Ozymandias

Begin your journey towards building an empire - complete with all the strategy of a classic 4X game - but in a much faster format; best of all, this game has a thriving multiplayer component. The Bronze Age saw the world's very first empires come to fruition. The key element in making this happen in the game is to craft your strategies as uniquely as possible to make your empire rise to power. One of the key elements of gameplay is to be able to expand your borders, construct cities in strategic locations and put together armies to safeguard them. Each turn presents you with exciting new opportunities, though you only have the ability to follow through with one per turn. Meeting the objectives will help you earn rewards. Random victory conditions are ever-changing, ensuring that each game presents an entirely different challenge. Custom victory conditions also enable you to maneuver the game to cater to your play style.

Strategy overshadows the tactical in Distilled Design which has focused on removing all the clutter and mundane routine work that often plagues 4X games. An innovative abstracted Power combat system means you only have to concentrate on managing armies and fleets. Additionally featuring eight hand-crafted maps that reflect the Bronze Ages globally; there are fifty-two diverse empires to choose from - each with its set of challenges - thanks to varying traits.

This game also provides a Short Story Campaign through the game mode Singleplayer for the uninitiated. Let the game guide you with how to play via the story of the explorer, Gertrude Bell. Once ready, the multi-level difficulty option is a great way to challenge yourself and play against AI-driven opponents that do not cheat! On the other hand, if you crave a little more excitement in a competitive gameplay atmosphere, then you can venture into the multiplayer realm. Here, players enjoy a simultaneous turn-based structure - there's certainly no time to waste. Play efficiently to earn treasures in the "live" game mode with short turn timers or go for the long game timers in the "asynchronous" mode for something truly epic.