What is Manor Lords? New city-building sim goes viral as Steam struggles to keep up

Manor Lords crashed its own Steam store page on its very first day in early access as players flocked to the game. But what exactly is this new game taking the industry by storm?

2024 has been filled with unexpected indie smash hits that have briefly taken over the internet, just look at April’s surprise juggernaut, Content Warning. However, Manor Lords’ arrival could have been predicted if you were in the know. 

In its first five hours into its early access release on April 26, Manor Lords shot up to the fifth most-played game on Steam. As of writing, it seems like it’s barely hitting its ceiling, passing 173,000 peak players on April 28, and becoming the number one top seller on all of Steam. 

With no signs of slowing down, you might be asking yourself, what actually is this Manor Lords game and how is it getting so much attention?

What is Manor Lords? 

The concept behind Manor Lords is simple. It is a city-building sim, akin to Cities: Skylines. But the unique twist is that instead of city-building in the modern era, it’s set in 14th Century Franconia. 

In its approach of a realistic medieval city-building sim, it asks players not only to manage the lands they lord over, but also to manage things such as resources, trade routes, and make sure there are no unchecked expansions that will affect your land.

Additionally, being in the medieval age, you’ll need to build an army to protect your territories from rivaling lords or bandits. But of course, establishing armies comes with costs to your subjects. 

If it isn’t readily apparent, Manor Lords is attempting to create as realistic a sim of being a medieval lord, where building a city isn’t just about making roads and buildings but also about carefully balancing resources and manpower. 

However, the lone dev behind Manor Lords avoids trying to use the term “historically accurate”, rather, trying to find a balance between fun gameplay and realism. 

Manor Lords entered early access on April 26 but has no concrete date in place for its full release just yet.

Who created Manor Lords? 

Manor Lords was created by the dev studio Slavic Magic, whose solo developer is Greg Styczeń. Manor Lords joins the likes of Undertale, Stardew Valley, and Papers Please as breakout games created by a solo indie dev. 

In an interview with Unreal Engine, Styczeń said that he had been making games in RPG Maker and Flash since Primary school. However, has never made anything “of this scope” like Manor Lords. 

According to Styczeń, the game was inspired by RTS games like Stronghold: Crusader and Knights & Merchants. 

How did Manor Lords get so big? 

It’s unknown how exactly Manor Lords became such a sensation, however, it didn’t happen overnight. In the weeks leading up to its release, manor Lords was making headlines for reaching millions of wishlists on Steam. 

Enough so that it racked up three million Steam wishlists four days before its release. That made Manor Lords the most wishlisted game on Steam, beating out the likes of Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong. 

But considering Manor Lord’s unique approach to the city-building sim genre, it’s no wonder players are finding the game fascinating.

Manor Lords costs $30 USD as of writing for the first two weeks of early access, after which it will go up to $40 USD.