Any videogame chimeras that try to splice Crusader Kings with something else immediately get my attention—Paradox's grand strategy RPG has been keeping me embroiled in intrigue and war for a long-ass time, but it's always exciting to see what spin another developer puts on the dynastic soap opera. In Norland, the concepts of Crusader Kings share the spotlight with RimWorld's colony-building survival sandbox, and it's a marriage made in Heaven.
This is in stark contrast to the marriages between my aristocrats. Starting a new game in the Steam Next Fest demo, I created a trio of nobles to directly control, but as soon as I arrived in my settlement I found one of them was missing—the queen. Bandits had kidnapped her. Instead of the couple being able to forge lasting bonds, my queen was dealing with literal bonds, shackled as she was in a bandit camp.
