Retaliation Path of Rome
Retaliation Path of Rome is a very complex game, with several unique features
MISSIONS
About 100 different missions, with either single or multiple objectives, like:
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reach a population target (a minimum number of patricians and/or plebs)
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reach a target happyness
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earn a certain amount of money
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complete the mission in a given time
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win a certain number of battles
5 difficulty levels, from very easy to very hard: with different world resources, starting money, initial reputation…
Every mission is created parametrically to offer an ever changing challenge, each time a mission is re-played.
STRUCTURES
The player has the possibility to build more than 50 structures to complete the missions. Some example structures:
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Slaves' quarters
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Plebs' houses
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Patrician villas
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Wheat field
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Olive grove
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Vineyard
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Farm
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Fishing house
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Market
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Stables
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Workshop
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Dirt road
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Paved street
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Archers' barracks
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Ballistaari' barracks
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Equites' barracks
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Legionary barracks
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Velites' barracks
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Defence tower
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Signaling tower
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Watch tower
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Wooden wall
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Wooden gate
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Stone wall
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Stone gate
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Forum
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Theatre
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Amphitheatre (arena)
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Gladiator ludus
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Stadium (chariot races)
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Gardens
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Groves
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Fountain
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Well
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Butcher
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Olive maker
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Wine maker
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Lumber mill
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Clay pit
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Iron mine
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Stone quarry
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Marble quarry
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Gold mine
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Potter workshop
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Blacksmith
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Academy
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Library
..
Each structure needs specific resources in order to be built.
And of course each structure has different function and features, and some structures have to be properly positioned in order to yield the desired result: for wine production it is necessary to create both vineyard (to get the grapes) and a winemaker (to get the wine).
CITY AI
In each city there will be some AI controlled competitors: other patricians whose goal is to increase their riches and extend their influence. They will be vying with the player, acquiring resources and building structures, trying to get to the best spots before the player.
The competitors appear in advanced levels, and each has a different strategy: some concentrate in the real estate market, others in trade or in resource production.
DESIRABILITY
When new structures get built, these can differ in desirability. Usually this depends on what is present (or built) around them. For example a patrician villa has higher desirability (and hence higher market value) if nearby there are gardens, fountains, other villas, theatres.. It instead loses value if nearby there are stables, farms, wheat fields… Residents will at first go to dwell or work in the structures with higher desirability, avoiding those of little value.
For production structures, for example a wheat field, the value depends on the amount of the produced resource is available in the nearby city and in the global market. If the market needs grains, the value of the field will rise. Conversely, the field would become less desirable and its value decrease.
DAMAGE
In time, structures deteriorate. Every week mainteance works are done to keep them operative and pleasant. If there are not enough money for the basic upkeep or if extraordinary work is needed, the player will need to acquire the necessary funds and repair it as soon as possible (or see its profitability vanish and possibly even arrive to the point when the whole structure eventually collapses).
CITY BUILDING
The city management part of the game depends chiefly on money, people’s satisfaction and resources available.
Dealing with these three amounts, the player needs to complete the missions.
Careful and efficient exploitation of the resources allows to save money and gain with the trade. A wheat field created in a fertile area will yield much more and hence cover its operation costs and bring profit.
It is best to plan the city growth in order to efficiently exploit the resources and reduce the expenses. It is important that cities be self-sufficient: for example a global event like a drought could push prices of imported goods to very high levels.
It is also fundamental to avoid discontent in the populace. If discontent is too high there could be revolts that would seriously compromise the possibility to successfully complete a given mission.
HAPPYNESS
To be happy, people needs to have their basic needs satisfied: food, dwelling, work, water, protection from enemies.
Increasing the people’s life conditions will also generate new needs. In particular the patricians will start to require luxury goods (good wine, gold, silk, refined pottery, statues…).
Entertainment is another fundamental need: populous cities will require stadiums and arenas (and famous people competing inside those structures..)
When happyness is low, the city structures become less productive and hence less profitable.
WORKERS
All structures need a certain amount of workers or worktime, even for the simple upkeep/maintenance.
All productive structures are tightly bound to the number of workers available in the city: with not enough available workers the production would decrease or even become null. Structures with the highest desirability will be the first ones to attract the workers, leaving the others without.
Different structures will require different amounts and different type of workers. For some jobs only slaves will be requested. Plebs are needed for crafts and trade.
Unemployment will cause collapse of happyness and increased risk of revolts.
PATRICIANS / PLEBS / SLAVES
Patricians are the wealthiest citizens, they have expensive needs and cannot accept to see their needs not satisfied. Their weight over city happyness is very relevant.
They also expect to be given high prestige jobs: army generals, high clerics, administrators, politicians, proprietors.
Plebs are mostly involved in crafts and trade. They are fundamental for the management of the city but they don’t have much political weight.
Their class gives the major turnout in tax income.
Slaves are the major work force. Satisfying their primary needs (food, lodging, water) is important as they deal with the production and resource gathering of the city. Correct management of the slaves is fundamental to make the city desirable to the other classes.
RESOURCES:
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Gold
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Wood
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Stone
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Marble
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Iron
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Clay
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Wheat
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Meat
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Fish
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Grape
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Olive
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Wine
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Oil
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Pottery
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Jewelry
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Leather
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Cloth
These are the resources that can be traded, produced or transformed.
TRADE
To evolve the city it is mandatory to correctly manage the trade of all goods: selling the city production to obtain the resources needed for the evolution and improvement of the city.
Prices of resources are managed at two distinct levels: local and global.
Locally: they depend on the city demand and the amount of that type of good that has been bought or sold (selling a lot of wheat will make its price decrease).
Globally: the entire nation’s demand is evaluated and several other factors also influence the price (e.g. events like plagues, droughts, wars..). For example the global price of wheat could be much higher than the local one because of scarcity due to droughts in several areas of the nation.
So if there is a global crisis, even if your city sells a lot of wheat, its price could still be increasing instead of decreasing. But when the trend changes (for example the drought ends) its price could suddenly crash.
AUTOMATIC TRADE
To simplify the game and avoid micromanagement, it is possible to automate trade setting some “limit orders”.
E.g. “buy if there is less than .. %”
The automatic system won’t consider the price, but the quantity set as requirement.
STRUCTURES' MARKET
In Path of Rome it is possible to buy or sell the structures (with the exclusion of those like walls, streets, barracks) according to its market value.
Once the building of a structure is complete, the player has the possibility of selling it, to the value defined by its desirability and the kind of resources it produces.
Selling a structure gives an immediate income, but could be disadvantageous in the long term:
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no money will be collected for rent of properties or sale of production
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resources produced by sold structures will not be managed by the player
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and hence those resources won’t be available to build other structures
Nevertheless a good sale would still benefit because of immediate cash flow…
DANGER AND ENTRENCH
Every structure you build makes your city more appealing to enemies who could invade or pillage it, according to the kind of structure: a patrician villa, a thriving market or a golden mine would increase the risk of enemy incursion much more than a new wheat field or a stone quarry.
To compensate, it is better to spend some money and time on defending the city, creating walls, towers and military units.
Defensive structure will also contribute to raise the desirability and hence the values of the other structures of the cities, whose occupants will feel safer.
All choices in the game are two pronged, bringing both advantages and problems.
For example, continuing on the topic of city defense: if there are few or no defensive structures, there will be many enemy incursions, but very light (small bands of brigands mostly).
Conversely, excellent defensive structures won’t guarantee that the city becomes untouchable, will deter and block small offensives but will attract the organized war sieges of big enemy armies: a city so well defended MUST be rich and full of bounty!
BATTLES
Retaliation Path of Rome is a hybrid RTS/TBS, a combination which makes the game very tactical. You’ll need to plan how to move the troops, how to arrange them and expecially what kind of army units to train. Different movement ability (velites, with barely no armour, are much faster than full armoured princeps) and different attack types and attack speeds make unit types (and how you’ll use them in battle) very different.
Each battle is managed by a parametric AI system with almost endless combinations and possible states and developments.
COHORTS
Units are arranged in groups, which are commanded by officers, controlling the movement and formation of the groups.
Each group can have a different formation: for example you’ll probably be depolying the archers in a long line (or in two/three lines), rather than massed as a square.
The commanding officer will also decide the state for the group: defensive, aggressive, berserk…
Continuously changing the state, formation, movement or attack orders of a group when the battle is already started may seed confusion on some members of the group, which may then fail to follow some of the orders and in the worst cases a total confusion could even provoke the disbandment of the group.
GENERALS
The army general will give commands to the officers and these will command the groups under their command.
The closer a general is to a certain group, the faster the issued orders will be received and carried out correctly. If the general is far away, the group for which the order is meant will react more slowly to the new commands.
If your general dies during the battle you can still command the army, but in a much slower and less coordinated way, with a high risk of confusion and messy coordination. Furthermore, the loss of the general will take a huge toll on the army’s morale, and could cause the whole army to flee the battlefield.
COHORTS AI vs SINGLES AI
Control AI will be managing separately groups and single soldiers.
Each group is treated as a single autonomous entity and orders given to the group will take priority over orders and states of the single soldiers. Nevertheless if the group disbands, its officer dies or the army general dies, then single soldiers will not be bound by group cohesion and will follow a behaviour dictated by their last orders, mediated by their own particular demeanor, state and parameters (called " stats").
SOLDIERS
Each soldier has more than 20 “stats”, parameters defining the single unit, similarly to many RPGs (like strength, intelligence, agility, accuracy, movement speed, orientation ability, luck, tactical acumen, battle experience… ).
Every cohort will include units with very different characteristics, which will affect their performance on the battlefield.
For example: a very strong archer will shoot very fast and very far, possibly inflicting more damage when hitting… but the same archer could have a very bad aim and rarely hit the intended target.
Unit types:
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General
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Legionary (heavy infantry)
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Velities (light infantry)
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Ballistarii (siege and field artillery operators)
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Sagittarii (archers)
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Equites (cavalry)
TRAINING
All cohorts can undergo specific and additional training (up to 5 levels) to become more efficient and to improve the stats of the individual members of the cohort.
Training will improve things like speed of execution of orders, combat ability, manouvering, aim… but no amnount of training, obviously, will affect such things as individual soldiers' intelligence or natural agility.
Read More: Best Rome Building Games.
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!
Read More: Best Rome Historical Games.
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
Imperator: Rome
its good now, actually. i hope that someday they look back on this title and add some more content.
– Real player with 610.3 hrs in game
I spend few hours in this game and I’m glad that I bought it (but on bargin for ~20€). There is a lot more microeconmic mechanic than other games, like EU4 or Stellaris have, so it is even harder to maintain big empires (witch is good thing becouse big empires don’t last forever). Of course Imperator has some issues, but even EU4 after 8 years still has and it’s not like this bugs makes this game unplayable. I hope Paradox will realase new updates or DLCs soon (maybe after They realase Victoria 3) becouse this game have a lot of potencial.
– Real player with 449.0 hrs in game
Last Day of Rome
A promising game, but so much bugs after only a couple of hours ! This game is clearly not finished and broken. I would really like to play this game, but at that point, it’s more a pain than a game. Too bad.
Here are some. There are probably more:
- the biggest bug : manual battles! I had to Alt+F4 so many times because it seems to freeze if I move the mouse too fast over an unit while some are fighting (not sure about that). Or when I’m attacked and have defense buildings, the game freeze after the IA made his attack. Really painfull. This is one of the major bugs to my point of view.
– Real player with 17.6 hrs in game
New game in my library - Last Day of Rome
This is a military-economic strategy about ancient Rome since the 2nd century AD.
In short: we take command of a people within the borders of Rome. We will have to use both tactics and strategy, and
diplomacy. Therefore, it is possible to gain respect among their own people and, for example, to raid or launch a campaign against the 1st Reich xD
Actually, the system is nothing new, we control any country in Europe, we build buildings and
infrastructure in their regions, that is, we focus on the development of our army through the study of new technologies.
– Real player with 10.1 hrs in game
Paper Shakespeare: Cthulhu Coriolanus
BECOME A LEGEND.
General Caius “Coriolanus” Martius is one of Rome’s most feared warriors. So, you know, as this is a war story, that’s gonna have a happy ending. As a war story in Shakespeare Times™, it will 100% have a happier ending than any other happy ending.
Yes, that’s sarcasm.
Enemies are around every corner. Old vendettas lurk in every shadow. War is never over. Navigate Caius through this poorly-drawn (boy, that joke is really overused by now) visual novel of battle, betrayal, and choices that you have to make every so often that may or may not throw the story in a new direction. A direction that Shakespeare never intended. Scary, right? Total Death of the Author right here.
Navigate a weird lil' adventure game of war and more war, and sometimes politics. The politics of - wait for it:
Modern Warfare.
- As Caius, the choices you make in how exactly to respond to certain situations may open up other paths down the road
This is totally not a parody or a satire of anything.
50% of all sales go towards the Wounded Warrior Project and Feast of Crispian.
About the Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project is a charity and veterans service organization that offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans of the military.
About Feast of Crispian
Feast Of Crispian is a non-profit organization that brings professional actors and veterans together to strengthen the emotional resources they need to overcome trauma and reintegration issues.
Orbi Universo
It’s Democracy meets Civilization.
Still a work-in-progress, and from a part-time indie dev, but what you see here shows promise.
If you’re a Civ/Paradox/Democracy fan, it’s an easy recommendation.
If you’re not too sure about it, grab it on sale, or wait until they finish all the ages that make the core gameplay.
Pros:
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Less intimidating upfront than Democracy, you start from humble begginings.
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You can start at any place in the globe
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Many different paths to take your civilization through
– Real player with 81.2 hrs in game
This game is unique. Maybe not much replayability, but there definitely is some. In the bronze age I had a shining civilization, the entire Iron Age was a time of unparalleled ascension, but I quickly over expanded and then the disruption caused by the immense amount of minorities quickly destroyed my stability. I kept undermining the power of the clergy in order to stop them from toppling my republic, which caused the number of heathens and heretics to rise to such a point as to ruin my stability even further. There was this entire collapse scenario very reminiscent of the fall of the Roman Republic, culminating in a coup d’etat by the military which led to a quickly fragmenting military dictatorship that saw a snowball of decline that just kept rolling and rolling.
– Real player with 36.9 hrs in game