Rising Star Games has announced the launch of Cradle of Rome for the Nintendo DS. Distinctly marrying the Match-3 puzzle mechanic with an enticing resource management system, Cradle of Rome will be available on October 10th 2008.

“We are absolutely delighted to have signed a deal with Rising Star Games to bring Cradle of Rome to the rest of Europe,” enthused Stefan Juelke, managing director of cerasus.media. “The new features added to an already well-loved puzzle mechanic makes this even more fun and addictive to play. Cradle of Rome was a phenomenal success on the PC last year and converting it for Nintendo DS opens up new opportunities for everyone to experience its unique gameplay.”

Players swap two adjacent squares around to create a row of three or more, but instead of completing the board as quickly as possible, the goal is to gather as many resources as you can before the timer runs out. The more resources you gather, the faster you can build Rome. Start with a lowly saw mill and progress to gain access to historical monuments such as the Arch of Titus, the Temples of Venus and Saturn and eventually the mighty Coliseum.