manor-lords game sourced
Manor Lords
An early-access medieval city builder in which families settle gridless burgage plots along curved roads, fields depend on soil fertility and crop rotation, and the lord fields retinue and militia in real-time battles.
parts
15 mechanics, as Manor Lords does themcore · 2
Crop cultivation
Fields depend on soil fertility per crop; rotation and fallow maintain yields, and overuse exhausts soil.
Zoning
Residential plots drawn along roads are divided into burgage plots that families build on and extend with backyard production.
supporting · 13
Building placement
Citizen satisfaction
Approval responds to supply, taxes, and tithes.
Goods consumption
Households need basic goods and luxuries; shortfalls lower satisfaction.
Pause and speed control
Production chains
Raw materials pass through workshops into goods, weapons, and armor.
Raid defense
Bandit raids threaten the town and loot stores.
Renewable regrowth
Hunting grounds depend on animal populations; overexpansion drives deer away and deforests land.
Road networks
Roads curve freely and plots and buildings take their shape from them.
Seasons
Spring rains and winter snow change work and needs.
Storage and buffers
Taxation
Six tax types, a yearly King's tax, and tithes on villagers.
Trade routes
Surpluses sold to traveling merchants; imports and exports balanced through trade.
Unit commands
Real-time battles with fatigue, weather, and equipment; retinue, mercenaries, and militia drawn from townspeople.
core loop
draw curved roads and burgage plots -> families move in and staff workplaces -> fields, backyard extensions, and production chains feed the market -> taxes, tithes, and trade fund a retinue -> defend against bandits and rival lords
design notes
Manor Lords drops the zoning grid: the player draws plots against freely curved roads, the game divides them into burgage plots, and households extend them with backyard gardens, chickens, or goats, so housing is also production. Fields carry soil fertility per crop that rotation preserves, and hunting depends on animal populations that overexpansion drives away. Militia levies come from the town's own families, so each battle death is a lost worker; the game remained in early access as of August 2026.