If you were a fan of fantasy media at any point during the 2010s, then you have probably heard about the HBO series Game of Thrones more than a dozen times. And if you somehow haven’t, then I’ll quickly inform you right now that Game of Thrones is a serial drama television series set in a fantasy medieval world, where numerous “Houses” of royal families are constantly vying for control of the Iron Throne, which is both a physical throne made of a thousand swords as well as a representative symbol of power, for whoever sits upon the throne lays claim to rule over all of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.
The television series Game of Thrones is based on the fantasy novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire” written by George R. R. Martin, and loosely follows the same plot narrative as the books. The show gained a beloved fanbase and received critical acclaim over the years for its large ensemble cast of memorable characters and the many, often tragic character arcs they endured across the series. Though at this point in time, it should be mentioned that the last two seasons of the show aren’t exactly the general audience’s favorite, for reasons I won’t rant on about here.
If you’re reading this post, chances are you’re a fan of the show or books already, right? And double so are the chances you’re a fan of video games, as you are browsing this website. This is why, my dear readers, we have decided to compile a list of 10 games that give off that “Game of Thrones vibe” when playing, for all those gamers who are either longtime fans of the HBO series, newer fans who suddenly find themselves wanting to immerse themselves in a similar fantasy setting, and everyone else in between.
So let’s get right into today’s Top 10 list, where we’ll examine a selection of games that feel like the next best thing to stepping into the world of Westeros.
#10: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox 360/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S/Nintendo Switch)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Official Trailer
Starting off our list is a game that I think plenty of people could have guessed would be on here in some capacity, with this game being one of the most well-known fantasy RPGs released in recent times, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. On paper, I think most people who would try to think of “a game like GoT” would name Skyrim as their go-to example, and it’s not really difficult to see why. Like GoT, Skyrim is set in a fictional fantasy world within a medieval time period, where multiple factions are waring for supremacy over the country, the threat of dragons looms over the land, and people just are trying to stay alive in the utterly hostile world they find themselves in. It’s not hard to draw comparisons, right?
Skyrim, the fifth entry in the award-winning Elder Scrolls series from Bethesda Softworks, known for other games such as Fallout 4 and Starfield in recent years, is a fantasy role-playing game set in the country of Skyrim in the continent of Tamriel. In Skyrim, you’ll be able to make a custom character from one of several racial choices, ranging from Skyrim’s local human-like Nords to the half-man-half-cat Khajiit, and begin your story after having been taken prisoner by a faction known as The Imperial Legion due to being mistakenly being caught alongside Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the Stormcloak army and main enemy of the Legion. Just before you’re set to be executed by the Imperials, you are inadvertently saved by a dragon, which the world thought long dead.
After escaping the dragon’s rampage you are set free to roam the world of Skyrim however you see fit. The game comes with numerous skills and a wide range of weapons to utilize, alongside an equally wide range of magical spells, allowing you to play either as a powerful melee-based barbarian, a magically attuned wizard, or a stealthy archer with incredible agility, and any other number of playstyles which can be achieved through the skill tree system as you venture across Skyrim’s many locations.
But most notably, your player character eventually learns that they are the last Dovah-Kiin, or Dragonborn, a unique individual who can use the dragons’ language to use magical shouts, an ability that can let you breathe fire, shout powerful shockwaves, and more. In Skyrim, you are the last Dragonborn, and it is written to be your destiny that you destroy the evil being responsible for the return of the dragons and save Skyrim. How you choose to achieve that task is ultimately up to you.
Obviously, it’s not a perfect comparison, as Skyrim leans more into the “fantasy” aspect of the genre with races like Orcs and Elves being present along with a more traditional slew of magic spells than Game of Thrones does. And, probably the biggest difference, is that overall the world of Skyrim isn’t as depressingly tragic as some episodes of GoT are, if you want to add that to the counter. But as it stands, Skyrim is still one of the most well-known fantasy RPGs released in the past twenty-to-thirty years, having received critical acclaim for its gameplay and even seeing repeat remasters for newer console generations, further cementing the game as an all-timer, which makes it more than worthy of a spot on this list.
Even if you haven’t played any of the other games in the nearly thirty-year-old Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim is a great launching point for new players. So if you’re a fan of massive open-world RPGs with enough content to keep you sucked in for hundreds of hours, then you definitely should try out The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim sometime soon if you haven’t already. Though that idea is almost hard to imagine really, considering certain facts like how the game sold 3.4 million physical copies just two days after it was first released.
You are the last Dovah-Kiin, Dragonborn, whose body is of a mortal and whose soul is of a dragon. Gifted with ancient power, it’s up to you to stop the return of the dragons before they succeed in bringing ruin to Skyrim and her people.
#9: A Plague Tale: Innocence (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S/Nintendo Switch)
A Plague Tale: Innocence - Accolades Trailer
A Plague Tale: Innocence is a story-based action-adventure game with a focus on stealth elements. Innocence is set in Aquitaine, France in the year 1348 during the Hundred Years' War, where you will play as a fifteen-year-old girl named Amica de Rune, a girl of noble descent, who must undertake the task of protecting her five-year-old brother Hugo after their home is invaded by French Inquisition troops that slaughter Amica’s family and their house servants for unknown reasons, forcing the two young siblings to flee their home. On the run from the French Inquisition, not only will Amica and Hugo have to avoid being caught by hostile human beings, but they will also need to avoid getting devoured by the enormous swarms of plague-ridden rats who are ravaging the European countryside by spreading the Black Death.
Obviously, a fifteen-year-old girl isn’t going to be able to take on French Inquisition soldiers or any other armed adult in traditional combat, so Amica must rely on guile and stealth to avoid her enemies, along with using her slingshot as well to fire rocks that can break chains, cause distractions, or even kill enemies if they aren’t wearing a helmet. Other than stealth, the game features various puzzles the player will need to solve to progress, some of which require Amica to distract or avoid a swarm of hungry plague rats. Even Amica’s younger brother Hugo can be used to occasionally slip into spaces Amica cannot, among other possibilities.
A Plague Tale was released in 2019, developed by Asobo Studios after being inspired by games like The Last of Us and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons to make a story-rich narratively-focused game, thus making Innocence their first original title launch since their 2009 racing game ‘Fuel’. The main theme in Innocence is family, and how the relationship between Amica and Hugo is challenged heavily by the inhumane circumstances they find themselves in across the game’s story, which ultimately will drive their bond closer together in time.
After releasing in May 2019, a year later in July 2020 Innocence had sold over 1 million units. (Which when considering ongoing world events at the time is a bit coincidentally funny when you think about it.) The game was released to generally favorable reviews, along with the game having won numerous awards ranging from the Outstanding Story-Rich Game award from the 2019 Steam Awards to the Game, Original Adventure award at the 2020 NAVGTR Awards. Overall a strong release for Asobo Studios, enough so that in 2020 the game was given a sequel titled “Requiem”.
Though A Plague Tale doesn’t contain any fantasy elements like dragons or powerful green fire, Innocence still gives off that Game of Thrones feeling in its story thanks to the late-medieval period the game takes place in, and more notably due to the overarching themes of tragedy and characters coming together to overcome the tragedies befalling them, among other elements. You could argue that the main character Amica has a similar character arc to Arya Stark, just without the swordsmanship. Either way, A Plague Tale: Innocence is an incredibly written story about two siblings coming together and strengthening their bond in the face of unimaginable hardships. For fans of story-rich games that really tug at the heartstrings, this game should be up next on your gaming to-do list.
Two young siblings must escape the French Inquisition soldiers mysteriously hunting them and the sea of plague-ridden rats decimating Europe with the Black Plague on an adventure that will put their bond to the ultimate test.
#8: Crusader Kings III (PC/Mac/Linux/PS5/Xbox Series X/S)
Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments - Release Trailer
For fans of Game of Thrones’s medieval political power-playing aspect, you might just fall in love with Crusader Kings III. Though it’s not set in some fantasy world either, Crusader Kings is instead set in the prime of medieval Europe, where monarchs of all shapes and sizes are vying for power against one another through whatever devious schemes they can get away with. Whether it’s gaining power through besieging a castle or marrying into the rival family for a share of their wealth, Crusader Kings III lets you have your cake and eat it too. Just make sure that your cake hasn’t been poisoned first.
Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy game where you can immerse yourself in the role of a monarch at the height of the European Middle Ages. The point of Crusader Kings isn’t to keep your one king or queen alive to achieve some total victory score, but instead to ensure that the lineage of your royal house lives on across the decades, securing your royal dynasty an eternal position of power and a place in history. Whether through warfare, diplomacy, or subterfuge, only you can choose how to rule your kingdom and how to ensure that your descendants will keep their power when your time on the throne has passed. Of course, ruling over a kingdom is far easier said than done, as across the game’s map of Europe, and small slices of Africa and Asia, there are many other monarchs who are also vying for power, land, and bragging rights.
Across the game, there are a plentiful amount of events and occurrences that can shake up the world, events such as your king being invited to a royal jousting tournament hosted by a friendly kingdom, your castle being invaded by a rival kingdom during their holy war crusades, or even such events as your King’s wife or children being killed by “mysterious circumstances” in an effort to weaken your rule. From in-depth events about a character’s relationships with friends or foes, events regarding a character’s childhood, and even events that lead up to and even are about the sudden demise of a character, there’s just too much content in the game to experience for me to thoroughly go over here in just one segment of this post.
The third entry into the Crusader Kings franchise gives players a highly simulated world teeming with knights, peasants, and more to rule over, granting players high amounts of customization options for both their character and their royal house’s overall appearance. Crusader Kings III was developed and published by Paradox Development Studios and Paradox Interactive respectively. When the game launched in 2020 it sold over a million copies in the first month, and as of September 2023 the game has sold over 3 million units and counting, cementing the game as a worthy successor to the just-as highly praised Crusader Kings II in the eyes of the fans.
Crusader Kings III is a game made for the gamers out there who enjoy the thralls of grand strategy, as entire monarchies can grow and fall at the whims of a player, so long as they are cunning enough to know how to go about completing their potentially devious tasks. In that regard, Game of Thrones fans reading this post should find it easy to connect the dots between this game and characters like Cersei, or Stannis. If you have ever thought to yourself that you would be the perfect fit for ruling over a feudal kingdom in medieval Europe, then Crusader Kings III is a game that you should definitely keep on your radar.
In Crusader Kings III, only you can choose how to rule your kingdom. Whether you choose to be a pious king, a brutal warmonger, or a seductive lover, in the end, you must always remember that real strategy requires cunning.
#7: Chivalry 2 (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S)
Chivalry 2 - Official Launch Trailer
Whereas the last game on our list was about the ruling monarchs of the medieval period, the game in our #7 spot now focuses on the unapologetically brutal battles waged by armies of loyal knights dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of their beloved kings. In Chivalry 2, you are but one of sixty-four players spread across two teams who are fighting for their team’s supremacy across numerous authentically medieval battlefields, where you will fight for your life in savage fashion against your foes using swords, arrows, and even your fists if need be. Or just “fist”, as it’s more than likely you’ll lose at least one limb when stepping foot on the battlefield.
Chivalry 2 is a multiplayer “hack and slash action” game, where players join up in multiplayer servers with sixty-three other players at once to fight it out with a wide slew of medieval-era weaponry while trying to complete objectives such as successfully besieging the enemy castle or setting fire to a village of filthy peasants in order to obtain overall victory. In the team-based modes, you will either play as the blue-and-white-wearing Agatha Knights or the red-and-black Mason Order, along with the post-launch addition of the Tenosian Empire. Each team has four classes you can play as, the Knight, the Footman, the Vanguard, and the Archer. Each class is mechanically identical across the three empires, each has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, and each of which has a wide range of new weapons and cosmetic items to unlock by playing as that class, allowing you to customize your knights however you like.
In terms of gameplay, developers Torn Banner Studios set about making Chivalry 2’s combat more similar to a “bar fight more than a fencing match”, as while the sword-clashing battles might not be the most “realistic”, what they are is incredibly fun on top of being complex. Players will not only be able to use a standard slew of weapons like swords, maces, bows and arrows, and so on, but they will also be able to use large-scale weapons of war like catapults and siege towers, on top of the unique ability to pick up anything you can find around the battlefield to use as makeshift weapons, including the dismembered limbs or even the heads of other fallen knights. Chivalry 2 also features horseback combat for the first time in the series, which gives combat an added sense of fast-paced intensity as players fight atop these thousand-pound beasts of war.
Though this isn’t really a specific “Game of Thrones vibe”, nothing ties together what people love most about fictional settings set in medieval periods more than a wide-scale battle between men in metal armor swinging swords in the rain and the mud for the honor of their feudal monarch. Chivalry 2 captures this feeling perfectly, as this first-person multiplayer hack-and-slash does a phenomenal job of making players really feel like they’re in the thick of a dramatic and bloody castle siege. As far as games about medieval combat go, Chivalry 2 is one of the best you can buy today.
From clashing swords to storms of flaming arrows to sprawling castle sieges and more, you’ll fight for your life in the name of your King in this immersive medieval warfare experience.
#6: The Lord of the Rings Online (PC/Mac)
The Lord of the Rings Online: Fate of Gundabad - Official Launch Trailer
Reaching game #6, we take a look at one of the oldest and longest-lasting games on this list so far, The Lord of the Rings Online. TLotRO is a ‘massively multiplayer online role-playing game’, or just MMORPG for short, in the same vein as games like World of Warcraft, only instead being set in the widely beloved world of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. This MMORPG was released all the way back in 2007, but even now over sixteen years later the game still sees support from its developers, a decently sized player following, and even new gameplay additions such as new character races or player classes, among other inclusions in semi-regular updates that are still launched even in 2023.
Like most MMORPGs, players will make their own character avatar with a number of playable races, class types, and cosmetic appearances to choose from, before being unleashed into an expansive world where players will have to complete quests and perform various tasks to make their character stronger by earning Experience Points, upgrading their equipment and more. What makes TLotRO stand out is its setting in the legendary Middle-earth universe, along with its overarching quest storyline that took place alongside the events of the films, which was told through numerous updates until the story finally ended with the 2017 Mordor expansion. And even then, once the main storyline was complete the developers shifted focus onto a storyline about the aftermath of Sauron’s downfall, and even “Tales of Yore” expansions that focused on prequel stories.
Despite the game’s graphics showing its age, the game still runs in phenomenal condition thanks to continued update efforts from the development team behind TLotRO, Standing Stone Games, who originally were members of WB Games Boston, known as Turbine Inc. at the time. Additionally, publishing efforts also transferred from Warner Brothers to Daybreak Game Company at a certain point, which though the actual reason for this is officially unknown, likely was due to Warner Bros considering shutting down the game and the development team wanting instead to continue working on the game even now during its sixteenth year of life.
Ultimately The Lord of the Rings Online is like most MMORPGs out there, but what it does have that makes it unique is a continued passion from the developers to keep the game alive well beyond the peak ‘hype years’ of the modern LotR fandom. J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendary fictional world is brought to life in a way any diehard fan would be proud of in this game. And, obviously, it goes without saying that the world of Game of Thrones would not exist today had George R. R. Martin not been inspired by Tolkien’s works himself.
If you really want to get your head around the whole picture that this MMORPG has to offer however, then you’ll just have to go and play it yourself, because I can scarcely fit sixteen-plus years of ongoing content updates into just one blog post. But what I can do is say that any fan of Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, or even just fantasy as a genre, in general, will not be disappointed if they decide to play The Lord of the Rings Online for themselves.
The Lord of the Rings Online continues to see consistent content updates since its release in 2007 and continues to provide an authentically written experience inside the world of Middle-earth.
#5: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (PC/Mac/Linux/PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One)
Official Shadow of Mordor Launch Trailer
We’re not done with The Lord of the Rings just yet I’m afraid as we now move onto the #5 game on our list, doing so with one of the most well-known games under this franchise’s banner, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Set in an alternate canon within the sixty-year gap between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Shadow of Mordor sets players in the role of Talion, a Captain of Gondor guarding the Black Gate of Mordor, whose life is quickly cut short by the diabolical forces Sauron’s Black Captains, known as The Hammer, The Tower, and the Black Hand of Sauron. These three slit the throats of Talion’s son, his wife, and ultimately Talion himself in an effort to summon the wraith spirit of Celebrimbor, an Elven ruler from the Second Age who, in this canon, was responsible for helping forge all of the fabled Rings of Power, as opposed to just three in the normal canon.
After being tricked by Sauron into forging the Rings, Celebrimbor was tortured and killed alongside his family by Sauron many years ago. The attempt to summon his spirit by the Black Captains faltered and resulted in Celebrimbor and Talion’s souls intertwining, saving Talion from death itself. After realizing that the two have more in common than first thought, Talion and Celebrimbor agree to use their abilities together and embark on a quest for revenge against the Dark Lord who has brought so much suffering to them both.
Gameplay-wise, Shadow of Mordor shares small similarities to the Assassin’s Creed and Batman: Arkham games, with Mordor’s open-world expiration elements being similar to the former and its combat similar to the latter. Of course, the game still carves its own path thanks to the uniqueness of the Middle-earth setting, the abilities and weapons Talion can use to traverse the map and do combat with, and most prominently of all, the highly praised “Nemesis System” that was developed alongside the game.
In Shadow of Mordor, Talion will come face-to-face with legions of Sauron’s Uruk armies as the main enemy force, and what makes them unique from most enemies across gaming is that the Nemesis System allows any Uruk on the battlefield to become a named, main villain who grows in power and ranking in Sauron’s army. There is a wide list of Uruks who are captains of varying status and are notable leaders among the rest, with each of them having a unique name, list of strengths and weaknesses, weapons they use, and the ability to be permanently changed both positively and negatively by events they experience.
Beyond the captains are many weaker Uruks who are generally canon fodder, but if one manages to score a lucky kill against the player, they will earn themselves a title and a rank among the captains. Then if you return and try to kill him and he escapes, the Uruk could return with a nasty scar across his face while voicing threats about vengeance for his wounds, along with a wide range of other interactions the player can have with the Uruks. At one point Talion gains the ability to convert Uruks to follow his leadership using Celebrimbor’s Wraith powers, and while most will become your humble servants, some can even break free from your thrall and return with a handprint-shaped burn scar courtesy of your powers, as another example of how Uruks can interact with you.
I can go all day about what makes this game (and by proxy its sequel Shadow of War) a fantastic game, but I only have so much space in this blog. Fans and critics alike agreed that the Nemesis System elevates this game from being just good to absolutely excellent, making Shadow of Mordor a game any LotR fan should play, if they don’t mind the canonical inconsistencies that is. Compared to the last game on this list, Shadow of Mordor is more similar in spirit to the grim, dirty, brutality of Game of Thrones, so I think it’s more than safe to say that Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a game you should absolutely play for yourself, and just as well, it’s an absolutely deserving game to be our halfway point here at #5.
Bound together by fate and the similar tragedies they suffered, the human Talion and the elven wraith Celebrimbor’s souls become connected as they embark on a quest for revenge against the Dark Lord Sauron, one which will bring all of Mordor to its knees.
#4: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (PC/Xbox One/Xbox Series S/X)
Age of Empires II DE - E3 2019 - Gameplay Trailer
In 1999, the game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings was released to critical acclaim from reviewers, and sold over 2 million copies just three months after it had been released, leading to successful DLCs and additional console ports to be created. Then for the game’s 20-year anniversary in 2019, Xbox Game Studios published Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to continue the legacy of the game for its long-lasting fanbase, releasing with improved 4K visuals for the character models and world at large, improved audio quality, and even gameplay additions in the form of new playable empires.
Age of Empires II is a real-time strategy game played from a top-down perspective, where players will first use “Villager” units to gather various resources around the world, resources which will be necessary to create new combat-specific units and buildings in which to train them with, requiring players to think somewhat carefully when training new units as every action costs both resources and the time it takes to gather them. Age of Empires II is set in the Middle Ages, compared to the original being based on hunter-gatherer cavemen advancing to the Iron Age, meaning that players will have a selection of historically-based scenario campaigns to play within AoE II involving historical figures of that time period, such as Joan of Arc and Saladin, while also having additional game modes, including the deathmatch mode, a randomly generated map mode, and the Regicide mode where players must keep their king unit alive whilst slaying those belonging to the enemy players.
Along with updated visuals and greatly improved AI enemy pathfinding capabilities that make them much more of a threat than the original, Definitive Edition also sees continued updates in the forms of new DLCs that include additional empires to play, along with new campaigns for players to play through. To celebrate the franchise’s 25-year anniversary in 2023, the Definitive Edition devs released the Return of Rome DLC expansion, which is composed of content from the original Age of Empires: Definitive Edition brought into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition’s new engine, including all sixteen original empires plus the additions of the Lac Viet, three new original playable campaigns, and the bonus addition of the Roman empire being playable in the main AoE II game.
It’s one thing to be just one individual knight on the battlefield fighting for your rulers, but it’s another thing to be the ruler who gets to command the entire army to your beck and call. No matter the franchise in question, the one shared truth across them all is that it’s good to be the King, and Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition delivers that experience to players in excellent fashion. The original AoE is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time, and AoE II continues to carry the torch as a worthwhile sequel even twenty-four years later thanks to the Definitive Edition. For any fan of real-time strategy games, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a must-play for those who haven’t done so already.
The rise and fall of the greatest empires throughout history are yours to control, as long as you’re clever and ruthless enough to survive yourself, in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
#3: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S/Nintendo Switch)
Official Launch Trailer - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Bringing us into the top three games on our list is a modern classic in the role-playing game genre, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In this game, players enter an unnamed fantasy world based on Slavic paganism and mythology where humans, dwarves, elves, and other races live alongside a vast array of monsters and other dangerous creatures that threaten the lives of those just trying to make their way in the world. The existence of these creatures in turn requires the existence of beings known as Witchers, individuals who are taken from their homes as children to be trained extensively in combat, tracking, alchemy, and magic, along with being mutated by mysterious substances known as Mutagens to make them unnaturally stronger and more resilient, all for the purpose of creating the perfect monster slayers for hire.
The titular Witcher in this case is a man named Geralt of Rivia, a legendary Witcher who trained in the School of the Wolf and showed unusual tolerance to Mutagens during the Trial of the Grasses. The Witcher series revolves around the adventures and exploits of Geralt along with his friends, comrades, and his lover Yennefer of Vengerberg, a powerful sorceress. The ‘Wild Hunt’ from the game’s title is a group of spectral warriors led by the King of the Wild Hunt, who has been menacing Geralt across the past two games, now becoming the main antagonist after being responsible for the mysterious disappearance of Geralt and Yennefer’s adopted daughter Ciri, known to some as the Child of Prophecy, who has suddenly returned under just as mysterious circumstances.
Across the world of The Witcher are monsters of all shapes and sizes for Geralt to slay in return for payment, along with plenty of human enemies to encounter as well. This is why, among many other usable weapons, Geralt primarily uses one of the two swords he keeps on his back, one made of silver to kill monsters with, and one made of steel to kill humans with, along with an arrangement of magical spells called Signs, with the Aard sign which unleashes a telekinetic blast and the Igni sign shooting out flames, as examples. Using his proficiencies with both magic and weapons alike, players will control Geralt’s decisions and actions across his adventures, ultimately leaving Geralt’s mark on the world one dramatic way or another.
The Witcher games were developed by developers CD Projekt Red, known more recently for their latest game Cyberpunk 2077, and is based on the novel series of the same name originally written by award-winning author Andrzej Sapkowski, which originally began back in 1984 when Sapkowski was encouraged by his son to enter short story competition, a choice which then spread into an ongoing franchise thanks to overwhelmingly positive fan reception and a demand for further stories about Geralt’s exploits. The storyline of the game series differs in certain aspects from the book series, but overall the world and characters themselves remain generally the same between both versions. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released to universal acclaim and has won over a dozen unique awards, including Game of the Year and Best RPG at The Game Awards 2015, along with dozens of other nominations. Currently, the game stands at an Overwhelmingly Positive score on Steam with over 670,000 user reviews.
The Witcher game franchise is one of my favorites in the RPG genre, so much so that just playing through the first game made me go and somewhat impulsively buy the entire book collection online just so I could experience even more of the world. When playing as Geralt you really get that sense that he’s just one man in a fairly large and dangerous world, trying to live his life the only way he knows how one day at a time. And though him being a traveling swordsman fighting for what he believes is right against monsters isn’t exactly something we can relate to ourselves, it does put Geralt of Rivia up there with some of the best fantasy characters ever written, those in the world of Game of Thrones included.
Either take it from me or from the mountains of awards and overwhelmingly positive reviews from fans and critics alike when I tell you that if you’re a fan of open-world RPGs with plenty of content to discover, then The Witcher 3 should be put on your must-play list ASAP.
Travel a war-torn world and kill monsters for gold as Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher on a quest to track down the Child of Prophecy, Ciri, who has the power to alter the shape of the world.
#2: Kingdom Come: Deliverance (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Official 5 Year Anniversary Trailer
In Kingdom Come: Deliverance, players assume the role of a peasant blacksmith’s son named Henry, who lives in the silver mining town of Skalitz located within the Kingdom of Bohemia during the 15th century. Soon after finishing the forging of a commissioned sword with his father, Henry’s life as he knew it was violently ended when an army of Cuman soldiers under the command of Sigismund, the King of Hungary and Croatia, suddenly attacked Skalitz, leaving the town in ruins and killing Henry’s parents in the process along with dozens of others, forcing Henry to flee the village to both save his own life and warn the nearby castle-town of Talmberg of the incoming invaders. This sudden series of events will lead Henry into a life he never would have thought of for himself, where he will train and transform from just a simple peasant blacksmith into a driving force that might just help determine the future of Bohemia itself.
With Henry’s whole life and future as he imagined it torn away, both he and the player are now thrust into the middle of a civil war that’s ravaging Bohemia, previously known as a jewel of the Holy Roman Empire. Going forth in the game, Henry will have to train himself in a manner of skills if he wants to survive in this violent world now plagued by war, corruption, and discord alike, having to master not only the art of swordplay, but also improve his skills in stealth, charisma, thievery, and many more options that make for one of the most open-ended RPGs released in recent years.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance provides players with one of the most immersive medieval-era experiences in gaming, which extends not only to what you can do in the game but also how difficult it can be to achieve. For instance, while it is possible to sword-fight your foes immediately, lacking the proper knowledge of how to utilize the game’s specific direction-based combat system can leave you little better than defenseless. For every skill, be it sword fighting or lockpicking or even learning how to read, you will have to train your skills and yourself using the game’s classless role-play system that allows players to develop any playstyle they want without having to follow specific skill trees.
Players are also given virtually limitless freedom in Deliverance thanks not only to its skill system but also its non-linear story that allows players to complete quests in a number of different ways, ultimately making players entirely responsible for the consequences they will face. Beyond combat and quests, there are also additional immersive features in Deliverance, such as Henry’s need to eat and sleep, to make sure the food he eats hasn’t spoiled after too much time, making sure his clothing and equipment don’t fall into utter disrepair when out in the world, and many more additional needs. When not managing his needs, Henry will also need to utilize his skills when conversing with NPCs, with certain conversation options requiring certain skill checks to get successful results. There are so many more little details to be experienced in Deliverance beyond what I’ve already said, but I simply just don’t have the room in this post to ramble on about them!
Though the game did launch with some criticisms directed towards some historical inaccuracies, the food and health needs system, and a somewhat difficult save system, Deliverance still launched as a top-seller on Steam, and as of 2022, it has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. It’s also won a fair share of awards and nominations, such as the Best PC Game award at Gamescom 2017 and the Best Narrative award at the 2018 Central and Eastern European Game Awards.
Though this title is far from being the most similar to Game of Thrones, considering most obviously that dragons and magic don’t really exist, even in 15th-century Bohemia, playing as Henry as he evolves across the story does give similar feelings to seeing characters like Jon Snow, characters who find themselves sort of as the reluctant hero put into situations they never thought they’d be in but still managing to have the courage to stand up and do what needs doing, and I think that is what makes this game a worthy addition onto this list.
Ultimately, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a very in-depth RPG that successfully immerses players in its telling of 15th-century Europe, though its difficulty and even its insistence on realism can push some players away. Ultimately it’s up to you to decide how much realism is too much in your RPGs, so all I can tell you is that if you are looking for one of the closest experiences to actually being in the Middle Ages that you can get out of a video game, then Kingdom Come: Deliverance is the game for you. But if you want something more casual, you might be better off looking elsewhere.
After his parents are murdered and his hometown is burned by an invading army, Henry’s life as a blacksmith’s apprentice is no more, and now he finds himself on a path that could change the very destiny of Bohemia itself.
We’ve already gathered a pretty sizable chunk of great games that really give off that GoT feeling to them, don’t you think? But don’t click off yet, because we’ve still got one game left to talk about here today. And that game is…!
#1: Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S)
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Release Trailer
Rounding out our list at #1 is the 2010 cult classic Mount & Blade: Warband’s 2022 sequel, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. Bannerlord is set over 170 years before its predecessor in the fictional continent of Calradia, where players are tasked with building up their party of knights and soldiers while completing various quests and objectives across a massive overhead campaign map, where the player will then be able to fight alongside their amassed army of soldiers in real-time battles against legions of enemy soldiers in a number of different ways, ranging from long-range archer battles in the open fields to full on siege camp assaults on rival castles across the continent.
After creating your character, the player is let loose into Bannerlord’s massive medieval sandbox world, where they will not only have to utilize strength on the battlefield but also strength in politics, trading, and crafting materials to better help their chances of survival during their exploits across the world. Bannerlord brings back almost everything players loved about the original game and dresses the gameplay up with significant improvements across numerous gameplay elements, such as a more advanced dialog system between the player and NPCs, and an improved focus to make combat encounters more strategic in nature.
When not in combat, the player will travel across the overhead top-down-view map of the game’s world to get from location to location, where they can then travel through a settlement themselves in first or third-person to talk with NPCs for quests, purchase items and equipment, or just immerse themselves in the world. When talking to NPCs, players can attempt to utilize their natural charisma to try and get something they want out of the character, and failing that, they may also attempt to bribe characters with money, though failing to convince a character too many times can result in a merchant’s deal being made impossible. The persuasion system also allows characters to try and court NPCs they wish to marry, and in a new addition to this game, if you successfully marry an NPC then you may also have children with them, who can inherit the player character’s army and fiefs should your original character die in battle.
Battles themselves are also improved in numerous ways, with sieges upon enemy castles getting the most attention. When a player initiates a siege, they can choose to bombard the enemy keep from the overhead map with the possibility of creating holes in the castle walls for you to take advantage of during battle, along with players also being able to construct numerous siege engines to strategically place around the enemy fortress before the battle begins, such as siege towers and catapults. The enemy fortress is far from a sitting duck however, as their soldiers have the advantageous position of being up on the castle’s outer walls, where they can utilize both the high ground overlooking their enemy, and even “murder holes'' in the castle walls to shoot arrows and pour harmful substances like boiling water through onto large amounts of enemies below. Whether you find yourself defending or attacking, either in single-player or multiplayer online battles, every action you take will require a fair bit of strategic thinking if the player wants to come out of the battle with both themselves and their army still intact.
When Bannerlord was first released in early access in 2020, it quickly became the largest launch on Steam that year with more than 170,000 concurrent players at once at its peak. Combined with its gameplay improvements from the original game, improved graphics, and the inclusion of support for custom player-made mods via the Steam Workshop, Bannerlord succeeds in being both a worthy sequel and an incredibly unique and immersive medieval role-playing experience.
Though on this list we’ve talked about games where you’re either the soldier on the field serving his king or the king himself giving out commands however you like, in Mount & Blade II you are able to do both at once and in glorious fashion at that. Though it does ultimately lack the fantasy element, I think the previously mentioned factors are greatly in line with the themes of Game of Thrones characters like Tyrion Lannister or Robb Stark, who were willing to charge into battles alongside their men when the need for it arose, though in admittedly differing circumstances. Whether you decide to first play Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord or the original game, you will be in for a surprisingly immersive experience that caters greatly to fans of grand strategy and in-your-face first or third-person medieval warfare alike.
Grow your army of soldiers, plan massive siege attacks on enemy castles, and travel across a vast continent to carve out your own legacy however you see fit in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.
Conclusion
And that’s the end of this Top 10 list of games that really give us those Game of Thrones Vibes when playing. Though we couldn’t fit every game on just a list of ten games, I think we did a pretty solid job here. But I’d still love to hear what you thought about it. Thought the list was great? Thought there were a few games that should’ve been on it instead? Whatever your thoughts are, let me know below, I’m more than happy to hear about ‘em.
