Fit check
Is Just Power: The Papal States worth it for you?
We tell you who should skip it, too.
Play it if you…
Good fit- Players drawn to historical political simulations who want to maneuver through Church hierarchies
- Strategy players interested in building a family legacy across generations
- Players who want political decisions involving religious policy, law, and relations with other kingdoms
Skip it if you…
Saves you a refund- Players seeking battlefield-focused strategy, since the described play centers on governance and political maneuvering
- Players who prefer a light or low-stakes tone, as the political toolkit includes blackmail and killing
- Players looking for a puzzle or character-driven prison escape rather than institutional management
Our take on Just Power: The Papal States
Its focus on Church politics gives family succession and institutional appointments a central role, while leaving battlefield command outside the described play. The emphasis is on decisions about offices, money, laws, and influence.
What is Just Power: The Papal States?
This turn-based political simulator follows a character’s rise from a remote diocese to the papacy, with family influence carried across generations.
Players appoint bishops and cardinals, assign institutional posts, manage state resources, and set laws covering taxes and sentences. Political tools include bribery, blackmail, investigations, and killing, while decisions about heresy can lead to persecution or reform. The game also covers relations with other European kingdoms through agreements and political interaction. Players can direct money toward public works or themselves and their relatives, and decide whether to prioritize Church authority, family power, or both.
How Just Power: The Papal States plays
- 01Church appointments
- Choose bishops, cardinals, and leaders for major Church institutions.
- 02Family succession
- Advance from a low-ranking priest and place relatives in positions of authority across generations.
- 03Political coercion
- Use payments, blackmail, or lethal measures to pursue positions and influence.
- 04State administration
- Direct public funds or divert resources to yourself and your relatives.
- 05Religious policy
- Choose whether to suppress heresy or accept it as a path to Church reform.
- 06Law and diplomacy
- Set rules including taxes and penalties, and make agreements with other kingdoms.
Just Power: The Papal States compared to similar games
Old World also follows historical leadership across generations, with marriage, heirs, and empire management; Just Power: The Papal States centers its decisions on Church offices, religious policy, and the Papal States. Xenonauts instead uses turn-based play for squad combat against an alien invasion.
Just Power: The Papal States: platforms & release
Is Just Power: The Papal States worth it?
It is worth it if: players drawn to historical political simulations who want to maneuver through Church hierarchies. Skip it if: players seeking battlefield-focused strategy, since the described play centers on governance and political maneuvering.
Where can I download Just Power: The Papal States?
Use the Download Now button on this page: it opens Just Power: The Papal States's store page, where you can choose how to get it.
What platforms is Just Power: The Papal States on?
Windows only.
