Every Crusader Kings game, ranked
All 2 Crusader Kings games we hold, spanning 2012 to 2020: 2 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 217,138 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Crusader Kings III (GamingPickz Score 8.1), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Crusader Kings II (2012) and follow the release-order timeline below.
The Crusader Kings games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 2 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
2 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 2 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
2 best Crusader Kings games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
Crusader Kings III at a glance Released 2020 Studio Development Studio Player sentiment 90% positive of 143,235 Critics 91/100 Price $49.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 20 GB Accessibility 6 declared features Raw 90% shrinks to 90.0 on 143,235 reviews, then blends with the 91 critic aggregate, giving 8.1.
What the data supports- 90% positive across 143,235 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 2
Crusader Kings II
Best for: Trying the genre without spending anything
8.0GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceCrusader Kings II at a glance Released 2012 Studio Development Studio Player sentiment 91% positive of 73,903 Critics 82/100 Price Free Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 91% shrinks to 91.0 on 73,903 reviews, then blends with the 82 critic aggregate, giving 8.0.
What the data supports- Free to download, so trying it costs only time.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Crusader Kings game we can score is Crusader Kings III at 8.1. The lowest is Crusader Kings II at 8.0, a 0.1-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Crusader Kings II at Free. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Crusader Kings III, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Crusader Kings entries on Steam:
- Playable: Crusader Kings II, Crusader Kings III
Platforms across the series
Where the 2 Crusader Kings games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 2 of 2 |
| PlayStation | 1 of 2 |
| Xbox | 1 of 2 |
The Crusader Kings series, game by game
Every Crusader Kings game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2012
Explore one of the defining periods in world history in an experience crafted by the masters of Grand Strategy. (Steam)
- 2020
Love, fight, scheme, and claim greatness. Determine your noble house’s legacy in the sprawling grand strategy of Crusader Kings III. Death is only the beginning as you guide your dynasty’s bloodline in the rich and larger-than-life simulation of the Middle Ages. (Steam)
Reception
Reception Crusader Kings III received "generally favorable" reviews for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S according to review aggregator platform Metacritic ; the PC version received "universal acclaim". Leana Hafer of IGN wrote that the game "is a superb strategy game, a great RPG , and a master class in how to take the best parts of existing systems and make them deeper and better"; scoring it 10/10 in her review. Lauren Aitken from VG247 also gave the… (Wikipedia)
Crusader Kings, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Crusader Kings vs other series
How Crusader Kings stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Crusader Kings vs ENDLESS Space, Crusader Kings vs Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings vs Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings vs Jurassic World Evolution, Crusader Kings vs Men of War, Crusader Kings vs Soda Dungeon, Crusader Kings vs Stronghold Crusader, Crusader Kings vs The Escapists, Crusader Kings vs The Sims, Crusader Kings vs Transport Fever, Crusader Kings vs Universe Sandbox, Crusader Kings vs Victoria
Common questions
How many Crusader Kings games are there?
We hold 2 Crusader Kings games in the catalogue, released between 2012 and 2020. 2 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Crusader Kings game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Crusader Kings III rates highest at 8.1. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Crusader Kings games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2012 to 2020. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.