Citizen of Rome - Dynasty Ascendant
I would not recommend the game. Seems to have been abandoned. And any feedback on historical inaccuracy of the game has been ignored. Visual style is fun and nice.
The reality is that it is a super addictive “mobile type” game. Which is why I have racked up so many hours in it. You can play it anywhere, at any time. And you can just open and close it. So it’s ideal for killing time while waiting for a stream to start, etc.
But. The fact remains. It’s woefully factually inaccurate. And for things that would be easy to fix, (e.g. Consuls could only run every 10 years, you can run every year in the game - women can have jobs that were exclusively for men, women can also go for education that was exclusively for men in ancient Rome). The only way to make any upward social mobility is through the annual betting activities. Which is quite a hack to be honest, because when you have played the game for as many hours as I have, you can actually tell which sequence of results you will be getting.
– Real player with 356.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Rome Life Sim Games.
First impression:
This game needs a major fix. The randomness to it is out of control. Lazy programming seems to have just assigned ranges of behavior that consistently contradict your own strategy. Any game designed so that you can put in an hour of work only to have everything fall apart because of a dice roll is poorly designed. If I want to sit on my floor and roll a 10-sided die 400 times hoping to never roll a 1 lest I should become the book of Job, I can do that by getting a die out of my old box of Risk and wasting my time on hope.
– Real player with 47.4 hrs in game
Gladiator: about to die
It will take a bit of work to get the game to where it needs to be, but great potential and fun so far :)
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Rome Historical Games.
Domina
This is a ridiculously fun game albeit excruciatingly punishing most times, a single fuck up and you may as well start over. The game has some serious potential with tons of room for improvements and add ons, do bear in mind that the dev team is just one very dedicated guy, so to see all this being produced by one individual is nothing short of amazing.
PROS:
-Soundtracks are incredible, really fitting for the theme and invokes a sense of bloodlust.
-Awesome pixel art style graphics, very pleasing to the eyes to witness pixel art dismemberments.
– Real player with 243.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Rome Pixel Graphics Games.
Wonderful Updates + Save now included!
I bought this game day 1 even without the save feature. I still loved it but hey! You don’t like it because it didn’t have the save feature? Fair enough. This dev though, such a great person from what I’ve seen. Lots of complaints, most of them obnoxious and he still updates almost daily, bug fixes and all that to get the game running just right. I think the dev’s enthusiasm and passion for this game will keep it running for a good while. Now on to the game…
– Real player with 29.0 hrs in game
Gods of Sand
Gods of Sand is a gladiator manager with turn based combat, heavily inspired by the Swords and Sandals series, but in a darker and unforgiving setting. Besides fighting in multiple arenas, micromanaging your ludus and gladiators is an important part of the game, which features:
To run a ludus (a gladiator school) you must always pay attention to the economics of your business. Fight to get money and prizes, train your gladiators enough to maintain a solid income and restore the old and abandoned ludus your family left you.
Multiple items and weapons are allowed inside combat, but knowing the best time to use your gear is key if you want to be the champion of the arenas.
Any skill, armor or weapon is usable by any gladiator, generating lots of possibilities when it comes to creating new builds.
Glory of Rome
Cute little city builder. So far (scenario 6 complete) it has been pretty casual, a little slow at times. There are some speed adjustments, but everything still seems to go by very slowly. The quests that come along definitely help with cashflow for building and add a small amount of difficulty if you aren’t ready for what they throw at you.
The graphics are pretty cartoonish. The mechanics are straight-forward if you play a lot of these sort of sim games. (Banished, RimWorld, etc)
I dislike the one view camera. You can’t rotate at all. The play areas - even in sandbox - are prohibitively small. Buildings autoface pre-built roads with no option to change the orientation. However, the pips seem to walk through the walls anyhow so I guess it doesn’t matter a whole lot which way the building is facing.
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
A nice and straight forward sim with pleasant graphics and good gameplay.
The Developer is quite responsive towards suggestions and feedback and has already confirmed there will be big future content updates which I’m looking forward to.
If you like Sim City, here is a roman-era version you should definitely check out.
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
CRIXUS: Life of free Gladiator
Life of free Gladiator in the fictional ancient roman city
CRIXUS is a single-player hack and slash game AND Ludus manager with base-building elements.
This game bears the name of Crixus, a Gallic gladiator and military leader, but it is not about his life. The story is yours.
Fights are organized in the arena where you as a free gladiator can access as you wish.
Fight in Arena to gain gold and reputation. Spend them on treats for your home and the pleasures of the city.
The target is to accurately recreate the architecture and equipment of the Roman Empire era.
Gladiator manager / Ludus management. Get gladiators, train gladiators, gear up gladiators. Be the proud manager of Ludus.
a story-based campaign to set you up on full experience. Fight for yourself in the arena.
You choose how many and how strong your opponents will be. (limit is only your PC compute power)
You can roam around the city, see how ancient Romans lived and buy new gear and explore. This is to provide calmness in-between the fights.
modify your home. Buy objects in shops, display your armor, Add achievements on the wall, etc.
Age of Gladiators II: Rome
A diamond in the rough.
The short review……
An epic upgrade giving fans of the first game many requested features and priced for perfection based on the value you get back gameplay wise. Basically a business mgmt game set in ancient rome, this will test your budget balancing skills and planning ahead. The learning curve exists but if your smart its not to punishing to figure out whats going on. The game is such a dynamic upgrade to the first one that its a must own for fans of this genre. A lot of people have been waiting for a game like this and with the rpg and new tactical combat features its truly a gem among casual games. It adds so much depth of choice and strategic options with budget and gladiator mgmt along with the new option to fight yourself it almost knocks itself out of the casual genre which is why you see mixed reviews. Honestly those reviews are very unfair and treat the game like a AAA title from a huge developer. This is one guy who made a great game with a lot of features and options. It’s not meant to be battle brothers in ancient rome, it’s meant to be an upgrade to the first game and its a hell of an upgrade. If you want to manage a ludus this game is for you.
– Real player with 119.0 hrs in game
BLUF: If you always wanted to run a stable of detailed gladiators with RPG levelling you will like this game. If you are looking for X-COM-like depth in the tactical combat aspects of the game though, this isn’t nearly to that level. Dev involvement is swift and sure (huge plus).
There simply aren’t many gladiator simulators out there anymore…. the reigning combat king (especially for asymmetric multi-layer) is still the old BBS door game *Melee! (the exclamation point was part of the title)
– Real player with 95.6 hrs in game
Age of Gladiators
The “potential scenario” listed in the “About this game” section is a surprisingly reasonable introduction to the game. The options suggested there truly are all available to you, and the considerations involved are also real. However, it also implies a bit more freedom of choice than is truly available. Regardless, if the ‘potential scenario’ looks compelling to you, that alone is probably enough to suggest you would enjoy the game.
The game is solid, and worth trying. I will list what I believe the strengths and weaknesses are, with a primary focus on the weaknesses. I will focus on the weaknesses because overall, the game works. The game is fun. You will see that I feel like it has a lot of as-yet unrealized potential, but that does not mean I do not think this is a solid title. It is quite solid, and while it does some things wrong, it does plenty right.
– Real player with 139.7 hrs in game
So this game has been out for well over a year and there’s no one new buying this game anyway so there is no point to me writing this review. But I’m going to do it anyway because fuck you that’s why.
As you can see by my stupid number of hours played in this game I actually enjoy it. Seriously I don’t know how the hell I played this game for 41 hours without blowing my brains out even once still astonishes me. I suppose it’s because I am a big fan of management simulation games and what’s cooler than a gladiator simulation game?
– Real player with 64.0 hrs in game
Caesar™ 3
The “Don’t Escape Trilogy” is a collection of three short first-person point-and-click adventures with static screens (no camera movement, no scrolling). The games share a creepy atmosphere and a few gameplay mechanics, but are otherwise unrelated. In the first game, you play a werewolf trying to lock himself away before a full-moon night, so that he won’t kill anyone when he turns. In the second game, you’re trying to barricade a house and protect yourself from a zombie horde. In the third game, you’re the only surviving crew member on a spaceship and need to stop “something” from getting out.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
Even though the entire trilogy is available for free on Armor Games, I chose to purchase this game series on Steam because that’s how amazing ScriptWelder really is. The Deep Sleep and Don’t Escape series were some of the first PC games I ever played, and I have ScriptWelder to thank for making my early experiences so magical. I have followed each and every game you have published on AG, hunted down every achievement, set of choices, and walkthrough I could find… simply, because every single second I spent in any of your games was one of either awe, wonder, fear, or curiosity.
– Real player with 5.1 hrs in game
Imperium BCE
Be a leader of one of the greatest civilizations in the world. Bring glory to Rome, in our upcoming title, Imperium BCE.
Would you expand Rome’s borders through war? Or would you use spies to sabotage other kingdoms, divide tribes? In Imperium BCE, you can use many different strategies, to bring about the inevitable Roman dominion.
Surrounded by so many different kingdoms, cultures and leaders, you will need to maintain balance and spread your influence slowly, so as not to alarm your neighbors. Your spies will have to work in secret, act on your orders, to strengthen your culture and religion, making your enemies weaker. Your diplomats might work on improving relations with other kingdoms or might provide you with valid justification for war.
Events
Being in control of a sprawling empire comes at a cost. Unexpected things happen. Events take place which are outside of the control of even the most powerful people. In Imperium BCE, there are events that can hold you back or propel you forward.
An unforeseen rain might ruin the crops. This can lead to food shortages, citizen dissatisfaction, anger with the Gods for letting it happen, or maybe anger with you, for not doing enough for your people. Will you find a way to appease them?
Will you follow the advice of your priests, and have rituals conducted, to celebrate your Gods, at a great cost of the coin, in order to make your citizens happy?
Your choices could have dire consequences. Thread carefully.
Spies
Weaken your enemies. Soften the battlefield. Some of your greatest assets in Imperium BCE will be your spies.
Well trained to operate in secret, your spies will sabotage, assassinate, and do whatever it takes to make Roman take-over easier. Give your spies time and resources, and they will steal essential supplies, spread your culture far and wide, and even disperse diseases, which can devastate entire populations.
Just hope that they never get caught…
War
Train some of the mighties warriors that ever walked the Earth.
Bring your enemies to their knees with advanced battle strategies, reward your soldiers with land, besiege cities, and expand your territory. Attack when your enemies are vulnerable, be able to defend your citizens against anyone who dares to make a move against you. Fight sea battles and maintain control of the sea.
When the dust settles, Rome should have prevailed!
Diplomacy
Win hearts and minds, improve relations, give gifts. Hide your true intentions.
Your diplomats will repair the damage in reputation, caused by your conquests. A good diplomat will make an agitated king feel at ease as if the Roman invasion is not just around the corner. When the time is right, they will provoke and insult, leading kings and their people, into your well-prepared trap.
Wars can be prevented or set in motion by a crafty diplomat. Use them well.
Building
Provide your architects with the resources needed to build the unimaginable!
Develop your cities, turn villages into towns, have your citizens witness Rome growing beyond their wildest imagining. Build structures that will stand the test of time. Different buildings will provide you with different benefits but will take time to construct. Plan your expansion carefully.
Your enemies will be envious of your achievements!
Discoveries
Encourage bright minds to work on inventions, for the benefit of all.
With more than 50 technological discoveries available to research, or even steal from other kingdoms, gain the upper hand and crush your enemies. As some discoveries can take years to be put into use, you will have to choose carefully which discovery to pour limited resources into.
Have patience. Good things take time.
Laws
Legislation was of great importance to the Roman public.
Choose between different governing political systems, and enact laws that will help shape your society. Organize your people, bring about needed changes, make improvements for your citizens, and reap the benefits of well-structured communities with clear rules and responsibilities.
Watch Rome prosper before your eyes!
