This game is pretty easy, right?!
Click a few buttons, wait,... click a few more buttons, wait some more,..... Did you notice what changed? No?

Have a closer look! Damn,.... these buttons actually do tons of stuff if you press them the right way. Well, they also do stuff if you press them the wrong way, but that's beside the point I'm trying to make, so shut up and listen.

Right,... so....Where were I?! :
Pressing buttons yadi yadi yada,... Thank god I only pressed a few hundret here and there. What do they do? Well,.... turns our this game is more complicated to understand than one might think.
So, what do you do? Read the Wiki!!! I hear you say?

Nah,...! I'm no cheat! I'm just gonna play the tutorial and learn everything there is to know.

Back again,.... played the tutorial
Still don't know what the heck I'm doing, maybe I need to consult the wiki after all. Alas!

Let's see, what do you do in this game?

Right,...well, here we go: You're some kind of ruler, a king, an emperor, a duke, or a wealthy merchant. From the southernst south of central africa you can play as a lonesome jew, or a sunni prince to bring wealth, religion and commerce and war upon your neightbors. Or you can just follow your liege, if you're not up to the big task of managing literally EVERYTHING!!!

If you're more interested in horses you can also play in the upper parts of asia and become a "Genghis Khan look a like master of horse armies" and conquer everything with your four legged friends. Or you just make one of them your chancellor, your lover, heck why not your spouse! Yes, you can actually "do" a horse.

If you're done horsing around, why not try uniting the northmen and making the christians norse, instead of the christians making the norse,.... well, not norse anymore.

You wanna be the antipope or rule as a mighty follower of the dark church to topple the other churches? Sure, go ahead. The power of chr,.... The power of the thingy compels you!

Wanna be a messenger of christ that actually wins his crusades, you're welcome to it. Just make sure to lead the crusade, or you won't get any money out of it. Thanks FRANCE!

But how do you do all that?

Erm,.... did I mention the button pressing part? You do things the way you wanna do them. It's kinda up to you. Really!

You wanna be a good looking seducer that ***** his way to the top, you can do it! May the gods bless your fertillity. Just be careful not to make too many spouses and lovers of yours jelly. They might wanna kill you. But you could too. Just be careful, or your vassals will think less of you and stop paying you tribute if they find out.
But you can force them to pay you, neat! Pay everyone off and claim their support with coin. A wealthy man is powerful afterall. But maybe you're a spiritual man (or woman) and some devine power is strong in you. Maybe you can use said power to influence, control others? You certainly can!
Some might not want to use the arcane, that's fine. Just use good old steel. Either as commander in the field along your very own troops and mercenaries and horse, or you just send the grunts and enjoy the feast of battle from afar.
Some even don't care to send their own troops at all. What are vassals and and treaties for anyways?
But sometimes you just don't care what your posessions, I mean subjects do. As long as your table is stocked and your cup is filled.

Life as a ruler is full of choices. Wheeee!
Some matter, some are just formalities. But it is you who needs to choose. From the day you're born, to the day you die. Everything is your choice, everything is your doing. So make some babies, groom an heir and make sure your plan works. Make your kin a success and rule as much as you want to.

Just remember: At the end of the game there is a big number that tells you how good you've chosen. So better learn to play this game first, or you'll make a fool of yourself. Just like me.