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[Ghost of Caelid]

I really want to love this game, but it's so complex and so many moving parts along with no real graphical representation as to whats going on makes it difficult for me to embrace it despite loving the concept. Need to hear from people who struggled but it finally clicked to know there is some hope. Or did it just click for you off rip?

 

[CeeJay]

CK3?

Just follow the tutorial, I think it eases you in pretty well from what I remember. Keep your council happy, have lots of kids, marry them off for beauty and power, choose you aires wisely, keep your military and allies strong. Sure there are a lot of things to consider but it's not too difficult because there isn't really a win condition as such so you can set your own goals each run.

Watch loads of YouTube videos on things that come up that you don't understand and just chip away at it.

 

[ViolentP]

You need to let go a little. Go with the flow and allow yourself to be suprirsed by the outcome of your decisions. If you try to control every aspect of a game it'll become more work than play.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Strategy games today are crazy deep. I bought Stellaris hoping to recapture some of my enjoyment from the old Masters of Orion days, and the game was impenetrable even with the tutorials.
Great for diehard grognards, not so much my casual self.

 

[Beer Baelly]

 

[TintoConCasera]

Same here lol. Still trying from time to time tho.

 

[Kacho]

I was also interested and bounced off quickly. There’s a lot to learn and the mechanics you need to interact with aren’t very compelling imo. When it feels like you have to spend hours learning just to have fun it’s like, nah I’m good.

Total War and Civilization are more my style.

 

[geary]

CK3 is one of the easiest Paradox game. You should try Victoria 3….you need a master degree in economics to play it.

 

[PuffyCan]

T-Pain made it sound so simple, how hard can it be ?

 

[AJUMP23]

Once I had some kids out there, made some good marriages and suddenly started inheriting kingdoms I had never set foot in.

At one point I had conquered Ireland with force, but then I I inherited half of Russia and Lapland and the Norman lands. All while working to gain England.

 

[Jennings]

This always seems to be how it goes for me when I try a CK game again.

But I do try again once a year or so. And yes, CK3 is a lot easier for newbs to get into than 2, but it's still pretty much a wall of numbers that you need to figure out how much or how little you want to pay attention to.

 

[Beer Baelly]

 

[Bartski]

at no point sadly

 

[Hal.]

After EU4 clicked, but then I realised I cared less about the characters and more about the actual empire so it doesn't hold a candle to EU4 for me.

 

[gaming_again]

I really want to love this game, but it's so complex and so many moving parts along with no real graphical representation as to whats going on makes it difficult for me to embrace it despite loving the concept. Need to hear from people who struggled but it finally clicked to know there is some hope. Or did it just click for you off rip?

It never did. Ive tried many times because it seems right up my street. But it’s just too much.

I bought it when it was on gamepass, too. Absolute clown world shit from me.

 

[Dev1lXYZ]

CK is the kind of game I like to play about 3 weeks total out of the year. I’ll learn the systems, play a campaign, then drop it. The mid to end game is just way too much micromanagement.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Precisely! I’ve learned throughout my 20 years on this Earth (…in dog years ), that if you have to ask how long it takes to like a game, you’re probably never going to like it.

 

[Lasha]

CK clicked for me after I stopped treating it like a game and stuck to ironman. The series is basically a big "what if" simulator. You can play boring games up to the end date or have amazing games which only last a few decades before you want to move on. Give yourself a goal for every game. The tutorial does an excellent job of assigning the task of forming Ireland. Do that then start a new game doing something else like playing as a minor duke in the HRE and see what sort of mischief you can get into. Play some games wide and some games tall to get a grasp of your playstyle. The systems become intuitive as you experience them and eventually you are doing batshit stuff like reforming Zoroastrianism or seeing how far a Han Taoist lord can expand from Sardina.

 

[Beechos]

I really wanted to like this game after seeing all the perfect 10 review scores. Game is way too complex. This game seems like a super hardcore version of romance of the 3 kingdoms.

 

[Bragr]

Played some Hearts of Iron II back in the day, took me forever to get into.

I fear these games. They are great, but since they are different than any other sort of game, you don't learn them by second-hand playing. It's worth it, but I really gotta be in the mood to wanna go through the tutorials. Haven't specifically tried Crusader Kings III yet though, maybe that clicks faster than the others.

 

[thegame983]

Take it slow. Try to learn a new mechanic or two each campaign. It will make sense in the end.

The biggest stumbling block are the succession laws and the safe transfer of power to your heir. (and then stopping your vassels from revolting once your heir takes over)

 

[Bridges]

When I fucked my friend's wife, got her pregnant multiple times, and watched him raise my biological kids for hours before realizing something was amiss.

 

[Meicyn]

Strategy games today are crazy deep. I bought Stellaris hoping to recapture some of my enjoyment from the old Masters of Orion days, and the game was impenetrable even with the tutorials.
Great for diehard grognards, not so much my casual self.

I recommend giving Stellaris another go, you can automate colony management which does wonders for making the game better. It’s not nearly as efficient as doing it yourself, but it makes the game infinitely more casual. You can essentially focus a colony in certain directions like a “mining colony” or a “technology colony” and the AI will more or less build what‘s needed.

As someone who grew up on Master of Orion and its sequel, I can relate to your search for a replacement. Stellaris isn’t the same, but seriously… you’d be surprised how much fun it becomes. I almost gave up on it, and I’m glad I didn’t.

 

[Jennings]

When I fucked my friend's wife, got her pregnant multiple times, and watched him raise my biological kids for hours before realizing something was amiss.

What was amiss?

 

[Hendrick's]

For me it's a similar experience to Civ. I know the basics and can have fun, but never quite grasp all the systems or how to win.

 

[Bridges]

What was amiss?

His kids looked more like me than him and all had STDs

 

[ANDS]

For me it's a similar experience to Civ. I know the basics and can have fun, but never quite grasp all the systems or how to win.

These kind of Paradox games do not have a "winner." They simply end when you are tired of them. People want to play these games like Civilization or other 4X's with a clear fixed end date and winner based on a defined score, when that isn't what they are going for. This game is a dynasty simulator in a historical sandbox that says "Have at it." It is also not possible to "lose" as you can always play as someone else if your domain collapses.

CK3 is also the first major release based on their new engine and design philosophy of putting as much information in players hands without having to leave the game. Every major concept has a description that should explain what is going on. The Irish tutorial in particular is a standout for reducing the complexity of this game.

Finally, people need to recognize that, given that you are playing a dynastic game, that development is SLOW. Using the Irish tutorial as an example, a first goal should be uniting Ireland in at most two generations. This means tending to your heir and THEIR potential heirs, while also putting the right people in power, and laying out future conquest goals (if that's your thing). Third to Fourth generations could be taking Scotland, with the ultimate goal of taking Britannia in like five or six generations. The road to getting to Britannia is where the fun is or "goal to win." What you do after that (maybe you restart a campaign but make a rule for yourself to only allow female rulers and unite Britannia that way) is up to you.

 

[Mozzarella]

I personally think this game is very interesting, I'm a history nerd and i like to play something like this, however the game is intimating and i never played a grand strategy game before, it appears very complicated and hard to learn, also i just dont have the time to invest into it, i have many other games to play and i work and im looking to marry xD so sadly i cannot even try it.

 

[Paasei]

I always end up installing CK2, then once in a game, I see the map and buttons I click. I gather the courage to do some things: gg kid got stabbed casue I tried to marry her.

Uninstalled, try again some other day.

 

[gaming_again]

These kind of Paradox games do not have a "winner." They simply end when you are tired of them. People want to play these games like Civilization or other 4X's with a clear fixed end date and winner based on a defined score, when that isn't what they are going for. This game is a dynasty simulator in a historical sandbox that says "Have at it." It is also not possible to "lose" as you can always play as someone else if your domain collapses.

CK3 is also the first major release based on their new engine and design philosophy of putting as much information in players hands without having to leave the game. Every major concept has a description that should explain what is going on. The Irish tutorial in particular is a standout for reducing the complexity of this game.

Finally, people need to recognize that, given that you are playing a dynastic game, that development is SLOW. Using the Irish tutorial as an example, a first goal should be uniting Ireland in at most two generations. This means tending to your heir and THEIR potential heirs, while also putting the right people in power, and laying out future conquest goals (if that's your thing). Third to Fourth generations could be taking Scotland, with the ultimate goal of taking Britannia in like five or six generations. The road to getting to Britannia is where the fun is or "goal to win." What you do after that (maybe you restart a campaign but make a rule for yourself to only allow female rulers and unite Britannia that way) is up to you.

I’ve played the Ireland tutorial three times and my dumb ass still doesn’t get it

 

[ANDS]

I’ve played the Ireland tutorial three times and my dumb ass still doesn’t get it

Same. One run it all just finally started to come together for me. I would say the biggest impediment is getting out of the "Civilization/4X" mindset. You're essentially playing multiple "games" where you will inevitably get a game over, but will be able to continue the save as someone else. Accepting that it is entirely possible that all your current ruler is going to be able to do is build a few castles and not tank the economy was the first step I got into starting to think of this as a generational game. That and turning off Iron Man, lowering the difficulty to below Normal, and save scumming the hell out of things until I understand why pulling on Lever X caused Gear Y to turn.

There are still things I don't fully understand about the game (like how titles and the lines of succession explicitly work under certain governments), but enough to be able to figure out on my own now why things are working the way I want them to, and how to fix them.

. . .that said, I did watch some videos. This one in particular is good as it is an advanced player, playing the tutorial and not only explaining what you should be doing, but WHY you should be doing them (things like making sure your ruler always has the maximum number of holdings, constantly asking the Pope for money, cause Pope's be dying and resetting that Opinion of you, always having the maximum number of Knights, even if the Knights you get are shit, etc.). They've also got a series on "Save My Game" that's just as informative, and fun to see what long term (like 300 game years) planning can get you. . .and how fast it can all come apart.

 

[IDKFA]

Paradox games are really hard to get into. CK3 is easier than CK2, but still has a steep learning curve if you've never touched a paradox strategy game before.

Slightly off topic, but I'm hoping they release more of their games on consoles. Hopefully consoles will get Vic3 and maybe HoI as well.

 

[Outlier]

For CK3 was confusing at first, even after going through the tutorial, but you learn as you go.

It really depends what you want out of each play through. The social aspects between characters is grips me.

There are many ways to play it, but if nothing grabs you after a week, then it might not be for you.

I tried playing Stellaris in hopes that I'd get a space version of the game, but it's lacking in the social aspects and couldn't get into it, despite the games being similar.

 

[Emedan]

I think you gotta give it a few hours to be honest. It really helps looking at let's plays and be attentive too.

After EU4 clicked, but then I realised I cared less about the characters and more about the actual empire so it doesn't hold a candle to EU4 for me.

Yeah, EU3 was my first Paradox game so I was mighty hyped for EU4, I've spent about 1000 hours in it by now. I started playing CK2 after many hundred hours in that game.