I’m not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to all things Game of Thrones. I’ve only read the first book, I’ve only seen the first two episodes of the TV show and I’ve never even so much as flirted with any of my blood relatives. Even so, I declared Crusader Kings II “the best Game of Thrones game you will probably ever play” and in an effort to ensure that I’m correct, a sturdy team of modders have released a Game of Thrones mod. Someone was always going to make this, the fit is too perfect for it not to happen, but to release something so soon and with so many features is astonishing. Get it here.

For the initial release I was expecting a change of map and names but instead it’s that plus much more, including “Knights, Maesters…a new “Megawar” system for handling civil wars, the Night’s Watch, and a new system for plotting your assassinations”.

I’ve just loaded it up for a quick look and don’t have much to say beyond commenting on how professionally designed it all seems to be. There’s also a lot of war happening. It perhaps says something about my play style and character that I can go through generations in Crusader Kings without being involved in much fighting at all. It’s barbaric, all that swording and axeing, I’d much rather cultivate my small plots of land by letting everyone else do the fighting for me and only joining in when the tide has already turned and all that remains is to sweep away the dead.

Maybe it’s the “Megawar” system but Westeros seems more warlike than medieval Europe ever was and that’s saying something. Rejoice in this unexpectedly early release and the hard work that has undoubtedly gone into it. Just unzip this lot into the game’s mod directory, which is in the Crusader Kings II section of your Steamapps folder if that’s where you bought the game.

EDIT: As pointed out by a friendly comment below, the single scenario in the mod currently covers Robert’s Rebellion, “roughly sixteen years before the events of the books”, but the plan is to cover the ‘current’ period eventually as well.

Alec’s currently playing the Role Playing Game Of A Game Of Thrones so maybe he’ll be declaring that to be “the best Game of Thrones game you will probably ever play” in the near future. I doubt it though, even if it’s brilliant, because now I’ve got these wonderful to help prove me right.