Of all the tragedies that might befall a medieval settlement, an ale shortage feels like a pretty minor concern. And yet, in Manor Lords, the superlative strategy game and city builder from Hooded Horse and Greg ‘Slavic Magic’ Styczeń, failure to properly manage your booze supply can, and will, plunge your township into chaos. In Civilization 6, you’re in charge of an entire continent. In Cities Skylines 2, it’s a metropolis of millions. But Manor Lords goes right into the details – you’re responsible for meeting the basic, everyday needs of a handful of settlers. Water and ale production have been a running sore since Manor Lords first hit Steam back in April, but now, in response to fans, Slavic Magic teases a possible remedy, as well as a wonderful-looking new map.
You dig a well. You plant a barley farm. You build a malt house and a brewery. On paper – or rather parchment – that’s the end of your water-and-ale-making obligations in Manor Lords. But it’s never that simple. Before you know it, supplies run out and the entire village is either parched, sober, or both – ale and water are consumed at a rate that seems unrealistic and impossible. It creates a problem with the economy, whereby you’re never fully prepared for shortages, and you’re forced into emergency water and barley production in neglect of everything else. Fortunately, one upcoming update for the strategy game is going to help.
“As some of you have requested, changes to ale and water distribution are finally coming,” Slavic Magic says. “They are now in closed testing.” While the developer doesn’t specify precisely what is being changed, the fact that the system is being addressed at all is a good sign.
Slavic Magic also shares a new screenshot for the next Manor Lords map. Cold and mountainous, it looks a lot more defensible than the open plains that we’ve been playing on so far – if you want to keep out rivals, building your towns right in the middle of the mountain range could be a good call.
We’ll see how the new distribution changes shake out when the next Manor Lords update arrives. Until then, try some of the other best city-building games, or maybe the best medieval games on PC.
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