Pharaoh + Cleopatra

I remember it clearly. My parents buying my Pharaoh when I was 11 but making me promise not to play it until after Christmas. Oh, the agony! I spent days poring over every page of the manual, imagining an Egypt-themed Caesar III and thinking of building pyramids - PYRAMIDS! The anticipation and the imagination that led to the promised day of fulfilment simply made me enjoy this spectacular game more than ever. Almost 15 years on and I still get a tingle down my spine when I hear the opening music. I've fallen in love with many games before and since, but Pharaoh will always have a place in my heart. Bought it the minute it became available on GOG (THANK YOU) and have been addicted all over again.

I am writing this little review because i think that many people could ask themselves the same question as i did ; "i like impression city building games, but which one should i try ? " The best answer would be "Get both" , because either is fun , especially if you like this kind of game. But here i would like to explain the main differences between the two, hoping to help someone. Overall, i would like to expalin why i think Pharaoh is a bit more challenging game compared to the next in the serie. The first big difference is how food is managed ; in pharaoh you have several kind of different foods ( game, figs, lettuce.. etc ) and every single one of them is sold separately at the bazaar. To advance the housing level, at some point you have to provide multiple kind of them . In Zeus instead, you have just the "food" vendor.. which sells any food he can get as a single entity. This first difference makes it harder( and more rewarding ) to organize a delivery chain in Pharaoh. Other big difference ; the fact that in Pharaoh you have the "headhunters" that recruit people for jobs acting like your normal random walker. This makes it harder to separate housing districts from industrial one and having at the same time an efficient road system, which is what these games are all about. The "headhunter" walker needs to have access to the housing district, so you can't just roadblock him out. On to the next one ; mythology ( Zeus ) vs Religion ( Pharaoh ). One could prefer either but the two system are very different. Mythology in Zeus is very cool and is actually one of the best aspects of the game. In Pharaoh you don't have heroes ,mythical beasts and sanctuaries, just patron gods and local ones.. which grant benefit related to how much they are worshipped. The big thing in Pharaoh is the Monument system anyway.. that part is what makes me come back continuosly to this game. There are certainly other differences but i think these ones are the main.

Definitely my favourite game of the childhood. Original version has never worked on Windows Vista or 7 for me. But this version DOES! Thank you GOG for this optimized port.

I got this game from a warehouse sale years ago, with Cleopatra already on it. I still play it, even thought the disk is scratched. The game is simple yet complex. You have to create industries, build up your army, praise gods, entertain your citizens, collect taxes, get food for your citizens, trade with other cities, fight enemies, give to other's material requests, keep buildings running without them going in a blaze or collapse, keep the city peaceful, build monuments, and make money without the city going broke, get attacked by other cities or the pharaoh's army, lose citizens,anger gods, or get burnt down or collapsed. Thought it sounds complicated, you need to find the patterns to keep the city prosperous. The game shows how one thing effects another in a pretty realistic way. I believe this is the best game from the city building series that Activision and Impressions Games. You will enjoy it for hours on end.

I have been through 3 copies of this game since it came out. All ended up scratched, cracked or stolen so that I ended up playing off of a copy I had made. After I got a new pc I was horrified to discover that I needed an updated version, IF there was one available. I was thrilled to find it on GOG! This game has gotten me through the stresses of life changing events in my life including undergrad school and unemployment. I suppose it was therapeutic to be able to bring order out of chaos in difficult times of my life. I think it also helps to hone organizational & managerial skills. And it's fun to try to be more efficient with each play and to create new designs in city building. I can't recommend it enough for anyone who is willing to try it!