It's the ultimate simulator of the three tenets of medieval life -- murder, marriage and eugenics. Those *were* the three tents of medieval life, right? Probably? Let's go with it.

Point is, Crusaders Kings III (CK3) is an upgrade on its predecessor (CK2) in wonderful ways. While the loss of republic as a playable government type is a bit of a setback, the vibrant and robust additions in practically every other venue more than make up for it. Add in a travel system, an enhanced religious reformation system following the version debuted at the end of CK2's lifespan, and the ability to play as a landless adventurer(!) -- just a name a few of the many, many facets of this deep The Sims redesign masquerading as a grand strategy 4X -- and you have a game worthy of eating up hours of your life as you attempt to do those zany things CK is known for.

I mean, if you aren't feeding the Pope to your holy cannibal entourage, are you *really* playing CK?