Do you like the Middle Ages? How about the Middle Ages… with an assault rifle?
Welcome to the era of games that aren’t afraid to blend the past with what’s yet to come. That’s exactly the idea behind Kingmakers — one of the most surprising titles of recent years.
Kingmakers is a game from Redemption Road Games, set to launch in 2025. In the game, we are dropped into war-torn medieval England — but armed with a full loadout straight from the 21st century.
Assault rifles, drones, machine gun-mounted jeeps versus axe-wielding knights? Absolutely. The gameplay takes the form of a sandbox, where your task is to support your army in battle — using cutting-edge weaponry. A fusion of action, strategy, and modern technology in ancient times — it’s shaping up to be one of the most original releases in recent memory.
Inspired by Kingmakers, we’ve put together a list of games that also thrive on mixing historical eras with modern (or wildly out-of-place) technology.
The criteria were simple: each of these titles offers a clear blend of historical settings and modernity, showcasing bold ideas and unconventional takes on time, technology, and history. Here are our picks for games like Kingmakers!
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
| Release date: | 2019-04-01 |
| Genre: | Fighting & Simulator & Strategy & Indie |
| Developer: | Landfall Games |
While it doesn’t feature a traditional storyline, TABS by Landfall Games brilliantly showcases how units from different eras can be combined in fun and creative ways.
It’s a classic sandbox where players create their own battle scenarios — pitting, for example, medieval knights against modern-day soldiers. Throw in some imaginative fictional units, and you’ve got a gameplay experience that’s absurd, yet thoughtfully designed.
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator made our list because it shows how time and technology can be played with freely and creatively. Historical accuracy isn’t the point here — it’s all about the joy of imagination. In that sense, TABS is like Kingmakers, only in full-chaos mode.
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Darkest of Days
| Release date: | 2010-03-01 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | 8monkey Labs |
In Darkest of Days, the protagonist — a soldier from the American Civil War — is recruited into a secret organization called KronoteK, which deals with time travel.
The mission? To protect history from those who try to change it. Oh, and to blow through entire armies, often with weapons far beyond the era you’re in.
Darkest of Days is a somewhat forgotten gem, but a unique one. While its mechanics may feel outdated today, the concept still holds up. The game doesn’t just allow anachronistic tech — it thrives on it, making it a perfect example of how history can be reimagined without fear of “what if”.
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Timeline
| Release date: | 2000 |
| Genre: | FPS |
| Developer: | Timeline Computer Entertainment |
Timeline, based on the novel by Michael Crichton, casts the player as a time traveller sent to medieval France.
Unlike the other games in this roundup, the goal here isn’t to change history but to survive it — and rescue a professor stranded in the past — without disrupting the timeline. No killing. No introducing modern tech.
While the gameplay centres on exploration and puzzle-solving, Timeline is an intriguing pick for those of us interested in a more scientific, “what-if” take on time travel. Think of it as the stealth version of Kingmakers — no drones or explosions, but the same core idea: what happens when two different worlds meet?
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Operation: Harsh Doorstop (Free to Play)
| Release date: | 2023 |
| Genre: | FPS |
| Developer: | Drakeling Labs |
Operation: Harsh Doorstop is a realistic FPS with an extensive modding system that allows for some truly unconventional battle scenarios.
While the base game focuses on realistic conflicts — WWI, WWII, Vietnam, modern warfare — the modding tools make it possible to stage battles between soldiers from vastly different eras.
It’s not a story-driven time-travel game per se, but Operation: Harsh Doorstop offers a sandbox where we can experiment with cross-era technology and warfare. And while that might be stretching the theme a little, Harsh Doorstop earns its place here thanks to its open-ended, mix-and-match approach to intergenerational combat.
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Age of Empires series (cheat units)
| Release date: | 1997 |
| Genre: | Strategy |
| Developer: | Ensemble Studios |
The Age of Empires series is one of the most iconic real-time strategy franchises ever, and it generally sticks to historical settings.
But any seasoned player knows that with a few well-placed cheat codes, you can send a sports car armed with rocket launchers straight into battle. While these are more Easter eggs than core features, they tap into the same spirit as Kingmakers — merging the old with the absurdly new in an interactive playground.
It’s a classic example that shows the concept of blending eras in games has been around for decades — part Easter egg, part thought experiment. While it differs in tone from the other games on this list, it deserves a mention as one of the earliest instances of this idea in gaming.
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Mixing time periods isn’t just a recipe for wild fun — it’s also a fresh lens through which to view history and gameplay. These Kingmakers-like games prove that history doesn’t have to be dry, and that blending the past with the future can lead to truly memorable experiences. And hey — if we’ve got the tech, why not bring it back to the Middle Ages?