In the game, the player controls a customized character to battle, trade, and manage a fief in the medieval land of Calradia.

Reviewers praised the game for its innovative combat mechanics, complex character skill system, and large modding community, but criticized it for its low graphics quality, as well as its repetitive dialogue and locations.

[3] By solving quests or defeating opponents the player is awarded experience points, which can be used to improve attributes, skills, and weapon proficiencies to further develop the character.

[6] There are four main areas where battles take place: on the open map when two or more hostile parties meet, in tournaments organized in town arenas, in siege combat where the player is either defending or attacking a fortification, or in settlements after triggering an event.

[3] In a review of Mount & Blade in Black Gate, Connor Gormley said its "flaws are negligible, tiny flecks of dirt on the face of one really big diamond, one that dispenses free candy canes, puppies and stops world hunger.

[1] GameSpot criticized the dialogue in the game, stating that conversations with NPCs feel more like "consulting a travel guidebook for Calradia than actually speaking to a human being", as well as calling much of the landscape "very, very ugly".

[2] In addition, GameSpot saw faults in the lack of variety among NPC types and towns, saying that "one medieval architect seems to have designed the entire land.

[3][1][18] Gamespot stated that it was "the one place where Mount & Blade truly shines,"[2] and GamePro called it "far and above the best rendition of medieval warfare yet put onto computer screens.

During an interview, TaleWorlds Entertainment stated to be "most proud" of its community, considering that "Mount & Blade has arguably some of the best mods developed for a computer game".

[25][3] TaleWorlds Entertainment produced a standalone expansion for the game, titled Mount & Blade: Warband, which includes multiplayer support with up to 250 players as well as improved diplomacy, graphics, and artificial intelligence.

The game is set in Eastern Europe, and includes the playable factions Poland–Lithuania, Cossack Hetmanate, Russia, Sweden and the Crimean Khanate.

The DLC is based on the popular community-made mod Brytenwalda, which gained TaleWorlds' attention and was developed as an official expansion of Warband.

[32] A sequel, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, entered alpha on March 30, 2020, reaching over 170,000 concurrent players on Steam at its peak.

[33][34][35] The sequel features better graphics, character creation, battles, dialogue, relationship mechanics, and multiplayer, as well as further exploration into other gameplay paths.