The launch of a new expansion for Crusader Kings II [official site] is a happy time. Folks with spare cash can add an interesting new system to the dynasty-building strategy game, all players benefit from a big free update launching alongside it, and non-players like me get to enjoy the silliness that comes in that update’s changelog.

So, the Conclave expansion has arrived today to add a council who can work with or against rulers, the update has added an infamy system, and I’m giggling at patch notes explaining that humans should no longer give birth to horses and wondering whether “History is no longer executed if the player loads a savegame” refers to somehow sticking the head of history itself on a pike above the gates.

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I like to think of Crusader Kings II [official site] players as those shopfolk in comedies who painstakingly stack vast pyramids of cans, only for our hero to breeze through and trash it. So they start over. Then our hero returns. Restart, return. And again. That’s you, CK2 players. That’s you and new expansions coming along just as you’ve managed to get your kingdom running smoothly. Hey look, here comes the Conclave expansion, ready to make councils interfere with your rule. Pick up your cans, Canno.

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These are my personal Edwin Droods. Stories that I’ve failed to finish, for one reason or another, and that are left suspended. In the manner of somebody reversing out of a relationship like a heavy goods vehicle, trundling slowly and beeping nonchalantly, I’d like to say to the games included: It’s not you, it’s me. >

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That feeling when you finish a long series of books, or a television series, and say goodbye to the characters for the last time. Closing a world, pulling down the shutters and knowing that it has run its course, is a peculiar sensation. Indeed, it can provoke a sense of loss. How utterly ridiculous I felt last week when I mourned the ending of tens of thousands of tiny football-men, each of which is little more than a pile of numbers and behaviours. BUT CAN ANY ONE OF US CLAIM TO BE MORE THAN THAT, I thought, as I uninstalled Football Manager 2015 [official site] and prepared to move on to the beta for the new model.

I’m very bad at goodbyes.>

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Crusader Kings 2 [official site] is a grand strategy game about human beings instead of armies, and it spins gripping Shakespearean yarns about medieval social climbing, full of murder, betrayal and bastards. It’s brilliant, but you might be a little intimidated by its setting. That’s just one of the reasons why the Game of Thrones mod is so good – and it’s just hit version 1.0.

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Paradox Interactive’s grand strategy games create extraordinary scenarios. Often they’re based around small, local events – everyone seems to love sharing Crusader Kings II‘s twisted family trees and tales of incest, treachery and knives in the dark – but occasionally a story emerges that shows how preposterous and impressive these games can be at the other end of the scale. I’ve never seen anything quite like this million-man battle from Europa Universalis IV [official site] though.

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Expansion packs were once a core part of playing PC games, but they can often feel less essential in a world of constant updates and microtransactions. Original game Alec, expansions Adam and Graham, and brief DLC Alice gathered to discuss their favourite game expansions and why they still think the model works.

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Paradox s internal development studio, responsible for Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Victoria and Hearts of Iron, is deep into development on a space strategy game. We ve already seen it, and picked the brains of CK II maestro and project lead Henrik F hraeus and EU IV designer Tomas Johansson about this giant leap for the studio. The project, which the company announced at their Gamescom fan gathering moments ago, goes by the name Stellaris and it s shaping up to be one of the most exciting games in recent years.

Below, you ll find everything we know, including how randomised alien species will ensure that each new galaxy is mysterious, and why the commitment to an intelligent and subversive end-game could make this one of the smartest interpretations of 4X strategy ever made.>

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I was the first member of my family to go to university. Before my ascent of the ivory towers of academia, the Smiths had known how to work with their hands. No more. Currently, I’m the last of my line and the most impressive thing I’ve handcrafted in my life is a spicy avocado wrap.

If your family tree is in danger of withering, Crusader Kings II’s [official site] new Horse Lords expansion has fresh solutions. While Christian leaders lock children in a tower, you could take a more nurturing approach as a new nomadic clan leader over on the steppes of Central Asia. Send your kids out into the world to make a name for themselves as mercenary warlords. That way they might forge a dynasty rather than fretting over the lack of fresh coriander.

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What are the best Steam Summer Sale deals? Each day for the duration of the sale, we’ll be offering our picks – based on price, what we like, and what we think more people should play. Read on for the five best deals from day 5 of the sale.>

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