Ranking the best of ParadoxCon

When I first started covering Paradox games six years ago, they were a developer of complicated strategy games with much love in their niche (and nowhere else), and a publisher of games of varying genre, tone, and unfortunately, quality. In that time, on the backs of games like Crusader Kings 2, Cities: Skylines, Pillars of Eternity, and Stellaris, Paradox has become an increasingly influential player in the games industry — indeed, arguably one of the most important below the triple-A line of Activision, EA, and Ubisoft.

At their recent PDXCon in Sweden, Paradox unveiled several games and expansions as well as discussing the state of the company. The press in attendance had a whole day to talk about and test most of the games involved — here’s a ranking of the big announcements and games of the show, from best to, well, least best.