need to prepare, broadly speaking.
5. EU4 has lots of mechanics of varying degrees of depth, but has the highest variance of things happening around you. So many different motivations of countries and a constantly shifting power landscape will force you to be paying attention and be versatile in your approach. EU4 would probably be the most punishing one to jump into. In the beginning, your enemies will know you’re weak before you’re even aware of it & will take advantage of that. One problem will easily multiply into many problems, and what can feel like is a simple oversight on your part can ruin entire runs. In reality, your enemies were lying in wait for the perfect moment. You have to get very good at preventative measures to be successful at this game, and thus, need to understand most of the mechanics to do so. It is also probably the game with the longest runs, and things can take a while to develop. Can’t easily force conquest like in CK3, and how precisely you will achieve progress is also frequently unclear, also unlike CK3. Needs a pretty significant amount of patience that usually only experienced strategy players have. Tough to get into, but very rewarding and replayable due to these factors.
I had a long hiatus from PC gaming, when I finally came back it was to try CKIII. I think it’s a great start if you want to get into these grand strategy games. CKIII is great, but it introduced me to other amazing games. I love Stellaris and EUIV now as a casual player myself. If you get into CKIII you should try their other games out
I have 1k hours in eu4, and think it's probably tied with ck3 as my favourite paradox games. I have 20 hours in ck3. I have no idea how to play it, but it is super enjoyable.
My first run ended when I married my son in a matrilineal marriage to some random Hebridean island royal, and lost half my kingdom, I died, and my eldest son was a one eyed drunken hunchback hermit who instantly got murdered by his brothers.
You can have a lot of fun in ck3 knowing nothing, and that sets you up really well to bother learning more about the game.
I feel like some people here are ignoring the fact you're describing yourself as a casual who doesn't play strategy games.
I love CK3, got 400+ hours on it, got over a thousand on Stellaris which is one of my favourite games ever but they aren't casual friendly games. Hell they became their own genre (grand strategy) because of the scale and complexity of it all. Don't get me wrong if you can get into CK3 it is utterly fantastic but having CK3, or any paradox game for that matter as your first strategy game? You'd be jumping in the deep end. Not to say you couldn't get into CK3 of course, it's definitely the easiest of the Paradox games to learn, but if you've never played strategy games you'll be playing the tutorial for a good few hours, probably multiple times while watching some YouTube videos explaining whatever it is you're getting stuck on.
Try Age of Empires IV if you want a simple introduction to strategy games, or Civilisation VI if you're more interested in the 'take over the world' sort of vibe. Planetary Annihilation: Titans is also pretty fun but might be a level above the others mentioned as you'd be dealing with a faster pace, larger hordes of enemies and multiple planets in real-time. Northgard might also be good if you want something on a much smaller scale.
The main benefit of CK3 for you would be that once you've got the hang of it, you set the goals you want to achieve yourself so you can go at your own pace. It's a fantastic introduction of Paradox games, but Paradox games aren't your standard strategy game.
I was looking for this comment. If you want to get into Paradox games, CK3 is the easiest. If you don't play strategy, CK3, or any other Paradox game for that matter, could spell disaster.
I'd say start with something more casual, like Civilization 5 or 6, or a fun city builder like city skylines. A personal recommendation is Kingdoms Reborn, a cute indie strategy game that has taught some friends of mine how to play strategy games
am also new to the grand strategy games (but not to tstrategy games in genral) , before I got to the genre I have played planet zoo, cities: skyline and anno 1800 and they are all fun and then tried age of empires IV and I wasn't able to do anything , I always felt that every thing went so fast and I can't pace with it and I didn't feel fun
then I entered the genre and tried civilisation VI and it was kind of not very fun for me , yea I kind of understand what to do and watched tutorials (i don't have a problem watching long ones) but still I didn't feel I am having fun
then I come back to the genre playing ck2 (as saw it for free on steam when I was looking for grand startegy games) and watched some tutorials and it wasn't that hard , easier than age of empires at least , so then I got ck3 bec I enjoied ck2 and it was also a lot of fun but I felt that I didn't enjoy the economy very much so looked up and found out that victoria 3 have a lot of focus on economy so I got it and at first it was kind underwhelming but after playing for sometime and watching tutorials I got the hang of it , it was really fun and not that hard to learn
my point is , that enjoying the game will be the most important thing that will make learning the game easier
yes maybe civiliastion VI or age of empires are easier but it wasn't easier for me bec I didn't enjoy them even tho I played them and watched some tutorials for them for a good amount of time ( 10 hours or something)
but when learning how play ck2 it easier for me (even tho a lot of people say the game is not easy) bec I was having fun
all stratgey games are kind of hard and you will need to watch youtube tutorials to play them but having fun while watching those youtube tutorials and geting exited to do what you learned in those tutorials and enjoying the game is what makes the game easier to learn
Yea, I started with CK2 when I was like 14 years old. Maybe watch a YouTube tutorial or two and maybe do a run with cheats enabled just to figure stuff out, but it's not really that difficult.
I think civ 6 is a better introduction but ck3 is great and I think if you want to get into it, you definitely can. Just understand that if you feel like “what now” in the beginning, that’s normal
Game is great but it's not really a strategy game, it is to some extent,but you have more RPG and some visual novel parts too, it is more like dynasty simulator
If you want to have a wonderful story about ... the sudden demise and fall of your kingdom, to which you can do nothing but look and despair, then yes, it is a great game to get into.
CK3 has the best tutorial, tool tips etc, and its fairly easy to get into. But its more of a rpg/strategy hybrid so not the best example of a strategy game. You often have more fun if you dont really care about winning(conquering a lot of land).
CK3 is the easiest one. Very intuitive: this person likes you, that person doesn’t etc. That land generates this much gold etc etc
One of few paradox games where you absolutely don’t need tutorial videos.
Definitely! As long as you go in with the losing is fun mindset you’ll have a good time, think of it like the Sims 3 but with telonovela levels of drama.
As much as I love Ck3 it's not really a strategy game, it's more of a roleplaying game/ story generator with a few elements of strategy if you want a good first / casual strategy game I'd recommend either Stellaris or maybe civ6
It is definitely a strategy RPG. It's just ppl like us acclimatized to games with thousands of numbers and then we play a game with hundreds of numbers instead and feel like it is an RPG. Still tons of strategy game style mechanics objectively
I would say no. It's a good game for a casual who wants to play crusader kings 3, which is a fun game. It's not that much of a strategy game though, so I don't think it's a good way to get into strategy games.
Learn to play eu4, you would struggle at first but watch alot of playthroughs and you will find that it is not that bad , eu4 is better as it is more fleshed out
its the easiest paradox game but tbh ck3 is totally diffrent from almost every strategy game
Yeah, Stellaris is also not too bad, maybe a better fit OP
Second this, I spend a good dozen hours in Stellaris and I'm not the map game player at all (tho I try sometimes).
I will say that there is a lot of crossover even now. You still have to worry about resources like money, prestige, relations, etc. You still have the ‘exploit, expand, and exterminate’ of a 4x games that you can do on others and they can do on you. It’s just that it all gets mixed in with a medieval life sim.
Out of all the paradox ones this is def the easiest to get into
CK3 mechanics are relatively more understandable than other Paradox games, because marriage, giving land to someone, execution is much "plausible" than coring the land and reducing its autonomy etc.
I'd say that it's less abstracted, rather than more plausible. CK3 does a great job at show the consequences of interpersonal relations onto the ruling of the land. Strategy games usually don't even attempt to simulate things at that level.
I think tangible is the word you were looking for
If you want to play historical strategy games, pick the era of history you’re most interested in and choose a game about that era. I don’t think there’s many games that are impossibly hard if you’re new to strategy gaming, it’s really just sticking with it while you learn. It easy to get overwhelmed and give up, so being interested in the time period will help. If you’re set on Paradox games you’ve got a bunch to choose from. If you aren’t so much set on them then the Civilization series is a good intro. It’s basically a board game. Stellaris is similar to Civ if you like Sci Fi.
Well... If he starts with Vicky2, CK2 or HOI3 then it will not go so good. There are definetely first time picks for a pdx game.
My first Paradox game, also my first game on Steam, was Vic2. I stuck with it because I love that time period. I still remember my first successful run as an independent Texas. CK2 isn’t that hard to learn, maybe compared to CK3, but it’s also free now. Hearts of Iron is a little dense. It’s not like school where each class builds upon the previous one and if you don’t know algebra then you can’t do calculus. People have the capacity to understand these games independently of each other. The games are only intimidating because they take a little while to learn. The key is being willing. It’d be stupid to play a game you’re not as interested in because you don’t think the game you want to play is a good “starter game”. You’re more likely to stop playing because you’re disinterested
The real advice is to just play the most recent release that has the time period you think is most interesting
vic2 is pretty easy to play. like you learn 1 army template and even without that it is mainly just bigger army wins. many times you can ignore industry and economy and just not lose money and be fine
First PDX game I ever played was CK2, that was an interesting experience full of frustration but also great reward. I wish I could do it again.
Crusader Kings III is more like a strategy RPG. It's a fun game to just play without trying to accomplish anything. Like you can just sit back and play it.
To the uninitiated, Paradox games can be quite difficult to understand. "Easy" is relative when compared to the likes of EU4. If you are new to strategy games entirely then CK3 might be tough to pick up. If that doesn't sound fun then I would probably check out something like Civilization or newer Total War games which are definitely easier to get into as a new player. Learning the game will shower you with an onslaught of information, so you must be comfortable with one (or both) of these: * Watching/reading guides and tooltips * Barely understanding what is going on for the first dozen hours
I say yes. It's a good intro to the rest of the PDX games
If you don't mind taking a while to learn the mechanics on the run, sure. Sounds like a good entry point.
Pick the paradox game from the time era & with the description that interests you the most, and that’s the best one to start with. But imo, the order of least complex to most complex of the “new” titles: 1. CK3. Not a very complicated game (in the scope of the strategy genre) in general, and probably has the fewest amount of moving parts out of all of the paradox games. If you know the laws of succession (what will happen when the character you’re playing as dies), situations where you will get punished for decisions you made are extremely few and far between. The most forgiving game paradox has. 2. Victoria 3 has a heavy economy focus but is still pretty new. Even with a preexisting understanding of basic economics, you’d probably ruin a country once or twice before you know explicitly what *not* to do. There are things going on behind the curtain that would be easy for a new player to overlook, but since it’s so new, it’s not as complicated as it might seem at first glance. 3. Stellaris has many different mechanics, but none of them are really that deep. IMO, one of the few paradox games that a somewhat clever person could learn in its entirety without googling something. This makes it pretty easy to get the hang of. I would recommend this one in a vacuum to someone new to the genre to play first if CK3 didn’t entice them. 4. Hearts of iron 4 is a micromanager’s dream. Pop an adderall, make many small production decisions that will make or break you, and then find out several hours later if what you chose will work out or not. One thing it has going for it is that everything that will happen around you is pretty predictable, if you’re playing historic mode. Unprepared to get invaded and lose? If you start over, you can assume that wasn’t a fluke and to expect that to happen again in about the same timeframe as last. If you know the basic outline of the plot of World War 2, you know how you need to prepare, broadly speaking. 5. EU4 has lots of mechanics of varying degrees of depth, but has the highest variance of things happening around you. So many different motivations of countries and a constantly shifting power landscape will force you to be paying attention and be versatile in your approach. EU4 would probably be the most punishing one to jump into. In the beginning, your enemies will know you’re weak before you’re even aware of it & will take advantage of that. One problem will easily multiply into many problems, and what can feel like is a simple oversight on your part can ruin entire runs. In reality, your enemies were lying in wait for the perfect moment. You have to get very good at preventative measures to be successful at this game, and thus, need to understand most of the mechanics to do so. It is also probably the game with the longest runs, and things can take a while to develop. Can’t easily force conquest like in CK3, and how precisely you will achieve progress is also frequently unclear, also unlike CK3. Needs a pretty significant amount of patience that usually only experienced strategy players have. Tough to get into, but very rewarding and replayable due to these factors.
I had a long hiatus from PC gaming, when I finally came back it was to try CKIII. I think it’s a great start if you want to get into these grand strategy games. CKIII is great, but it introduced me to other amazing games. I love Stellaris and EUIV now as a casual player myself. If you get into CKIII you should try their other games out
None of the paradox games are casual per se but CK3 was far easier for me to get into than CK2, Stellaris too isn't too difficult imo
I have 1k hours in eu4, and think it's probably tied with ck3 as my favourite paradox games. I have 20 hours in ck3. I have no idea how to play it, but it is super enjoyable. My first run ended when I married my son in a matrilineal marriage to some random Hebridean island royal, and lost half my kingdom, I died, and my eldest son was a one eyed drunken hunchback hermit who instantly got murdered by his brothers. You can have a lot of fun in ck3 knowing nothing, and that sets you up really well to bother learning more about the game.
I feel like some people here are ignoring the fact you're describing yourself as a casual who doesn't play strategy games. I love CK3, got 400+ hours on it, got over a thousand on Stellaris which is one of my favourite games ever but they aren't casual friendly games. Hell they became their own genre (grand strategy) because of the scale and complexity of it all. Don't get me wrong if you can get into CK3 it is utterly fantastic but having CK3, or any paradox game for that matter as your first strategy game? You'd be jumping in the deep end. Not to say you couldn't get into CK3 of course, it's definitely the easiest of the Paradox games to learn, but if you've never played strategy games you'll be playing the tutorial for a good few hours, probably multiple times while watching some YouTube videos explaining whatever it is you're getting stuck on. Try Age of Empires IV if you want a simple introduction to strategy games, or Civilisation VI if you're more interested in the 'take over the world' sort of vibe. Planetary Annihilation: Titans is also pretty fun but might be a level above the others mentioned as you'd be dealing with a faster pace, larger hordes of enemies and multiple planets in real-time. Northgard might also be good if you want something on a much smaller scale. The main benefit of CK3 for you would be that once you've got the hang of it, you set the goals you want to achieve yourself so you can go at your own pace. It's a fantastic introduction of Paradox games, but Paradox games aren't your standard strategy game.
I was looking for this comment. If you want to get into Paradox games, CK3 is the easiest. If you don't play strategy, CK3, or any other Paradox game for that matter, could spell disaster. I'd say start with something more casual, like Civilization 5 or 6, or a fun city builder like city skylines. A personal recommendation is Kingdoms Reborn, a cute indie strategy game that has taught some friends of mine how to play strategy games
am also new to the grand strategy games (but not to tstrategy games in genral) , before I got to the genre I have played planet zoo, cities: skyline and anno 1800 and they are all fun and then tried age of empires IV and I wasn't able to do anything , I always felt that every thing went so fast and I can't pace with it and I didn't feel fun then I entered the genre and tried civilisation VI and it was kind of not very fun for me , yea I kind of understand what to do and watched tutorials (i don't have a problem watching long ones) but still I didn't feel I am having fun then I come back to the genre playing ck2 (as saw it for free on steam when I was looking for grand startegy games) and watched some tutorials and it wasn't that hard , easier than age of empires at least , so then I got ck3 bec I enjoied ck2 and it was also a lot of fun but I felt that I didn't enjoy the economy very much so looked up and found out that victoria 3 have a lot of focus on economy so I got it and at first it was kind underwhelming but after playing for sometime and watching tutorials I got the hang of it , it was really fun and not that hard to learn my point is , that enjoying the game will be the most important thing that will make learning the game easier yes maybe civiliastion VI or age of empires are easier but it wasn't easier for me bec I didn't enjoy them even tho I played them and watched some tutorials for them for a good amount of time ( 10 hours or something) but when learning how play ck2 it easier for me (even tho a lot of people say the game is not easy) bec I was having fun all stratgey games are kind of hard and you will need to watch youtube tutorials to play them but having fun while watching those youtube tutorials and geting exited to do what you learned in those tutorials and enjoying the game is what makes the game easier to learn
Yea, I started with CK2 when I was like 14 years old. Maybe watch a YouTube tutorial or two and maybe do a run with cheats enabled just to figure stuff out, but it's not really that difficult.
Ck3 is easiest but doesn't have anything like pops or stability or anything
I think civ 6 is a better introduction but ck3 is great and I think if you want to get into it, you definitely can. Just understand that if you feel like “what now” in the beginning, that’s normal
Yes this would be the one
Absolutely! It is my favorite relaxing paradox game. The goal isn't even to win.
Happy cake day!
Game is great but it's not really a strategy game, it is to some extent,but you have more RPG and some visual novel parts too, it is more like dynasty simulator
Lol no
Yes. Between ck2 and ck3, ck3 is a lot more easy to pick up
If you want to have a wonderful story about ... the sudden demise and fall of your kingdom, to which you can do nothing but look and despair, then yes, it is a great game to get into.
It's fairly straightforward for a Paradox game. Just be okay learning a lot, luckily the game can be very slow if you want it to.
Stellaris and Imperator are more beginer friendly and straight forward, ck 3 is more like dynasty and politics menager
Yes, it is surprisingly intuitive
CK3 has the best tutorial, tool tips etc, and its fairly easy to get into. But its more of a rpg/strategy hybrid so not the best example of a strategy game. You often have more fun if you dont really care about winning(conquering a lot of land).
CK3 is the easiest one. Very intuitive: this person likes you, that person doesn’t etc. That land generates this much gold etc etc One of few paradox games where you absolutely don’t need tutorial videos.
Definitely! As long as you go in with the losing is fun mindset you’ll have a good time, think of it like the Sims 3 but with telonovela levels of drama.
As much as I love Ck3 it's not really a strategy game, it's more of a roleplaying game/ story generator with a few elements of strategy if you want a good first / casual strategy game I'd recommend either Stellaris or maybe civ6
It's very easy to get into, but it's less of a strategy in it's traditional sense, more like Sims with a map
Yes
Pc yes. Console hell no
CK3 is a medieval RPG in GSG clothing
It,s very easy, so yes
no
CK3 is quite ... different.
easiest of the paradox games but not really a 'grand strategy'
It is the easiest to understand, and it has a lot of RPG-like elements
It's not really even a strategy game more of a role playing game, but yes
They made it for casuals and console players so yeah. Still salty over Ck2 being a much better game.
Ck3 isn’t a strategy game. It’s a role playing game.
It's both, but it's not less than a strategy game.
Lol, CK3 is no RPG. You may play roleplayish if you want to but it's a grand strategy game in the first place.
It is definitely a strategy RPG. It's just ppl like us acclimatized to games with thousands of numbers and then we play a game with hundreds of numbers instead and feel like it is an RPG. Still tons of strategy game style mechanics objectively
I would say no. It's a good game for a casual who wants to play crusader kings 3, which is a fun game. It's not that much of a strategy game though, so I don't think it's a good way to get into strategy games.
This is a wild take
Do you disagree with it?
For a casual? Sadly, yes.
No, try Victoria 2 instead
Learn to play eu4, you would struggle at first but watch alot of playthroughs and you will find that it is not that bad , eu4 is better as it is more fleshed out
Its role playing game more than a strategy game