Choose to be an upstanding burgher or a criminal mastermind as The Guild series of medieval life choice simulators returns

The Guild series has always seemed like an interesting proposition, a kind of miniaturized Crusader Kings where your medieval dynasty doesn't encompass an entire realm, but instead a single business and family you grow until you achieve your ultimate aim of becoming a moderately wealthy burgomeister—not so much grand strategy as modest strategy.

The Guild's peculiar combination of life sim, management sim, and RPG will be returning in The Guild – Europa 1410, as THQ Nordic announced with a largely live-action trailer documenting the ups and downs of life in a 15th century town.

It's worth noting that Europa 1410 is being developed by newcomers Ashborne Games, previously responsible for historical sim Last Train Home. They had nothing to do with The Guild 3, which was unpopular enough to make it seem like the series had died a death.

Europa 1410 will let you choose from a variety of professions, "like the blacksmith, alchemist or the tailor," and grow your business by legitimate or illegitimate means. If you go full criminal you can "Engage in cart robberies, scout buildings for valuable loot, send your thieves to pickpocket unsuspecting citizens, and even kidnap people for ransom" as well as bribing and blackmailing your way into power. Choose the legal route and you can become a guard, patrolling the streets to keep your town a prosperous place to do business.

It'll have a multiplayer mode as well, with up to 12 players competing to be the town's top dog, challenging each other to duels or accusing each other of crimes and then having their day in court.

Though it doesn't have a release date yet, you can keep up with The Guild – Europa 1410 on its Steam page and in its Discord server.