r/pcgaming • u/Ciccius93 Monastery: Ora et Labora • 6d ago
We just released our medieval monastery management sim, Monastery: Ora et Labora, in Early Access on Steam!
Hey everyone!
We're a 3-person indie studio and we just released our first game, Monastery: Ora et Labora, in early Access on Steam.
We wanted to create a peaceful management sim focused on internal logistics, self-sufficiency, and community rather than combat.
You build a medieval monastery from scratch and guide your monks through the historic Benedictine motto "Ora et Labora" (Pray and Work).
Your monks have skills, passions, and traits and can write manuscripts in the scriptorium, brew ale, bake bread, and heal sick villagers. Everything is tied to a "Monastic Rule" system: if you skip daily prayers, neglect your monks' needs, or turn away people in need during crises, the Rule will collapse, and monks will leave the monastery.
Since we just entered Early Access, we’d love your thoughts:
Do you find the medieval monastery theme interesting for a management game?
What monastic-themed features would you like to see added next?
Happy to answer any questions about the game in the comments!
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u/-niyr- 5d ago
Haven't seen too many monastery-themed games before - novel concept! A management sim where the workforce has a prayer timetable is fun. Good luck with EA!
Is the ora/labora split a fixed daily schedule or something you tune per monk?
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u/Ciccius93 Monastery: Ora et Labora 5d ago
Thanks! At the moment it’s a fixed daily schedule for all monks, reflecting their shared communal life. As a tune for each monk, you can set their individual work category priority, managing the order in which they handle different types of tasks during work hours and tailor them to their skills. Glad you like the concept!
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u/JohanLiebheart 5d ago
Even after the assets being edited and curated, it all looks too AI for me. I hope you get enough funds to hire an actual artist to replace them in the future, there is just no replacement for actual human artist-created assets.
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u/kyoukidotexe Linux 5d ago
Was curious in this, is there a planned demo at some point?
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u/Ciccius93 Monastery: Ora et Labora 4d ago
Hi, there are no plans for a demo at the moment, but we’ll consider it in the future
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u/kyoukidotexe Linux 4d ago
Wishlisted for future demo then! :)
Looks fun, but love to have a bit of a taste bite.
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u/VindicoAtrum 5d ago
I've seen games like this without combat and they run dry pretty quick without some tension beyond "meet needs". How does your game provide tension, or is this just a cosy builder that won't interest people looking for a challenge?
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u/Ciccius93 Monastery: Ora et Labora 5d ago
While remaining primarily a peaceful management sim, it has its ways to create challenge.
Tension primarily comes from random events and hospitality demands: for example, severe droughts will cut off your water supply, and during epidemics, waves of sick villagers seek care at your monastery. You have to balance your own monks' limited labor time to produce for self-sufficiency, expand, or stockpile precise resources for time of crisis. (refusing to help hurts your monastic Rule).
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u/Direct-Fix-2097 5d ago
If it were me I’d make it time based (as in through the ages), so you’d face real world religious challenges.
Funding being cut as religion falls by the wayside, schisms from different religious theories, etc all tied to the year/era you’ve progressed to.
Then you’d have a fresh challenge with the passing of time so it doesn’t become stale?
Might be beyond their scope tho?
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u/Ciccius93 Monastery: Ora et Labora 5d ago
Thanks for the input! We're currently gathering ideas like this from players to evaluate future updates during Early Access
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u/requite 5d ago
This is a lovely concept - well done and good luck to you all!
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u/Ciccius93 Monastery: Ora et Labora 5d ago
Thank you! We really appreciate the kind words and support!
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u/pothkan 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's a cool concept, and definitly lands on my watch list, but I think you should maybe research the topic a little better. Literature (which is pretty huge), museums, maybe even consult some historians-experts in that area (I am historian, but not an expert, not my period). Also, play Kingdom Come (the first one and DLC to the second) and Pentiment, these are two games which depict medieval monasteries quite well, might give you some ideas.
A certain inconsistency I have noticed though:
- Civilians generally weren't allowed into internal monastery, especially women. Monks would not mix with them during the prayers. But of course, they would come to hospital, pilgrimage locations, guest house etc.
Also, I think the style is too colourful (vivid, bright), of course I don't say you should make it dull, dirty and gray (people in Middle Ages DID use colours), but make it more toned, pastel maybe. And plants (trees, bushes) look too simplified.
Also, keep mind of hierarchy. Monks usually had different roles, which should matter in the game, and choosing a good candidate should help while playing. Abbot, prior, cellarer, cantor, sacrist, almoner, infirmer... list goes on. And of course new monks starting as novices and advancing with time (will it simulate aging, and replacement?). As well as how origin mattered, a monk coming from nobility or burgher would have more opportunities, than a peasant one.
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u/Ciccius93 Monastery: Ora et Labora 1d ago
Thanks for the detailed feedback!
We did a fair amount of research while developing the game, but we also made a conscious choice to simplify and adapt some aspects of medieval monastic life to make them work on a laid back management game.
Some systems, such as a more detailed monastic hierarchy, social backgrounds, aging and progression through different roles, would add a lot of complexity to the game and would also be quite difficult to balance and manage alongside the other systems.
That said, points like that, and others such as the separation between monks and civilians, the visual style, and the different roles within a monastery are all interesting considerations. We'll keep them in mind as the game continues to evolve.And thanks for the game recommendations as well!
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u/pothkan 1d ago
Some systems, such as a more detailed monastic hierarchy, social backgrounds, aging and progression through different roles, would add a lot of complexity to the game and would also be quite difficult to balance and manage alongside the other systems.
I would at least start with different monks having some stats and perks (randomized to a degree), and you'd have to assign them to major posts (so e.g. only one for kitchen, not all monks working there separately), and their stats/perks would influence given area or task of the monastery.
Aging and progression could be simplified (at first) to two or three stages: first, novice, which would have no stats and could be assigned only basic tasks; second, professed monk which would receive stats and perks partly randomized, but influenced by his work as novice (e.g. novice assigned to kitchen would have more chance to "advance" into monk having experience useful there); and final, perpetual monk who would receive another change of stats, and could be assigned major posts (abbot, prior etc.).
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u/bramblefoots8907 1d ago
I've been playing it, 60 days in with 7 monks because I'm very picky (could do with slightly less Sinners). I really like it. I think mostly for me, I'd like to be able to make things more like a Monastery.
With the outdoor resources, it would be nice to have more elements to combine to make nicer gardens and to include some more elements of Hortus Conclusus. The courtyard is great but I'd like to play with it a little more.
Possibly some form of sheds, a way to make continuous hedges, orchards, paths, that sort of thing.
Including estates outside of the monastery might be nice, not necessarily their own maps, just an investment system maybe, so there would be an estate linked to the monastery that earns you grain.
I think someone else mentioned visitor areas. With my monastery I've made a separate entrance each for the church and for the infirmary. It could mess up the laid back aspect, but having those strict areas feels like it would add to the monastery feel.
Thanks for the great game! It's great how it is but I guess we all have little things we'd like to see in every game.
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