Mandate Order Review Summary

Engaging city-building with an immersive soundtrack is rewarding, yet performance issues, no upgrade system, and resemblance to Manor Lords detract.

Game is highly engaging: Players consistently describe the game as fun, engaging, and relaxing, highlighting its distinctive and engaging gameplay.

Soundtrack is immersive and pleasant: The soundtrack is widely praised for being immersive, pleasant, and atmospheric, with particular appreciation for winter and spring music.

City building is rewarding: Building and managing a city provides a strong sense of achievement, especially when combined with satisfying combat mechanics.

Graphics are visually appealing: Feedback praises the game's graphics, with comments on visual appeal and detailed models, indicating strong visual presentation.

Historical setting is immersive: The Spring and Autumn and Warring States setting is both immersive and rare, appealing to players interested in historical themes.

Optimization and performance problems: Performance issues are frequently reported, including poor optimization, low frame rates, camera lag, and startup crashes. These technical problems severely impact playability on various hardware.

Missing building upgrade system: Multiple reviewers noted the absence of a building upgrade system, specifically the inability to progress dwellings from tents to more advanced structures. This core feature is expected in city-builders and its absence limits progression.

Too similar to Manor Lords: Reviewers frequently compare the game unfavorably to Manor Lords, calling it a copy or reskin with lower stability and no unique content. This perception undermines its value.

Inadequate tutorial and guidance: Players report insufficient guidance and a brief tutorial that leaves many mechanics unexplained. The lack of detailed onboarding forces excessive self-exploration.

Game pace is too slow: Several reviews mention that the game pace, especially in the early game, is slow and potentially tedious. This can deter players seeking faster progression.

Core city-building gameplay: The dominant feedback describes the core gameplay as city-building, with a tech tree and management systems, often set in a chaotic historical era.

Resource management essential: Resource management is a key mechanic highlighted alongside city-building, involving managing food, population, and resources for war and construction.

Combat and war mechanics: Combat and war mechanics are mentioned as integral parts of the game, often combined with city-building and management in a unified system.

Ancient China setting: The setting is consistently identified as Ancient China, specifically the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, giving the game a distinct historical flavor.

Production systems exist: The game features a production system with manufacturing, production chains, and various building types, integral to gameplay depth.

Poor optimization causes lag: Players report lag, stuttering, and low FPS even on minimum settings, despite meeting or exceeding hardware requirements. The game feels unoptimized for a wide range of systems.

Camera movement causes lag: Rotating or panning the camera causes severe stuttering and lag, with some players seeing a blurry view. This issue persists across multiple settings attempts, affecting exploration.

Some players report good performance: A few players report that the game runs smoothly with no bugs, crashes, or lag, even on max settings on certain systems. This suggests performance may vary by hardware.

Game crashes on startup: Many players experience immediate crashes when launching the game, sometimes accompanied by error reports or system shutdowns. The crash issue prevents them from playing at all.

Optimization needs improvement: Players generally feel the game's optimization is lacking, requiring low graphics settings for smooth play even on non-high-end computers. Some report poor performance on powerful systems.

Recommend for building game fans: Reviewers frequently recommend this game to players who enjoy similar titles like Manor Lords, Foundation, and Farthest Frontier. The game appeals to fans of city building, resource management, and strategy.

Not recommended in current state: Multiple reviewers advise against buying the game now due to performance issues, such as lag, and its incomplete state. They suggest waiting for updates before making a purchase.

Wait for game maturity: Many reviewers suggest that players wait for the game to mature through updates before diving in. They believe the game has potential but is not yet a fully developed product.

Strong recommendation from fans: A subset of players strongly recommend the game, stating there are no reasons not to recommend it. They appreciate the game's depth and potential for long-term play.

Suitable for niche audiences: The game is recommended for specific groups: hardcore simulation fans, deep research enthusiasts, and those who enjoy learning complex systems. These players appreciate the game's complexity.

Community fair range: $7.00 - $10.00.

Game completion: 20.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

The game has a steep initial learning curve and some interface friction, but once players grasp the core resource management loop, it becomes highly addictive; however, some players find the late game lacking.

Friction: camera movement lag; tedious manual structure rotation; confusing production system; high initial learning cost.

Unlock drivers: understanding resource relationships; good tutorial system; regular hints and alerts.

Genre-Faithful City Builder: Careful resource management, expansion, and occasional combat. Motivation: Enjoying the city-building and management gameplay in a new historical setting. Stance: sale.

Disappointed Depth Seeker: Min-maxing, optimizing production chains, expecting late-game content. Motivation: Seeking deep, complex simulation and automation mechanics that challenge veteran players. Stance: no buy.

Accessible Newcomer: Casual, following tutorial guidance, exploring at own pace. Motivation: Trying a new genre with a culturally appealing theme and easy introduction. Stance: buy.

Performance varies by VRAM: low-VRAM (<8GB) shows mixed results with workarounds needed, mid-range (8-11GB) is positive with minor audio stutter, and high-end (12-15GB) suffers from crashes and frame drops.

Windows <8GB VRAM: mixed. Most players report the game runs well with a startup workaround, but some experience stuttering, blur, and optimization issues.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Players frequently report crashes, stuttering, and frame drops even on high-end GPUs like the RTX 5080.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. Game runs smoothly with no crashes, though some players note sound stuttering.

Steam Deck: The game exhibits two major issues on Steam Deck: severe frame drops that force lowest settings for marginal stability, and extremely small UI text that causes eye strain and hampers readability. Both problems require user workarounds or developer fixes, making the experience far from seamless but still technically playable.

Frequent Manor Lords comparison: Many reviews compare the game to Manor Lords, noting similarities in mechanics but differences in detail, polish, and setting. Some see it as an improved version, while others find it rougher or inferior.

Anticipation for future development: Players express positive expectations for future updates and content additions. The ongoing development is seen as a promising sign for the game's longevity.

Affordable price point: The game is considered inexpensive, often priced lower than comparable titles like Manor Lords. This is a key selling point for many reviewers.

Active development and updates: The game is under continuous development with frequent updates. This shows the developer's commitment to improving the game over time.

Early Access status noted: Reviewers frequently mention that the game is in Early Access, indicating that it is incomplete but expected to grow. This influences expectations about content and bugs.