Following a plague that wiped out 95% of the global population, a few settlers band together to create a new society in Going Medieval. Part colony-builder and part management sim, Going Medieval pits players against environmental hazards, including animal attacks, raids from neighboring settlements, and unpredictable weather patterns as they attempt to create, manage, and defend a settlement. Though it only just released for Early Access, Going Medieval already shows great polish and promise.
Going Medieval is the first title from indie developer Foxy Voxel. While there is some focus on building a base and defenses in the same style as Minecraft or Valheim, players must also assign jobs to their settlers based on their skills and Perks, designate a schedule that includes enough entertainment and religious fulfillment to keep the colonists from becoming disillusioned and leaving the settlement, and gather and preserve resources. Settlers must also work on collecting and preserving shared knowledge to unlock Research opportunities, leading to more buildings and technologies that will make settlement life easier. Many fans have compared Going Medieval to RimWorld for their similar approaches to character and construction management.
In such a vast and lawless society, players are bound to encounter hazards. They will need to fortify their base, adding defensive structures, and will need to craft and equip weapons to fend off raiders from neighboring settlements. Raids sometimes happen because the settlement may choose to take in a refugee character fleeing from captivity. Other times, the summer heat will become so intense, it destroys entire storehouses of food and medicinal herbs. Still other times, a settler may go hunting only to be gored by a stampede of deer. The pacing of these events is particularly noteworthy, as they always feel staggered enough to not become overwhelming but frequent enough to make Going Medieval more of a challenge.
Going Medieval already includes a considerable amount of depth, especially when choosing a set of colonists to start with. Hitting the Randomize button in character creation numerous times will result in a new character with unique traits, and very rarely will anything on character sheets duplicate. That depth is sure to resonate with fans who can replay almost endlessly with various colonist combinations.
Players also receive the option to customize many of their starting conditions in Going Medieval, including the number of resources they start with, number of colonists they have at the start of the game, whether there will be raids and combat at all, and resources available at the settlement. In-game, players have freedom to manage just about everything, from the types of weapons their settlers will use in combat, to the kind of diet they prefer, to their exact schedule during any hour of the day.
The building system in Going Medieval is also a highlight, showcasing the depth of possibilities Foxy Voxel included. At this stage of Early Access, players can only build a single village and cannot expand or assign homes or even specific beds to their settlers. Despite this, there are still plenty of opportunities to get creative with building. It is possible to build the city entirely underground for temperature control, or massive stone towers that accommodate all settlers in the village and protect them from raids. Settlers will just need to make sure they mine or chop enough Clay, Limestone, and Wood to create anything the player imagines.
Even though it is only in Early Access, Going Medieval is deep, well-designed, polished, and wildly enjoyable. The game's pacing is almost perfect, adding random events at well-gauged intervals so they never seem too frequent or too sparse. There are a number of features that Foxy Voxel's recently released roadmap promises, like settler interactions, the ability to raid neighboring settlements, diplomacy, and wildlife taming, all of which seem attainable and reasonable as Going Medieval continues to develop. With that said, what is already included has enough depth to keep players occupied for many hours. As more bug fixes and features are introduced during Early Access, it will be exciting to see how Going Medieval grows.
Going Medieval is in Early Access and is available for PC. Screen Rant was provided with a digital PC code for the purpose of this preview.