Medieval Engineers, the new game from Keen Software House (the creators of Space Engineers) is finally here! It launched today on Steam Early Access, and best of all, you get a 25% discount if you already own Space Engineers (this offer ends on March 4th). Space Engineers has a deal going on too, at the moment. You can play for free this weekend, and during this time you can buy Space Engineers for 40% off. This discount extends beyond the weekend though, ending on Tuesday, February 23rd.
So what exactly is Medieval Engineers? As you could probably guess, it is a sandbox game similar to Space Engineers. However, there is a huge difference in the two games. This time around, you are a medieval engineer, and the building blocks at your disposal are limited to technologies from the 5th to 15th centuries. The game also features a Structural Integrity option. When it is enabled, you can’t stack blocks too high or the bottom block will shatter under the weight and the structure will begin to collapse. Blocks will also shatter into pieces when hit by projectiles too, making destroying things very satisfying in Medieval Engineers.
Medieval Engineers already has some physics parts for building machines, such as rotors, rope drums, rope torsion springs, and more. This allows you to build war machines like catapults and trebuchets to devastate your foes. It should be noted that you won’t have any foes for a while, though, as multiplayer is not in the game just yet. It is coming in a future update though. In addition to building war machines, you can throw projectiles yourself. Some of the medieval building blocks even have some built-in variation (for example, the length of wood beams can be customized by moving your mouse’s scroll wheel). Another example is that roof pieces can form corners, and arched ceilings can form corners as well.
Keen Software Houses’ CEO and Founder, Marek Rosa, says they are already blown away by some of the things players are creating in the game. “We are amazed by what players have already created in just one week!” Rosa added. “So far we have seen amazing medieval castles, palaces, beautiful houses and whole villages, a multi-point crane with lift, a catapult for three projectiles, cable car and monorail, battering ram, rope suspension bridge, gates, trucks and even a medieval robot – all made out of the building blocks available in the game“. The one week Rosa is referring to, is the fact that the game had an Early Early Access offer where it was available a week early through Keen Software House’s own shop on their website.
At the moment, the game currently plays exclusively in Creative Mode, but Survival Mode is in the works. It has a quick-build feature that lets you drag and build a large area at once, for example if you are building a large area of flooring or a large wall. Even better, you can save blueprints of your creations and duplicate them in your world to quickly build villages or towns and whatever you can imagine. You can also upload your blueprints to the Steam Workshop for other players to enjoy. Additionally, you can upload your worlds to the workshop as well.
Anyone who’s played Space Engineers recently knows that Keen Software House makes quality software. That makes it all that much easier to support Medieval Engineers in its infancy by purchasing the game. Medieval Engineers is being developed by a second in-house team at Keen Software House, so it will receive regular updates just like Space Engineers does (and will continue to do). While there is no multiplayer in the game just yet, there will be some epic battles once it is added. And speaking of epic, the game has a very nice, medieval sound track that helps immerse you in this historical world!
Lastly, I leave you with this awesome four and a half minute trailer for Medieval Engineers, which also shows off both the creation and destruction aspects of the game.
