How to access Manor Lords’ Experimental Branch without losing progress

Manor Lords now has an experimental branch where you can test several improvements and significant changes to its gameplay. However, because it’s a new beta version, you must back up your saved files to ensure you don’t lose progress from your main progress.

Once you’ve backed up your files, you can access the experimental branch to access gameplay changes and balances, key updates to militia squads, sheep breeding, barter and trading, and King’s Tax and trade route costs.

Here’s how to get your hands on the new Manor Lords Update 0.7.965 experimental branch (and keep your save state safe).

How to back up your Manor Lords save files

To access and make a backup of your Manor Lords saved files on Steam, follow these steps:

1. Press Windows and E.
2. Into the search bar paste: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ManorLords\Saved\SaveGames
3. Right-click on the files and select the copy option.
4. Paste this copy of your Manor Lords saved files somewhere you can easily find it.
   1. I typically create a folder on my Desktop labeled “X Saved File Backup” and paste the saved files in this folder because it’s clearly labeled and easy to find. But you can paste this saved file wherever you like, as long as it’s in a separate folder from the original saved file.

You can access the experimental branch once you’ve successfully backed up your main progression save files.

How to access Manor Lords‘ experimental branch

To access the experimental branch, follow these steps:

1. Open Steam and navigate to Manor Lords in your Library.
2. From the Settings, select Properties.
3. Head to the Betas tab.
4. Paste this password into the password area: veryNiceBasket
5. From the Beta Participation dropdown, select: “pre-release.”
6. Manor Lords will then update.
7. Restart Steam and launch Manor Lords.

Once you’ve done that, you can enter the experimental branch of Manor Lords.

Is the experimental branch available on all platforms?

Unfortunately, the experimental branch for Manor Lords is only on Steam, which means those playing on Xbox’s PC Game Pass cannot join the experimental branch.

So if you enjoy playing Manor Lords and want to try the new version 0.7.965 experimental branch, this is everything you need to know about how to save your files so you don’t lose your main progress and access the beta.