Summary
A goodMedieval gameisn’t all about dressing up in cool armor, fighting a bunch of enemies, defeating dragons, jumping onto big ships, and raiding villages — it’s about doing all those things with a bunch of other people. The chaos of trying to survive in the Middle Ages alongside other players, each with their own tricks and ideas for staying alive, makes for one wild ride.
Unfortunately, explicitco-op gameswith historical elements, particularly Medieval ones, are hard to come by. They’re not the most sought-after games, regardless of how fun they sound, and are usually just swept under the rug as glorified game modes. The good news is, really majorflagshipMedieval survival gameshave co-op modes, or feature co-op in their gameplay, one way or another.
6Savage Lands
Steam Ratings: 57%
Savage Lands, while not explicitly stated as such, contains all the elements one would expect from a Medieval game, apart from its deviation towards a more fantasy-themed route. It is primarily based on humans fighting fantasy creatures ‘infesting’ the savage lands; creatures mainly being dragons, giants, and zombies. The game includes fairly conventional survival mechanics, ranging from looting and crafting to building a base. It also has a bunch of combat sequences that mainly focus on hunting and defense.
Co-op mode lets players team up with 8 other players. The idea behind the co-op is to survive the unforgiving environment of the Savage Lands together, and eventually get strong and rich enough to craft good weapons to take on larger, scarier enemies —like the dragon that’s taken over the land.
5Wurm Unlimited
Steam Ratings: 72%
Wurm Unlimited, the PC version of the popularWurm Online, distinguishes itself from the latter by offering players the opportunity to make, personalize, and manage their own servers instead of official ones. The game itself is considerably expansive and diverse in contrast to other games featuring similar tropes, and hence, is rarely redundant or dull.
Most of the game’s diversity comes from the virtually unlimited options players have access to in almost all the game mechanics. It offers an extensive selection of crafting items, skills, recipes, achievements, and strategies one can use to advance through. The variety and intricacy of its gameplay may evenprove to be a bit dauntingfor new players, especially with the different character routes they can take. And on top of everything else, it’s got the usual survival game stuff: building, crafting, and battling. Players can work together or against other players to earn achievements and eventually move up the ranks.
For times as tough as those in the Middle Ages,Palia’stake on the unforgiving nature of that era isn’t just refreshingly different; it’s also unexpectedly adorable. Sure, not everyone is going to agree with categorizing this game under the Medieval genre, but with its relatively historical setting and costumes, the association isn’t entirely misplaced.
Paliais assimple, cozy, pretty, and uncomplicatedas it looks. Players can do whatever they want along the lines of farming, cooking, building, harvesting, and casually enjoying one of the most aesthetically pleasing terrains in the gaming industry. The game takes its ‘coziness’ one step further and goes as far as eradicating all violent combat mechanics, to the point where the players themselves are unable to die.
AlthoughWurm Unlimtedand some of the other games on this list are nowhere near inferior in terms of diversity and in-game variety, the one thing missing in a lot of Medieval-themed games is originality. For players looking for a completely different yet fresh take on the Middle Ages,V Risingmight tick all the boxes of unconventionality.
It’s a Medieval gamerevolving around vampires and their influencein the olden times. While it’s — very obviously — completely fictional and fantasy, its gameplay and co-op are anything but. As a weakened vampire on the verge of their demise, the player has to build themselves up from the ground by using all the conventional survival tactics, but through the lens of a supernatural being. Players, both in solo and co-op, are required to advance through the game by revamping their castles, fighting other players or mobs, acquiring skills and magical powers, and simply existing as strong, vicious vampires.
Medieval Dynastyis a 2021 open-world RPG survival game that was initially just single-player, but has recently received a Co-Op mode and a new map catered for it. The game is as straightforward as survival games go — players are thrust into the world of the unknown (the Middle Ages in this particular case) and are expected to build a living from scratch.
Medieval Dynastyhastwo highly interactive mapsfeaturing dynamic seasons and day-night cycles. The co-op mode lets players team up with 4 other players to play a highly collaborative game. AlthoughMedieval Dynastyis intensely interactive and open-world, management and resources for the town/city are shared among all players. The rest of the gameplay is pretty much the same — surviving as an individual, finding a family, and eventually building a town.
Wartales, a strategy RPG, is an open-world sandbox set in a casually fantastical version of the Dark Ages. The story unfolds in the aftermath of a catastrophic fictional plague that has left the world in ruins, morally and otherwise. The player’s character has to lead a group of mercenaries through the doomed world and ensure their group’s survival.
What setsWartales' gameplay apart from other games on this list is not only the vast map with essentially anything and everything to do, but also the fact that players have to play as multiple characters. The co-op mode allows four players to play simultaneously, all having to lead their owngroups of mercenariesin traversing through the harsh lands.
