Khaldun: Text Based Strategy
SkyWolf · 2026 · Strategy, Text-Based, Medieval, Grand Strategy, Management
PC
Positive94% · 18
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →
Screenshots
About Khaldun: Text Based Strategy
What are a ruler’s duties? Managing wars? Meddling in the intrigues among advisors? Deciding production in villages and cities? In this game, you can do all of that and much, much more. Inspired by the work of the great historian Ibn Khaldun, who is regarded as the founder of sociology, this game will teach you how the course of history unfolds.Let us take a look at some of the game’s core mechanics:Whether you are raiding a village, laying siege to a city, or engaging an enemy state in open battle, the sword rules all. But without tactical planning, all of it is meaningless! Watch the battle unfold in real time (yes, in ASCII graphics), where terrain, morale, army composition, and tactical decisions can decide whether your army returns victorious or vanishes into history.Just like in real life, you can talk with your commanders and advisors about state affairs, but remember: every conversation affects your relationship with them. Be careful not to earn their hatred, or they may start plotting behind your back!The game’s most unique mechanic. You have never seen anything like it in another strategy game, yet in real life it surrounds you at every moment, even if you do not realize it. Asabiyyah is a key concept in Ibn Khaldun’s theory of history and will affect many aspects of your kingdom.As prosperity rises, luxury increases, but asabiyyah declines; and an empire with weak asabiyyah is destined to collapse.-Ibn KhaldunVillages are responsible for food and raw material production, while cities produce specialty goods and art. Reckless conquest can lead you into chaos, because every region has its own area of specialization. You must prepare a conquest plan that suits your strategy.Khaldun is a very detailed strategy-management game. Even if you do not notice it, the systems behind the game change according to your decisions. There are many more features in the game that I cannot describe here. I tried to create the most realistic experience possible for players, and I hope you enjoy it.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
For the price, it's OK but there are several serious issues with combat, trade, and, especially, food. [Tested with "Napoleon's Winter March", and "Sword of the White Wolves"] You can get used to all these things, of course, and adapt to them, but they are annoying and unrealistic. On the upside: the ASCII art is nice, the developer is responsive and working on improvements, and the game actually works. That's already lifts it above the crowd. Keep the oddities in mind and you'll have fun. BUYER BEWARE. 1. Your nation will be starving from the start. Pour everything you can into increasing food production every turn/month and hope you survive long enough to match demand in a year or two. 2. While you're watching your population and 'asabiyyah' collapsing and desperately trying to get people fed, they'll moan that you're not giving them enough luxuries and rebel anyway. 3. Battle AI is ludicrous, eg; cavalry race ahead of the rest and are often annihilated before battle proper begins, so aren't available for flanking/chasing. There appears to be nothing like tactical operation at all. 4. Attacking walled cities is even worse. 500 troops against a barely-defended city migh…8 found this helpful
For the price, it’s a great compact game. Love the vast amount of options I have to operate my realm.5 found this helpful
I think this game is a great base for what could end up being an excellent game. I'm not familiar with Warsim or whatever other games people seem to compare this game to in other reviews, but as someone who like civilization simulators, this game is pretty fun. Most of my gripes (mainly just cumbersome menu navigation and somewhat opaque game mechanics) with this game can be explained by the fact that it is a work in progress and not fully released (perhaps make that clearer on the store page). Dev also seems to take direct criticism from players and incorporate that into updates, which is great to see, and has improved the game already in the few days I've played. If you want my two cents, I think this game should be harder. Unless you are completely uninitiated with 4X/civ sim titles, this game can end up being almost impossible to lose on easy and medium difficulties. In scenarios with fewer civs, this problem is exacerbated. Either make resources scarcer, or improve the military strategy side of the ruler AIs so they make coordinated attacks that are actually hard to defend. It's too easy to just build a super army by upgrading units and building artillery really early and jus…3 found this helpful
HAHA ! all my "C" charged in your "A" and i won! now your city is mine! 10/10 would plunder again edit: the game is awesome, sadly my hours dont log correctly since i run it on linux now2 found this helpful
Only 4x strategy game which illustrate the importance of a meat-based diet.1 found this helpful
Great game for few a hours. After winning once i fell like there is only 1 right way to victory. Still well worth its price.
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