As far as videogames are concerned, the ancient world is not a very popular setting. Strategy gaming aside, you’d be hard pressed to come up with more than a couple of titles that take advantage of togas or spearmen or classic myth. There are very few action games. You’ll find almost no traditional role playing games, either.
Still, there are enough good ones to make an interesting and varied top ten list. There are a couple of rules: First, no naming a “series” as a top game. That’s a cop out. Second, only one game from a series can make the list. (For those of you curious about more of these games, I’ll self-interestedly point you to my ongoing
blog series
about significant Roman strategy games, most of which are not on this list.)
10. Rome: Pathway to Power; Millennium Interactive - 1992
This 1993 adventure game cast you as a slave fleeing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius before it buries Pompeii and Herculaneum. Mixing in with the citizens of Rome, your character worked his way up the ladder to become a challenger for the imperial purple. Rome had interesting puzzles, multiple solutions and even a tiny wargame element as your slave took control of the legions. It was an improbable story, to be sure. But of the two or three ancient adventure games worth mentioning, this is easily the best.
9. Caesar IV; Vivendi Universal Games - 2006
The most recent entry in this city building series was a beautiful game with an intuitive interface. The developer, Tilted Mill, moved away from the “walker” mechanic that made the Impressions games an exercise in frustration. To get the best visual effect you need a really powerful computer, but the chains of production, simple trade system and delightful sounds make Caesar IV the best representation of the Eternal City yet.
8. Age of Empires; Microsoft- 1997
The original historical real time strategy game, with chanting priests, hoplites, catapults with friendly fire and wild animals. It’s still an enjoyable game in spite of its age and obvious punting of history. Age of Empires set the pattern for almost every historical RTS that followed and has more colorful moments than many recent titles that have adopted similar themes. While the sequel was clearly the better game, the original laid the foundation for the entire series and is a landmark in the history of the real-time strategy genre.
