Characters have traits, secrets, hooks and opinions, and succession is a puzzle you spend a whole lifetime arranging. Because you play a dynasty rather than a state, losing a war is survivable and losing an heir is not — the failure state is personal.

Eight gigabytes, a much friendlier interface than the previous game, and a stress system that punishes acting against your ruler's personality. The stories it generates — a pious duke who murders his brother and then cannot stop crying — are the product.