Nivalis Nights
Nivalis Nights
Game
Game2025
House of Legacy
Developer S3 Studio
Step into the shoes of a fallen clan leader, starting with nothing but a crumbling estate and a handful of hopes, rising through careful planning, trade, and diplomacy to become one of the most powerful families in the land. Now it’s time to forge a legendary dynasty that leaves its mark on history. From the Steam store page
222 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
90
LovedLoved
189 positive · 22 negative
95% range 85–93%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 189 | 22 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
983 of 1,038 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
90% recommend · 196 yes, 21 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 217 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (3,350 of 4,024 positive).
Players praise the game's addictive empire-building and deep dynasty management. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game is still in early access with bugs and performance issues. [4][5][6] Several players mention the late-game becomes repetitive and requires excessive micromanagement. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
game is fun, but the performance hit once you get to 3-4 province, it's unplayable. I'm on a 5950x ,32gb ram and 4070ti so if that's not enough to run the game beyond 5fps the i don't know.
- [1]
This is a very addicting Empire builder. Yes, it is very early access but the dev team seems to put a lot of effort in. I've had this in my library for a while, and regularly check the updates. The team has consistently released smaller updates early on. Recently, with all the work accomplished by the team, the devs have moved into updates that introduce bigger, broader mechanics into the world. None of the ongoing …
- [16]
This is a kind of good and bad game. It wasnt what I expected, the city building is very abstract, you just pile up building next to each other and hit the upgrade button, no district planning, no road access needed, just different levels of the same structure, but at least you can make a garden. And how exactly are we fitting 20 peasants into one house? cmon. The family dynamics are not very good either. The family …
- [2]
This is a really fantastic, addictive game, and I really recommend it if you enjoy narrative-style rpgs and political sims, but like, applied to a bigger scope. The framing of the story is that you will be slowly rebuilding your “dynasty”, after a nation-wide rebel invasion killed off most of your clan members and destroyed your estate: you start with one clan member, horrible stats and no money, progressively …
- [4]
I would say yes... for now. This game is like a breath of fresh air in sim/management, buuuut HOLY HELL THE BUGS ARE GAME BREAKING. In the span of several hours i crashed no less then 8 times. Some of the bugs are game breaking and easily reproducible, so i wonder how they ended up in the delivered version. I understand this is early access, but it still should not have such obvious bugs :/
Summarised from 34 of the 228 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
House of Legacy sits at 90% positive across 211 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 222 · most liked firstThis is a very addicting Empire builder. Yes, it is very early access but the dev team seems to put a lot of effort in. I've had this in my library for a while, and regularly check the updates. The team has consistently released smaller updates early on. Recently, with all the work accomplished by the team, the devs have moved into updates that introduce bigger, broader mechanics into the world. None of the ongoing work done by the dev team has caused performance issues with this game.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →game is fun, but the performance hit once you get to 3-4 province, it's unplayable. I'm on a 5950x ,32gb ram and 4070ti so if that's not enough to run the game beyond 5fps the i don't know.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Current Situation: - I am already Emperor - All provinces conquered - Large dynasty and many clans Problems: 1. When a family member dies, there is no clear info which duty becomes vacant. 2. Clan relationship list cannot be sorted or filtered. 3. Recruiting workers requires visiting cities and checking NPCs one by one. Why This Is a Problem: - These issues create unnecessary micromanagement in late game. - As Emperor, managing an empire feels harder than progressing early game. - It…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I thought my clan was safe and thriving but then 2 out of my heir turn out to be gay and sterile 10/10 game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New PC game in beta pre-release called "House of Legacy" where you manage the rise of a family in ancient China over multiple generations. They just fixed a bug "where clan members with the Sterile trait could still become pregnant after consuming Passion Pills." I love it.
positive · AI labelView post →Wish there was a mixed button. The game is cool, really cool. As far as sandbox/management games are concerned I think it's pretty interesting. But I'm not sure it's for me. This game is incredibly "make your own fun". If you can get invested in the dynastic component, the struggle for power and the different avenues to achieve it, awesome. If you are looking for interesting or complex gameplay mechanics, go elsewhere. The gameplay sort of makes this game an incremental or idle game. It boils…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is such a massive comfort game for me. It took me a while to really get the hang of things but it's so fun to create your own dynasty and just work on everything. Another thing I would like to add is that it's really cool to see how much the game gets updated, and how transparent they are with what's coming. There's constant improvement into the game, and it really improves overall gameplay.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feudal China, historically, was a rough place. Lots of death and warfare. Lots of dismantling of families. Grudges. Vengeance. Nepotism. If you let it, this game will quickly bring you to the level of the most devious of the dynasties. The Min were a clan that was constantly just on the other side of legal. Being appointed as Censor early in the game, it was my job to impeach the folks violating the emperor's rule. Naive little ol' me assumed I would be rewarded by the emperor, but I was soon…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game will ruin your life. Prepare to never sleep, eat, or see sunlight again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a kind of good and bad game. It wasnt what I expected, the city building is very abstract, you just pile up building next to each other and hit the upgrade button, no district planning, no road access needed, just different levels of the same structure, but at least you can make a garden. And how exactly are we fitting 20 peasants into one house? cmon. The family dynamics are not very good either. The family drama is limited and not good, you will receive random vague events such as…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The art is nice and the concept sounds great - it has some city building aspects and Crusader Kings-like dynasty management and grand strategy. Unfortunately, it's just overambitious but underbaked at this point, with too many confusing and useless options, poor balance, and an unintuitive interface, especially for character interactions. Case in point: - In cities and estates, placement of buildings doesn't matter at all. There are sprites walking around but they're just decorative. - Shops…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have 603 hours in this game, and I love this game because it lightly touches on so many genres: clan and resource management, diplomacy, city building, open-world exploration, simulation, and historical elements. None of these systems are overly complex or convoluted, which makes the game feel cozy while still giving you plenty to get lost in. The art is beautiful—simple, stylized, and full of charm. There is a bit of a learning curve at first, and sometimes the game doesn’t do the best job…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: this game is simpler and chinese version of crusader kings Do you enjoy watching Chinese dramas? Ever wanted to experience starting from nothing—struggling, underestimated—then rising to the top with wealth and power? Along with all the family, business, and political intrigue that comes with it? Then you should definitely play House of Legacy. In this game, you play as the leader of a clan that got destroyed by war and has to rebuild life from scratch. At the beginning, you can only…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The market price of mixed vegetables this year is extremely auspicious. A clear indication of the Emperor's Mandate of Heaven.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This week is a little quieter for new cozy games: 🫧Animal Spa - 14th May on PC 🏘️House of Legacy - 15th May on PC in Early Access 🐍Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo - 16th May on PC, Xbox (Game Pass) & Switch @fellowtraveller.games 🏕️Of Life and Land - 16th May on PC in 1.0
neutral · AI labelView post →House of Legacy is honestly a really interesting game, but it definitely still needs more polish. What makes this game stand out the most for me is the amount of freedom it gives you. The customization is pretty wild, both before you start the game and while you are already playing. You are not just locked into one strict path or one boring “good guy” role. You can actually shape your character and your legacy in different ways, and that is probably the strongest part of the game. One of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Me when I planned to be a royalist, so I sent my most precious and intelligent daughter to the royal palace. Only for her to get taken as a royal pageant instead. Then the emperor reward me by making me the war minister, so now I have to conspire with other generals to depose him and crown myself instead Seriously, this is one of the best management games I’ve played in a while It’s chill, has so many things to do like a lot. Really recommend it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a really fantastic, addictive game, and I really recommend it if you enjoy narrative-style rpgs and political sims, but like, applied to a bigger scope. The framing of the story is that you will be slowly rebuilding your “dynasty”, after a nation-wide rebel invasion killed off most of your clan members and destroyed your estate: you start with one clan member, horrible stats and no money, progressively amassing power and influence—to the point you could easily stage a coup and supplant…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great idea and execution, but severely needs Quality of Life changes... Especially for people who do not have fully functioning hands. There is a lot of clicking required to get started in many games, but here, there is no way to decrease the clicking. To do interactions, you need to click through multiple menus. There is no automation, so you need to click to do everything. Want to sell stuff? Click on everyone to buy low and sell high. Want to fix up your mansion? Click on every single tile…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The very early game is tedious, but after that I was having decent fun until I encountered a bug that bricked my save file. I think it started with this weird issue where I couldn't delete any objects in my estate. When I loaded into the zone, one of the buildings was rotated in a weird direction and a decoration piece was overlapping it. I was able to rotate them back to normal but at this point I couldn't delete anything in the zone. It was still functional otherwise so I kept playing. Then,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a nice game, but starts feeling repetitive very quickly. Even so, if I could ask for anything it would be more decoration items. The game supposedly boasts "Over 200 building components," but a LOT of those components are various colors of trees, fences, or walls with slightly different windows. I would love to see more clutter items that would make it look more "lived in." Potted plants, benches, incense burners, statues/figures, water wells and fountains, more archways, flags/signs, more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is exactly what I've been looking for. Kind of a marriage between my favorite aspects of Crusader Kings and City Skylines. My only complaints would be that some user interface and goals could use a bit more hand holding to get a grasp of how to navigate. Also, maybe some of those larger sums like donating to a province or the royal treasury could automatically be converted from gold? Converting the monthly court salaries from gold to usable currency every month was an extra step that did…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is what i wanted from strategy/rpg games. I don't care about adventure or dungeon crawling or to lesser extent simple city building just for the building. This is The Guild series I always wanted. You start from nothing and expand your family clan from some small time business owners up to nobility (and who knows maybe emperors). This is a game for people who wanted crusader kings but with more lean towards economy. At first I was running around like a headless chicken, not knowing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has massive potential, you start out as a nobody and work your way up the social ladder through multiple generations. If you enjoy the games that has to do with automation and optimizing your resources you will really enjoy this game. However, late game is where its lacking the most with the constant micro management of a lot of the game mechanics and being effectively bottle necked by the private army system even when you control every court position in the game and can bankroll the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would say yes... for now. This game is like a breath of fresh air in sim/management, buuuut HOLY HELL THE BUGS ARE GAME BREAKING. In the span of several hours i crashed no less then 8 times. Some of the bugs are game breaking and easily reproducible, so i wonder how they ended up in the delivered version. I understand this is early access, but it still should not have such obvious bugs :/
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you value sleep, eating and a relationship with your friends and family DO NOT BUY THIS. It's a management sim that is surprisingly deep. There's war, politics, business, and more. It has a city-builder-lite mechanic where you can build your estate, farms, cemetery and eventually cities. If you are into management type games, it's a must buy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →House of Legacy perfectly strikes the balance between depth and complexity in a way I’ve seen few other games of its kind do. It’s not needlessly complicated like a lot of other games in the genre while still offering an incredible amount of depth and freedom to the player. The management aspect of this game is what truly makes it shine in my opinion. The city building mechanics are okay but certainly not anything special. House of Legacy also does an incredible job of making progression feel…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So far it's fantastic, with excellent art and audio, but it needs some QoL improvements. For example, when you have many family members, it's chaotic trying to figure out what everyone is doing or which other clans or cities they're interacting with. And it needs some optimization. Aside from that, it's very good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is clearly in early access: some mechanics actually state 'not available' and other game aspects (certain stats and items) have no purpose whatsoever at the moment. As such, I'm quite excited for 1.0 release and to see how it impacts gameplay. To start, I thoroughly enjoyed what I have played so far and do recommend this game! I have unlocked most achievements and am now just working towards late-game achievements. The problem there is that all incentive quickly vanishes to continue…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really have high hopes for this game. Even now it's great. positives: - lots of hairstyles and clothers wchich make every NPC look unique - absolutly beautiful graphics - 10* time speed (more games need that) negatives: - bugs (obviously) - lack of plants decorations - not much tutorials wchich makes few things in game quite difficult to understand/get rating: 7.5/10 Sorry for errors, English is not my first language.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Years of legacy in a reasonable number of hours. I was skeptical at first when I saw the game, but it really feels unique. In a world where so many games are released every year, uniqueness is something I look for from time to time. So, I try my chance, expecting a refund. Many players will probably compare this game to the "Crusader Kings" or "The Guild" series, which are also among my favorite game series. I can say that this game is not as mechanically deep as CK, but it also requires…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Way too complicated on some aspects and does not give clear directions to stuff. Also most of the time is spent just training members hoping they would pass the exam and then get the title of the noble so that you can start recruiting military. The money just rolls around without nothing much to do with it. There is no reason to attack anyone, (Trample with horse , poision etc.)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I recommend it, it's a very good game. (To the Devs, suggestion: I would love to see some global stats screens. For example income and expenses in last year, relations with other clans, farms production, etc.)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A little difficult to navigate but quite fun and addictive, the more you know about Chinese history the easier the game is. Tip: Make sure your home base is completely updated or basically doesn't have any old/bad buildings. If you have that under control, it should get easier.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game gets very addicting but it desperately needs tooltips on every menu. It's pretty tough to figure out what stuff is for or how things work, the missions help a little but there's a limit on visible missions so the tutorial missions don't line up with what I'm actually trying to do in that moment. But overall it's definitely fun if you enjoy management sims with a really pleasant 2D artstyle and some decorating. And there seems to be a lot to it I feel like I've only scratched the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have been following this game in development for a while before it was released because it is a very "me- coded" game. I love the era, the graphics are pretty and stylized. I love the game play of building up a dynasty, taking different career paths and different ways to build my clan and promote its members. What made me feel drawn to post a review however is the dev team. They spent the first year releasing updates every week and have only slowed down due to starting to work on bigger…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is getting boring after 1 generation, and I hate that once your child get married to the other family, no more interactions after that
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Did a quick fanart of the ancestor of my Yu Clan from the game House of Legacy (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) #animedrawing #digitaldrawing #fanart #digitalillustration #houseoflegacy #clipstudiopaint
neutral · AI labelView post →Damn, dude. It's really really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good. I won't lie, it's an early access game and that can be very apparent at times. On occasion you do things and the game simply doesn't react. Interactions with other clans feel vaguely empty and pointless. A lot of the interpersonal events even in your own clan require a pretty sound theater of mind to have any real substance. It's my understanding that at least some of these things are on the roadmap, so we'll see how it develops, but now onto the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the game but I want to give constructive feedback: Can you please make it so that if the action has already been done to complete the mission that the mission will be automatically completed when it's finally shown? Can you please Expand the Mission list to include all missions? Can you please make it so that we can start the game with no missions and play how we like? I know we can cancel all the missions but it's tedious. Also when all the missions are gone or completed the empty box…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A promise of a city builder-meets CK3 ends up a bunch of quaint but disjointed mechanics that do not form a coherent gameplay loop. You can build up your farm, plop fields and decorations, but when it comes to depth and complexity it's more of a hideout from Assassin's Creed Shadows than an island from Anno 1800. As in, it looks pretty, but is functionally pointless. Whatever you do, you start making millions almost instantly and there isn't much to spend it on. The comparison to mobile games…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's good - the art is wonderful and adorable. The gameplay is a satisfying - but, right now, is a little bit too easy and lacking in depth. The game also needs some QOL changes (for example, hovering the mouse over terms and getting an explanation of what it means (e.g. I have no idea what a Censor is and what skills might impact a clan member's performance as a censor - so it would be good to get some flavour text about that sort of thing). In addition, I would suggest a revision of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you enjoy a non-demanding sandbox where you can play god, this is a fun game. Cultivate your clan by recruiting the most talented people the world has to offer. Expand your influence and become a puppeteer—a legend that terrifies any notion of democracy. It's an immersive s**sung simulation, no joke. People live in houses you build, eat food you produce, work in places you own, are governed by systems you (allegedly) choose, and even have an emperor you (allegedly) desire. Right now, the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok I confess..i got hooked. badly. My third Clan has 400+ member and still going. ( ok it lags now a bit ) I love it. It`s lot of fun because the game does not try to be overly historically accurate. I really appreciate that I can play a female general and raid. Hours in building estates, cities, making the perfect futuer clan leaders Suggestion to Dev :Just please do not remove deceased family members from the geneologic tree, simply gery them out, would keep the history of the clan…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally, I was able to change the fate of the main characters in Dream of the Red Chamber. At last, Lin Daiyu (林黛玉) could marry Jia Baoyu (贾宝玉), and afterward they had 20 children, elevating the Jia family to imperial power and founding a new dynasty—where their descendants would become emperors.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly, the game doesn't explain you anything about its mechanics - and there are a LOT of mechanics and things you can do. It's a shame because it looked fun, but all the clicking around without knowing what exactly I'm doing ruins it for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Does it have some kinks to be ironed out? Yes. Will I keep playing it? Also yes. As someone whose knowledge of ancient China comes mostly from Chinese dramas, and random history tidbits, it took me bit to fully understand the political aspects of the game; it's not difficult, more overwhelming, as there are so many rankings/positions/names to remember. Here are my, mostly minor, gripes after 80+ hours. None of which aren't game breaking, just annoying. Other clans can have the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Come for the estate building, stay for the chaotic family drama. This game is basically an ancient Chinese dynasty simulator where you min-max your children's stats, arrange strategic marriages, and slowly plot to influence the entire empire. The progression from writing letters for petty cash to paying off the taxes of an entire province is wildly satisfying. It has a steep learning curve but it is hard to put down once you get the hang of it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Reeally awesome game! Imagine Farmville, but chinese with multiple farms, cities, diplomacy, royalty, war, and a touch of Sims for the intereractions with the nobles, generals and magistrates. The only thing that really disappointed me, is that you can't used your own troops to attack enemies, only to protect against rival clans or attack them. I know this wouldnt be accurate looking back at history, but dude I wish I could use my own troops instead of the garrisons of cities and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I genuinely relaxing but still in depth game. The best I can say is that it is a mix of Crusader Kings 2 and the Romance of The Three Kingdoms games. Extremely fresh and relaxing, but with still a very real strategic depth to the game. At the same time, it's also almost similar to an idle game as you can have members of your household do preordained tasks for you, incredibly reducing the amount you have to micromanage (Though you can still get into the details if you truly wish) The building…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is worth it for me to leave my first review in years. For a game that is in early access, the mechanic is surprisingly deep and the gameplay is addicting (for me). ____________________________________________________ I only have a few suggestions for future updates if the developers can see this: 1. Include a tutorial guide for various aspect of the game. (like RimWorld) There are a few time that I had no clue how to achieve certain things which requires me to search extensively…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems like it would be fun and enriching for some people, but didn't strike my interest. I think if you are more into the city building aspect, you may not find this as enjoyable. Some aspects of the game also seemed tedious. Art style was pleasant.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoy this style of game very much, as the title of the game says, legacy. If you enjoy games that allow you to make a legacy and play through generations give it a go. Could use more polishing or refinement, quests feel a little cluttered next to the news, could use more stuff to help explain things to newer players as it can be a bit confusing, would like it if deceassed people would not just poof from the family tree and would be greyed out instead.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is currently very much in early access. A lot of game problems seem difficult to solve, and the game doesn't give enough pointers (such as security on your estate). Why not just have a security tower, building, or guards? It's not clear how to improve security. The fonts don't fit the game, and there are texts and buildings all over the map that looks the same. There are many goals I don't know how to reach, and the game does not give you information. Instead, I hear about officials…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wasn't sure about getting this game as I'm not really into city builders and that's what I thought the game was. But reading the positive reviews I decided to go for it. And I was glad I did. This game has a blend of different types of gameplay - family-based RPG, relationship management and diplomacy, and city/base-building, but which serves the purpose of accumulating resources to serve your clan in its grand narrative. Overall a very fun, engaging and smooth gameplay experience. I do hope…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →okay, this is amazing. Cannot wait for move improvements in the story!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing game, I love it, could use more content
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I rarely do game review, but this one is quite the problem. There is need to be a substantial rework on how the Royal capital work. The royal capital will always bankrupt everytime one of your family sit on the minister position, which in this case war minister is the easiest one to get. This would ruined the game and make it into a screeching halt, where the capital cannot go on war > which make no one able to progress further in rank/military > which mean that if all of your clan member that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am at a very Chinese point in my life
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After manny hours of game I still don't know the goal of the game but I can't stop playing it! I absolutly love it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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