Caesar 3

When I was a kid, long time ago, this was the game that gave me a super amazing perspective of how life goes and how I should manage my financial and strategical thoughts. I'm SUPER excited that I found it again. REALLY AWESOME! It forces you to think, a lot, while having fun.

For me, this is THE city building game. The only drawback is, that once you have beat Lugudunum, you will feel like subsequent scenarios are no challenge. So I recommend leaving Lugudunum for last.

This game is the best in the series. For me other Caesar games don't even exist. Compare to modern city builder simulators this game might feel hard as nails, at least when you face disasters and barbarians. But with practice you will learn how to avoid most of the underwater stones. Though later you will spend lots of time trying to make sure that your city look like proper roman architectural marvel and not lousy settlement of huts and barns. Its not hard to make it look beautiful but you still need to get money from trading. Also gods will not leave you alone until you build few overly priced temples in their honor. And if you will not do what they say, they will make you life hell. And its all cost pretty much a lot. And if you will fail to balance your spending and income and end up with zero money, Rome will send army to destroy your city. In short, this game is hard core. And i love it. It doesn't let you get board. There are easy way to play it, but its up to the player.

This is probably the best CityBuilding game I have ever played. Once you start to get into it you will find that it is more of a puzzle game than a city builder. If you are looking for a simulation or a game that is realistic this is not for you. The game definitely has its own concepts you have to grasp in order to really improve. All in all I have spent more time on this than I care to admit. Highly recommended.

I played this game when I was young and then forgot about it. Then it was advertised to me that it was ported on modern machines. I did not blink an eye before buying this title. If you like city-builders this game is a must have. Some AI decisions are irrational at best but are due to designs and well-known by the community (e.g. market traders). Once you understand those mechanics, you are all set to build your own great roman city. The game has its challenge in its story mode where you go through assignments on managing and growing different roman cities throughout the empire. The in-game wiki let you have a glimpse on roman history as well. I spent 50 hours playing by selecting only military assignment in the campaign. Indeed, at a certain point you have to choose between peaceful or military missions. This means that I could re-do a career and select only the peaceful part raising up the playing time to nearly 80 hours (I guess I'll be quicker on specific mechanics). To conclude, with only the mechanics and the game atmosphere, you should try this game.