Three video games that make good on their offer of escapism

‘Planet Zoo’ lets players build their own zoos, while featuring stunning visual details. — Frontier Developments/dpa

Video games offer some much-needed escapism when the weather is nasty outside or the coronavirus pandemic is forcing you to stay inside. Here are three games that you can easily lose yourself in:

Dreaming of your own zoo

Theme park and zoo simulators are abundant in the gaming world, but Planet Zoo sticks out from the rest for two reasons: For one, the visuals are amazing, with the animals, their enclosures and the streams of visitors looking almost real, and full of rich detail.

And second, the game comes with a huge construction menu, allowing the player to customise enclosures for more than 50 different animals down to the last brick. With just a little practice, you could soon be making enclosures with underwater tunnels or sand castles.

Such attention to animals’ needs is also an important part of the game. If each animal's species-specific needs are not met, there’s risk of them becoming stressed or diseased – driving away visitors.

Great power, with even greater responsibility

The Crusader Kings 3 strategy game places players at the top of a medieval dynasty. Whatever realm the player wants – from the Spanish kingdom to an Arab emirate – can be picked from a map of the world.

From there, the big battle for small successes begins: Crusader Kings 3 is special because it requires players to almost constantly make decisions – the more far-sighted, the better – to be successful.

Whether that’s marrying off your son to make new alliances or ingratiating yourself to the pope – it’s all in the player’s hands.

Of course, every decision has consequences, and not just political ones. The only shortcoming for this simulation is that it requires some time to get used to it, due to its complexity. Once that’s taken care of, it has no rivals in terms of scope or degree of challenge.

Drama, with freedom of choice

In Yes, Your Grace, players are also crowned king, but they have an entirely different experience from that of Crusader Kings 3.

In this game, a small developer has come up with an entertaining, dramatic story that leads players from one difficult decision to the next – while their kingdom seems on the verge of a devastating war.

The player has to make the best decisions for their kingdom, while also not losing sight of the wishes of their family. Should your daughter be married to the leader of a popular clan against her will?

These many dramaturgical elements result in a twisting story, with high replay value, that's told with beautiful, detailed graphics. – dpa