Knights of the Crusades

Knights of the Crusades

Released Sep 2025

Travel to the Holy Land with the First Crusades. Rise from a humble knight to the founding father of a world-spanning holy order. Lead through war, faith, diplomacy, and cunning schemes. Experience a unique blend of RTS, city-building, and sandbox gameplay, and shape history!

70% positive · 184 reviews
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
High confidence
Active Development
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
High confidence
Active Development

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Evaluation

Knights of the Crusades launched at version 1.0 on September 6, 2025, graduating from Early Access. At launch, the developer explicitly committed to continuing weekly updates bringing new art, features, balance changes, and polish — and they followed through with a sustained stream of patches through November 2025. There was a multi-month gap in updates between late November 2025 and July 2026. The developer explained this directly in their July 22, 2026 post (Update #12): they were simultaneously dealing with a publisher deadline and tracking down a difficult engine-level crash involving video memory, which took several months to fully resolve. This is a transparent, credible explanation for the silence. The July 22, 2026 post confirmed that the team was "back to regularly updating Knights of the Crusades, with some great updates on the way" and that "many more updates are planned for the coming weeks." New engine technology and improvements developed during the pause were described as ready to be brought into the game. That commitment has since been followed through: Update #13, released August 5, 2026, is explicitly described as "a second major update since resuming work" and delivered significant stability, visual, and gameplay improvements. The developer remains actively engaged, continuing to solicit feedback from the community. The October 18, 2025 post also stated the developer would "continue working on the game no matter what" regardless of review scores, reinforcing a long-term commitment. Across its post-launch period, the game has received major AI overhauls, new playable factions, new unit rosters, art additions, and dozens of patches. Development is ongoing and the developer has been communicative throughout.
Evidence
Update #13 ships with major stability, visual, and gameplay improvements; described as the second major update since resuming work — confirming the developer has followed through on the July 2026 return-to-updates commitment
news post · Aug 5, 2026 source development ongoing
high
Developer confirms return to regular updates after a multi-month pause caused by a publisher deadline and a difficult engine crash; states 'many more updates are planned for the coming weeks' and new engine technology is ready to bring into the game
news post · Jul 22, 2026 source development ongoing
high

Media

Details

Publisher
indie.io
Achievements
41
Platform
Windows
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Playable
Players
Single-player

About this game

Step into the thrilling era of the Crusades and forge your destiny in Knights of the Crusades. Combining real-time strategy, city-building, and sandbox gameplay, this immersive experience lets you rewrite history and lead a knightly order to glory. Will you rise as a beacon of faith, or succumb to the challenges of a war-torn world?

  • Begin your adventure as a founding member of the legendary Templars or your custom Holy Order

  • Travel from Western Europe to the Holy Land to take part in the First Crusades

  • Become a founding father of the Holy Order

  • Capture and develop hamlets with dozens of essential structures

  • Navigate complex economy system with survival elements both in RTS and World Map modes

  • Generate resources like silver and piety, which are critical for expanding your influence and sustaining your armies.

  • Engage in epic RTS combat against AI armies on land and at sea.

  • Defend your hamlets, siege massive cities, and rewrite history through challenging scripted scenarios.

  • Transition into open-ended gameplay after the main campaign, capturing new territories and building alliances

  • Experience escalating challenges with Muslim, Slavic, and Christian AI factions vying for control of key regions

  • Lead campaigns in the Holy Land, Spain, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. Use strategy and diplomacy to secure alliances or crush your foes.

  • Participate in historical events, like the Reconquista or the defense of Edessa, and determine the fate of the Holy Land.

  • Explore a massive map filled with towns, cities, and pilgrim routes.

  • Navigate dynamic events, including naval battles, sieges, and AI faction wars.

  • Face challenges such as piety-driven resource systems, excommunication events, and escalating enemy attacks.

Will you rise to the challenge, expand your knightly order, and safeguard the future of Christendom? Knights of the Crusades invites you to embark on a grand journey of strategy, faith, and conquest.

Last evaluated Sep 23, 2026
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