Not for the first time in Manor Lords, I find myself staring at a cow. Well, technically, it’s an ox, but it’s the same principle: has four legs, makes moo sounds. I have the camera zoomed in low to the ground and angled so I can watch the muscley bovine pull a plow through the field, carving deep furrows into the fertile soil. From this angle, I can see beyond the ox into the next field and the one beyond that, where ant-like farmhands are bent double sowing seeds in the earth, preparing for the coming summer.
There is no need for me to watch the villagers and their animals toil in the fields; you can play the strategy game Manor Lords much more efficiently from a zoomed-out position. Yet, as with so much in this game, there is a magic that comes from leaving the clouds and watching your decisions play out on the ground in your people's everyday lives.
