Our Going Medieval review 2025 starts with a confession: we almost skipped it entirely. The genre felt crowded, RimWorld had already eaten 300 hours of our lives, and another colony survival game seemed redundant. Three weeks and one very doomed medieval settlement later, we’re here to tell you that Going Medieval has carved out a genuinely distinct space in the best colony builder PC games conversation — and its renewed Steam visibility isn’t hype, it’s earned. This piece covers where it sits on the complexity spectrum versus RimWorld and Farthest Frontier, what Foxy Voxel has added since early access, and the honest answer to whether it fits your schedule.
TL;DR: Foxy Voxel’s colony builder has quietly grown into something special — and if you’ve been sitting on the fence since Steam Early Access, the wait is over.
Where Going Medieval Actually Sits on the Learning Curve
Forget the “it’s RimWorld but prettier” shorthand — that sells both games short. Going Medieval lands roughly halfway between the spreadsheet brutality of Dwarf Fortress and the breezy survival loops of Valheim. The UI is clean, tooltips are genuinely helpful, and your first settlement won’t collapse because you accidentally drafted your only doctor into a raid.
In our experience, a new player can run a functional colony within about two hours. Compare that to RimWorld, where understanding mood stacking, heat management, and storyteller mechanics realistically takes 10–15 hours before things click. Going Medieval takes closer to 4–6 hours to feel competent, which is a meaningful difference if you only game on weekends.
The depth is still there, though. Vertical construction — building multi-story towers and underground cellars — adds a layer of spatial strategy most colony builders ignore entirely. Food spoilage, seasonal harvests, and a religion system that arrived in a post-launch update all push the complexity ceiling higher than the cozy art style suggests.
“Going Medieval is the game I recommend to people who bounced off RimWorld in the first five hours — not because it’s easier, but because it’s more patient with you.”
Going Medieval vs RimWorld vs Farthest Frontier: Head-to-Head
Let’s put numbers to this. Here’s how the three main contenders compare across the metrics that actually matter to most players:
| Going Medieval | RimWorld | Farthest Frontier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (USD) | ~$24.99 | ~$34.99 | ~$29.99 |
| Hours to feel competent | 4–6 hrs | 10–15 hrs | 6–10 hrs |
| Early Access duration | ~3 years | N/A (full release) | Ongoing |
| Mod support | Limited | Extensive (Steam Workshop) | Growing |
| Multiplayer | No | No | No |
| Primary appeal | Accessible depth, vertical building | Storytelling, emergent chaos | Economic simulation, realism |
Going Medieval vs RimWorld is less a competition and more a lifestyle choice. RimWorld’s AI storytellers — Cassandra, Phoebe, Randy Random — create genuinely unpredictable narratives that Going Medieval doesn’t match. But RimWorld also demands you read the wiki. Farthest Frontier, developed by Crate Entertainment, skews harder into economic realism and resource chains; it’s the one for players who love optimizing trade routes more than defending against raiders.
For beginners to colony builders, Going Medieval wins this comparison cleanly. For veterans chasing emergent storytelling, RimWorld still holds the crown.
What Foxy Voxel Has Added Since Early Access
The Going Medieval Steam full release version is meaningfully different from the 2021 early access launch. Foxy Voxel has shipped several substantial content updates, and the most impactful additions include:
- Religion system: Settlers now have faith needs; building shrines and managing spiritual morale adds a new management layer
- Underground rooms and cellars: Proper basement construction for food storage and dungeon aesthetics
- Expanded combat AI: Raiders use formations and breach walls more intelligently than at launch
- Seasonal events: Weather and crop cycles now have real mechanical consequences, not just visual variety
- Stability and performance patches: The late-game slowdown that plagued large settlements at launch is largely resolved on modern hardware
If you tried Going Medieval in early access and bounced, the current build is a different proposition. The Going Medieval official roadmap on Steam shows the team is still actively updating post-launch, which matters for long-term value.
For context on how this stacks up against genre standards, PC Gamer’s colony builder roundup and the RimWorld official site are worth cross-referencing if you want to go deeper on the competitive landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Going Medieval out of early access?
Yes. Going Medieval exited Steam Early Access and reached full release after approximately three years of development updates. The current version includes all major content additions from the early access period.
How does Going Medieval compare to RimWorld?
Going Medieval is more accessible but less narratively emergent. RimWorld’s AI storytellers generate wilder, more unpredictable scenarios, while Going Medieval offers a cleaner UI and a gentler learning curve. Both are excellent — the right choice depends on how much time you want to invest in learning systems.
Is Going Medieval good for beginners to colony builders?
It’s one of the best entry points in the genre right now. Most players are running a stable settlement within two to four hours, and the tutorial systems actually explain mechanics rather than throwing you in blind. If the question is “is Going Medieval better than RimWorld for beginners” — yes, by a significant margin.
Does Going Medieval have multiplayer?
No. Going Medieval is a single-player-only experience as of the current release. Foxy Voxel has not announced multiplayer as a planned feature.
Is Going Medieval worth buying in 2025?
At roughly $24.99, it’s one of the better-value colony builders available. The post-early-access updates have addressed the main criticisms from launch, and the vertical building system alone offers enough strategic depth to justify the price for genre fans. If you’ve been on the fence since the Steam Early Access days, now is a reasonable time to pull the trigger.
Going Medieval won’t dethrone RimWorld for veteran players who live for emergent storytelling and mod libraries. But that’s not its job. Foxy Voxel built a colony builder that respects your time, teaches you its systems, and still has enough depth to justify a second and third playthrough. At under $25, with a full release build that’s substantially better than the early access version, it’s the easiest recommendation we’ve made in this genre in a while — especially if your Steam backlog already has ‘learn RimWorld properly’ collecting dust.
