Manor Lords

Well, I really like the game and its design, but it's been out for over a year now and still hasn't seen any major updates. Most of the features are currently unavailable, and there just isn't much to do after about 25-30 hours of play. Updates are coming out painfully slow and unfortunately, I'm worried people might forget about this game soon. I really wish I could give it a thumbs up, but right now, I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe I'll change that later.

Too early to say. Organic house/marketplace plot building, overall mood, fantastic graphics, and it running okay. Huge pluses, but you know what? Last time I checked, we don't even have stone walls and the selection of buildings is pitiful, same with passive policies (only 2 now) that should not take long to code in... so content-wise inferior to anything and everything else.

Great game for the first 10 hours. Then you start to run into really annoying bugs that have been there for at least a year now and devs haven't done anything. Not playing anymore. after 4 hours of playing a session I randomly get "You have been deafeted for absolutely no reason everything was going great. Looked it up and there are many posts of that dating back to 2023... this bug has led me to create this review. Many other buts in this game too. It was a great game the first few hours of play time... I really wanted to like it but this bug has done it.

As cool as this game is i set it down for more than a year in its "early access" state, came back and literally nothing is different. It still has all its bugs, and absoulutely no new content has been added from what i can tell. The majority of the development tree and things on screen say "disabled (early access)" and im beginning to wonder if that will ever change.

Its like Anno but with curves. Actually its more than just that. But sure, lets just say anno with curves.

Basically unchanged after a year, expect either a glacial development time or no development at all. Wait for it to be more complete before buying.

It was overpriced at 30$ and now its 40. Such an over-hyped game that most people play for 10 hours max.

As an early access title this game had so much promise. Unfortunately the Dev seems to have lost the plot. The game looks amazing and is fun to play with some great features. Yes, it doesn't have much re-playability but its an early access title so this is sort of expected. Not long after launch it was ported from UE4 to UE5 (seems odd, why wouldn't you do this before releasing it to EA? but OK), followed by a few minor feature updates to keep the community happy - great. After the last minor update in January 2025 there have been no further game updates. There are approx bi-monthly posts from the Dev saying what they are working on but this appears to be some kind of revolving door that constantly changes and grows with no clear direction and no indication of when we could expect to see any further development of the game. When it was released to EA the Dev said: "We love considering and implementing ideas from players, and we will use Early Access to both expand and improve the game. Early Access provides a great way of involving players in the development process, and we are looking forward to working with the community to make a better game together.” - at the start this was true, with the Dev regularly popping up in discussion on the Discord community, or using polls to understand what players wanted (non of which were actually implemented). That all stopped a long time ago and now he seems to be stuck in a perpetual state of changing the fundamental game with no community engagement or direction for what he is doing. Players have lost interest, the once-thriving Discord community is reduced to the same handful of die-hards, and Steam shows that player numbers continue to drop (from 170,000 at launch to 15,000 at the time time of the last update, to 3,000 now). I'm not sure what happened behind the scenes but since launch we've watched the Dev slowly but steadily kill off the very community an EA title needs to succeed. Maybe the next update will be amazing, who knows, but even if it is, the community won't be there to support it as most will have moved on and won't bother coming back. Don't waste your money on an EA title with no direction. If the game ever reaches 1.0 take a look and decide if it is worth it then.

Manor lords is not really a game at this point. It is more like... a concept of a game. Why I didn't like it: - Not much to do, build a city, maybe train an army to fight, not really fleshed out. - Confusing systems. How does farming actually work? What is a good way to spread out towns? What does anything really do? There are little to no tutorials in the game. (And no, I refuse to look to outside sources to learn how to play the game I payed for.) - Not finished... very unfinished at all levels. This is more of a got what I paid for, but, beware, it is very undercooked at the moment. - Lack of identity. When playing this game I could never really figure out what it was trying to be. If its trying to be a city builder, there are other, more polished ones that are far better. If its a colony/city management game, Anno is a much more enjoyable experience. And if its trying to be a total war++ type of game, well..... maybe it will get there? What it feels like, atleast to me in the moment, is that Manor Lords is trying to find a niche in the center, bridging all three of those genres. Which, in my opinion is a great idea! It gives importance to the cities we make -- the hours spent pouring over, designing a beautiful, and maybe efficient city -- when we have to defend them from invading enemies. However, at the moment the game falls short on all three fronts. I think Manor Lords could be an amazing game. Just not yet, and I will happily change my review, if, or when it becomes the game I hope it will be.

Manor Lords is a game that wears its ambition on its sleeve. Developed by solo developer Greg Styczeń and published by Hooded Horse, this medieval city-builder and real-time tactics hybrid offers a refreshingly grounded take on feudal life. After spending considerable time managing villages, directing militia, and grappling with the seasons, one thing is clear: Manor Lords is not just another strategy title — it's something special, even if it's still a bit rough around the edges. What immediately stands out about Manor Lords is its visual authenticity. The world feels alive. Townsfolk go about their routines with animations that are unusually detailed for the genre. Livestock roam, seasons change with tangible impact, and the terrain isn’t just eye candy — it directly affects gameplay. Forests aren’t just decorative; they’re resources. Fields must be carefully rotated to avoid soil depletion. Every design choice reinforces the feeling that you're not just building a city — you're building a community within a realistic medieval ecosystem. The city-building mechanics are the game’s core strength. Unlike more rigid builders, Manor Lords allows for organic town planning. Buildings can be placed freely, and plots expand to fit the terrain naturally. There's a surprising level of depth in resource management, from hunting and logging to trade routes and social class development. Yet, it’s not overwhelming. The UI is intuitive, and systems build on each other in a way that encourages experimentation. Watching your small hamlet grow into a bustling market town is immensely satisfying — not just visually, but mechanically. The real-time tactical battles are promising but not as fleshed out as the city-building. Troop movement can feel sluggish, and AI pathfinding is occasionally frustrating. However, the battles do capture a certain gritty realism. Troops don’t act like professional soldiers — they behave more like levied peasants, which aligns perfectly with the game’s grounded tone. There’s an undeniable thrill in defending your village from a bandit raid or seizing a rival lord’s territory, but strategy fans may wish for more polish and variety in these encounters. Few games manage to immerse players in a time period the way Manor Lords does. There's no fantasy, no dragons — just the daily struggle of medieval life. The minimal HUD, the authentic soundscape of birds, blacksmiths, and market chatter, and the absence of forced micromanagement all contribute to a game that respects your time while still demanding your attention. Manor Lords is a remarkable achievement, especially considering it’s largely the vision of a single developer. It's not without its rough patches — particularly in the combat and occasional UI quirks — but its ambition and execution make it stand out in a crowded genre. If you’re a fan of city-builders, historical simulations, or just want something that feels fresh and meaningful, Manor Lords is absolutely worth your time. A brilliant, immersive city-builder with a few growing pains. Rating: 8/10

Fun game for what little there is. Despite having 200 hours in the game, I cannot recommend it at this time due to the extreme lack of communication from the dev on updates.

Not a fan. Yeah I get it - Indi developer and all - but when they are charging a full game price for a patchwork game that will probably take 15 years to complete, if ever, with just absolutely terrible in game 'help/ game play guides' then maybe they are charging too much, launched way to soon or just out their depth.. I've played countless of these game types, and this one just feels like a grind - and this was the second visit to see if anything had changed after a year....

Was not worth $40 for the lack of features available due to it being an early access game. Finished what I could, but as of now there is no way to grow the town so it's really just a sample of the game. I don't recommend buying until the devs add on more features to make it a true sandbox

The taxation kills the game, the CPU takes most of the map before you can even get an army together, then taxation goes up each year until you're in debt to the king, as soon as the tax is raised people are unhappy and start leaving, any battle after that you're out numbered, the problem is it takes hours to get to a point that you can't win. Tried 3 times now on the default settings and got the same result, barley doesn't grow so ale is an issue to upgrade, Foragers keep losing where the berries are, trade buildings all of a sudden decide they're not connected to the main road after years of trade. after 125 hours I've won once on relaxing mode. The thing is you're not sure if there's a bug or the people just decide to stop doing they're job. Relaxing mode is too easy and anything is just unfair It's a nice game and the building is done well, producing believable towns. it's just the taxation it's like you get to a point where you're paying the tax and all seems good then is doubles and puts you in debt. I want to play the game, I shouldn't have to research and copy something off of youtube to get it going. and yeah updates??

i want to love this game, but its pretty bad. in only 6 hours i have learned- -the game doesn't really explain itself very well. vague instructions and tutorial create a lot of ''i wish i had knew xxx a long time ago''. you can get troops by upgrading a house? then assign the house a job????? what the heck just give me a building this is ridiculous -you randomly get your town burnt down non stop, and they will be just larger than you so you cant win. perfectly frustrating -you will always just not have enough currency to expand- you need 2000? heres 1900, earned in a discrete unexplained way. again perfectly frustrating- not fun -if nothing else fails, you will be disappointing in how many features SAY IN GAME ''under development'' and don't work at all amazing idea, but i hate this execution and current state of the game

Not much has changed in a year, let us be honest. I'm not really sure when or if it will release. My advise is wait before buying, the game has very little to it. Kept coming back at each update, but it's very slow. I will edit my review if I see something more convincing coming out.

Abandoned game? It was addictive and fun, but no updates in 6 months, which seems odd for "early access." Not currently worth $40 if this is all we're getting, this is a $20 game

Is absolutely lovely and enjoyable. Just disappointing paying so much for a version that is never completed...

The game mechanics are good and interesting, and it requires strategy. However, a lot of time has passed and most of the features are still incomplete. It feels like an unfinished game and it's been in 'Early Access' for a long time. I get the feeling the developers simply got bored with the project, and seeing that it has been successful without being finished, they've preferred to offer discounts and keep selling it as is. I don't recommend it in its current state—no matter how much the price drops, it gets boring in the long run.

I found the tech progression to be jarring and AGONIZINGLY slow. I was really angry that I am forced to trade to advance, I wanted to take my rich iron mine and equip my lads for war, but no, I have to export planks to get money to establish a trade route..................UGH. I wish I could refund this game, but it took more than 2 hours to be able to figure out this mega time suck isn't worth it.

I have no idea what I'm doing and to be honest, I was bored. It just feels like another bad spinning plate simulator but to add insult to injury you're looking at the battlefield from like 30,000 ft by default. I just couldn't...

This could be a nice game some day in the future. Features I am missing: A list of assigned families categorized by the types of assignments. Maybe presets of assignments which would allow me to save the current position of all the families and then save it again for all the other seasons and I would just click the preset depending on the seasons so I don't have to manually unassign and assign them all the damn time, it's just micromanagement which is not so much fun. The plowing, damn, the ox should make it faster but it makes it slower becasue when there is ox, nobody else is helping with hands which I find unrealistic for them to just wait and sit around, this made me miss sowing crops few times. When it comes to trades panel it would be nice to have som filters available, like for exampling seeing just my imports/exports. When you upgrade a building you cannot control the families assignment in the building, you also cannot revert your decision to upgrade a building, all you can do is demolish it or up the priority so it is finished asap. When the berries respawn from 0 during its growing period the assigned families won't focus on gathering again and are waiting instead so you have to unassing and assign them again, which leads to another point, It would be really nice to have quick full assign and full unassign buttons like shift+Q for example. I am not recommending the game just because I want this review to get noticed and see these changes, I will update it if I come up with other stuff that need to be changed and I will keep playing the game cause it's chill but I really wanna see it go big like, this type of game deserve to be AAA.

All in all a fun city builder, unique to other entries. Only problem is lack of updates or at the very least the time between them. Mostly due to a small team size however.

With updates being so slow and nothing really going on in months i cant recommend buying it at this time sorry

Unfortunately a group of 6 bandits are in a constant loop of burning everything down in my settlement, and it doesn't occur to the 160+ residents to skewer them with pitchforks. It's just a nonsense. The game has potential but things like this kill the enjoyment.

It's still EA, but the game-breaking bugs stop you cold pretty early on. Since it's being released with a new engine and all new mechanics I would wait and see how that pans out before purchasing. There's no reason to drop money on a version that is being replaced shortly and if they don't work out the killer bugs with the new release then they don't deserve your money then either.

Have potential.. But soo many options are locked in early version. Given that the dev made millions and had a year to work on this you would think it would actually be developed more and more.. Don't bother with this game, I feel farthest frontier is better and more advanced. It's honestly not worth the price at all..

Was prommising but since nothing happens except visual updates (that nodoby cares about) it is not worth playing anymore.

Really like what is there so far, but unfortunately seems to be abandoned and incomplete. No updates in 6 months.

Loads of posts all over with people experiencing this issue. Game crashes repeatedly and at random. I woudln't buy until you start seeing fixes or updates which may fix it. As of now the game was working but is now unplayable. Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0xffffffffffffffff

The Game is not bad but needs more updates and boring fast .It needs more content and we are rarely getting any

waiting for Update - not worth at the moment. No added endgame content or even remarable changes since beginning. (bought it on release)

its a pretty fun game no tutorial or videos made it hard for me but i felt like learning myself it was worth the experience.

if the developer could remove those same 3 voice lines that play everytime you zoom into the town then this game would be 1000x better. Playing this game feels a lot like building a diorama. Once the town is built, it is fun to look at your creation (for about 10 minutes) then you'll get bored and turn the game off. The main developer behind this said that he used the game stronghold as inspiration for this title. However the developer hasn't really implemented many of the mechanics that made stronghold engaging in the first place. (such as a storied campaign, structured challenges to complete such as building defences quickly before the enemy army comes, even a multiplayer pvp mode) I'd be able to excuse all of this, if the battles were enjoyable. Although that is just as simple as smashing two armies together and watching them stand around with full speed on until one side wins. Very boring. I have to admit, this game has a lot of good going for it. Watching a patch of land turn into a thriving village has a certain appeal. It's just a shame after that initial step, there isn't much more to do.

10hours in I felt like that was all there is to the game. Its fine, but the depth of the game is super shallow.

It's a very engaging and immersive game. I like a lot of things about it, but it's also not intuitive; things happen where you have no idea how to do almost everything. I like the game, but I don't recommend it to new players because it can be very frustrating. Even doing simple things like harvesting crops and trying to feed the bread-making oven is very complex. You don't know where the crops go or how to get them to the flour-making site, and then that flour isn't sold but used in breadmaking. And even though I really enjoyed the sheer number of mechanics and steps to do things at first, I think adding unnecessary complexity to simple tasks isn't the best way to recruit new players. In my opinion, they should simplify and unify storage structures, create ways to automate the distribution of resources for specific tasks, and, for GOD'S sake, enable options for different time frames for the consumption of villagers' resources. It's easier to cover those needs in the early stages of the game so you can focus on growing in other areas. Overall, an excellent game that is diminished by the fact that you have to invest too much time understanding how the designers wanted us to interpret the proper way to do simple processes, and the internal tutorial is sorely lacking. Again, please simplify it or make a simplified alternate game mode and you'll see how much fun you'd have.

Bought it, played a bit, decided to wait for it to mature, but now no updates since January? That is simply disappointing

I like it its fun but there are a few stupid things that make no since that just kill the progression like how if you make a artisans it comply takes a family away for that and even if they are not doing anything you cant use them

Love what I've experienced so far, but not happy with the lack of development. Great game. Hard to give thumbs down, but it's based on development. I'm fatigued waiting for games to develop after purchase..may be impacting this review. I'm ready to change my review when I see significant development, but it feels I'm just going through the same motions with little interesting/new developments. Thought I'd be able to go back to this game by now and experience lots of new aspects. Seems pretty close to the same game I played moons ago. Still...like this game a lot: the aesthetics and graphics (cool medieval vibe), citizen interaction and allocation, city development. So, the negative review comes down to this: lack of development since I purchased this. Thumbs up for for a couple hundred hours of fun. Thumbs down (for now) for longevity.

Why couldn’t you add better descriptions to buildings? I was trying to upgrade the plot, and even though I made it bigger—as the help menu instructs—it still couldn’t be upgraded. Now I’m stuck at level 2 of the development tree. Improvement: There should be a mechanic where clicking on an upgrade or building requirement automatically takes you to it, so you don’t have to search manually. Overall Experience Issues: The game doesn’t feel intuitive. Why should I have to predict which resources I’ll need in the future when starting? For example, with the trading post: If you spend all your wealth (coins) before unlocking the trade route and buying a horse, you get stuck and have to restart. It feels like one of those games where you need to save before every major decision. Suggestion: Add a warning like: "Are you sure you want to spend this? You won’t have enough for an important building later." It’s frustrating that there isn’t a real tutorial at the start. Instead of guiding players, the game just throws them in and expects them to figure everything out on their own, except the one thing it tells you, is how to chop trees

Banished is still a more polished and complex game than Manor Lords. Shocked it's been a year with little to no follow through on anticipated updates.

It was a fun city builder until I took a new region and realised I had to build a whole new city from scratch and that region had its own economy and peasant placement, at that point the game went from fun city builder to annoying chore of a game with way too much micromanagement and I dropped it. Resources should be global and all the land taken should count towards total land not each piece of land is its own sandbox. You know your game has issues when you dread expansion because it means your workload just doubled when it comes to micromanagement and checking on food/wood production.

Fun survival game. It's kinda like a mix between sim city and age of empires set in the medieval period.

I enjoy this game a lot. Every single play-through can be unique in its strategy. Each town can be set up differently. If you like logistics games, city-builders, and some RTS this game is for you!

I enjoy the ability to thoroughly customize the village you create, especially when it comes to industries and overall layout. The organic shapes of the residential plots are a super interesting feature, too. I feel that anyone who likes simulation games, strategy games, city builders, and resource management would love this game. I'm very impressed that Manor Lords is this good already when it is only in early access.

Manor Lords is an impressive city-building and strategy game—made even more incredible by the fact it was created by a single developer. It already rivals (and in many ways surpasses) games from major studios, even in its current early form. I especially love the ability to walk through my own towns, bringing a personal touch to the experience. But the real game-changer for me is the curved road system. No rigid 90-degree angles—just natural, flowing layouts that make settlements feel authentic and alive. The game is still evolving, but it’s already something special. Highly recommended for fans of city builders and medieval strategy.

I'm excited to see where the developer takes this, but even if it were to be left in it's current state I don't regret my purchase. The design in this game is great, and has a pretty unique feel to it. I'm looking forward to more great work from this dev.

This game has too many bugs and is still very much in development for its steep price. It has potential but at the moment it's unplayable for more than a couple of hours.

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☑ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☑ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☑ No Story ☐ Average ☐ Good ☐ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑ 9 ☐ 10 ---{ Author }--- ☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

This game was great when initially launched. The dev dropped updates and patches, was communicating their goals and staying active with the community. Now, nothing. What most of us had hopped to see become a game to return to and play consistently is now another one collecting digital dust on the shelf. Like others have said, after that 20 hour mark there really isn't much to do. Don't get me wrong, it has great bones to be a fantastic game and it did very well from launch, but it feels like the developer has walked away. I do also acknowledge that it is in EA, that a lot of games stay in EA for some time, but we've received no road map, no recent update (I think maybe April?), no word. I do not want to say this game is dead, I do have hope for it. For now, I cannot recommend the game, but do hope to change my review in the future.