Egypt: Old Kingdom
- May 24, 2018
- Clarus Victoria
- 8h median play time
Get on Steam"Egypt: Old Kingdom" is a historical simulation game set in Ancient Egypt from 3500-2140 B.C. As Horus, you assist pharaohs in unifying Egypt, constructing pyramids, worshiping gods, and developing technology. The game is based on real history and features the challenges of the First Intermediate Period. Your decisions will impact the growth and stability of the ancient kingdom.
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Reviews
- Fascinating and immersive strategy game that effectively teaches players about ancient Egyptian history.
- Beautiful art direction and easy-to-comprehend controls, making it accessible for beginners.
- Offers a unique blend of resource management and historical context, providing a rewarding gameplay experience.
- The game can feel linear and 'on the rails', limiting player agency and replayability.
- Some players find the later stages of the game overly complicated and punishing, leading to frustration.
- The tutorial could be improved to better guide new players through the mechanics and strategies.
- gameplay97 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is a mix of worker placement, resource management, and historical simulation, offering a blend of familiar mechanics with a focus on ancient Egyptian history. While some players appreciate the engaging and educational aspects, others criticize the unclear mechanics, poor UI, and reliance on RNG, which can lead to frustrating experiences. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable for fans of turn-based strategy, but it may not appeal to those who prefer more straightforward or less time-consuming gameplay.
“The gameplay is easy enough to understand, plus I can learn the history of Egypt.”
“The game is not meant to be a granular grand strategy-esque simulation of the historical world of Old Kingdom Egypt, but it manages to accomplish its goal of teaching the player about this period and provides excellent management/strategy gameplay that complements it well.”
“Beautiful, simple gameplay gets you started and entices, only to gradually completely screw you over.”
“The first game was way better; this one has some pretty broken mechanics, horrible explanation of how anything works, RNG is horrid, and the game is all in all way too long, like a chore.”
“You can lose after seven hours of gameplay just because you may have not made the perfect choices within the first hour.”
“Poor balance, inscrutable game mechanics, and an almost impossible, pointless level of difficulty combine to make it just not very much fun.”
- graphics55 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique art style inspired by ancient Egyptian aesthetics and the overall visual appeal. While some players appreciate the improvements over previous iterations and the thematic consistency, others criticize the graphics as simplistic or lacking in detail. Overall, the visuals are generally considered sufficient for the game's scope, contributing positively to the atmosphere despite some technical issues.
“The graphics are crisp and interesting, with a well-chosen color palette.”
“Almost all the art in the game is in the style of ancient Egyptian wall paintings, and it does a good job of recreating the evocative mystique of Egyptian artwork while still being appropriate to a video game.”
“What it does have is an amazingly authentic Egyptian art style to every visual aspect of the game.”
“The artwork and graphics in this game are absolutely terrible.”
“This is not a game with eye-popping graphics or effects.”
“If they'd kept the original graphic design of the first one rather than going for a bit more of a 3D feel, I think this would've been a home run.”
- replayability41 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with some players praising its extensive options and challenge, particularly with new modes and diverse gameplay elements, while others criticize its limited strategic diversity and repetitive nature. Many reviews highlight that while the game offers some replay value, it may not be sufficient for those seeking a highly varied experience. Overall, the consensus suggests that replayability exists but varies significantly depending on individual player preferences and expectations.
“I cherish this game; its difficulty and parameters are incredibly flexible, its art direction is charming, the replayability is extensive and it felt incredibly rewarding to finally figure out the secrets to success within its depiction of ancient Egypt.”
“Built with help from Egyptologists, it is fascinating and immersive with a lot of replay value :)”
“All in all, this is a really great strategy/resource management game with a lot of replayability.”
“Predynastic Egypt was not a replayable game; outside of maybe trying it once or twice to beat it, there was no point in returning to it.”
“The game is disgustingly repetitive with little to no replay value.”
“I liked the game until I tried to replay it and I realized that there was no replayability.”
- music20 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its relaxing and ambient qualities, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. Reviewers appreciate the thematic coherence of the soundtrack with the game's aesthetic, noting that it complements the relaxing nature of the civilization-building mechanics. While some suggest that the music could be improved, many agree that it effectively serves its purpose, creating a soothing atmosphere for players.
“Nice soundtrack, relaxing and interesting, perfect to play at the end of a stressful day on a tablet on the couch!”
“On top of this, the art and music are beautiful and wonderfully thematic.”
“And the music they chose to compose for the score fits nicely alongside the game, making it a soothing and calm experience.”
“When I started the game, it loaded to a blank main screen with intro music playing.”
“As soon as I clicked ultra (in graphics), the game screen turned black but the menu music was still playing.”
“I closed the game and ever since then, I am just receiving a black screen with background music and a 'not responding' message.”
- story11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The game's story revolves around managing resources and workers in a historical strategy setting, where players face challenges like resource scarcity and random events that can disrupt progress. While the campaign offers a unique blend of quests and trials, it can become frustrating due to the repetitive nature of playthroughs and the difficulty of certain objectives. Overall, the narrative is engaging but can lead to moments of exasperation as players navigate the complexities of leadership and survival.
“I've never played a turn-based strategy game where the decisions and the general feel of the atmosphere was so well-tuned to a broader story.”
“Its about 10-15 hour single player story-driven historical strategy game.”
“The campaign revolving around quests and trials makes this quite different from your standard strategy and empire building games and, while there is very little change between playthroughs, the multi-level difficulty settings and campaign parameters selected before each new game do offer a fair deal of variation.”
“The campaign revolving around quests and trials makes this quite different from your standard strategy and empire-building games, and while there is very little change between playthroughs, the multi-level difficulty settings and campaign parameters selected before each new game do offer a fair deal of variation.”
“At least one achievement is currently impossible as it looks like an update pushed back the quest start trigger for it to be completed.”
“My conclusion after story mode:”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 86 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its pleasing art and sound design, effectively enhancing the overall experience. Players appreciate the immersive quality, particularly in the context of historical settings like ancient Egypt, and note that the atmosphere is well-aligned with the game's narrative. Despite its simplicity and slower pace compared to other turn-based strategy games, it offers a captivating and engaging environment.
“The art and sound design are pleasing and flesh out the atmosphere of the game nicely.”
“I've never played a turn-based strategy game where the decisions and the general feel of the atmosphere was so well-tuned to a broader story.”
“Great immersive atmosphere and art.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game enjoyable and not overly frustrating, contributing to its replayability. However, some note that the endgame can become tedious, particularly on lower difficulty settings, which may deter them from replaying. A significant update in July 2018 improved the grinding experience, making it more engaging.
“The endgame becomes a bit tedious but there's great fun to be had before you reach that stage.”
“I played through the whole game on beginner and the last hour or two were very tedious and had no challenge, and it was too long for me to want to go back and play it again on the historical settings.”
“This system was tedious at the beginning but was completely changed as of July 6, 2018, and is now great.”
- stability3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is inconsistent; while some users report smooth performance on specific systems, others experience freezing issues when switching maps, indicating potential bugs in gameplay design.
“I have played this game on a Mac (OS 10.12.6) and it runs great.”
“The game sometimes freezes up when switching maps.”
“Cons: buggy, gameplay isn't well designed.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game's optimization mechanics are designed to challenge players with resource production goals and handicaps that require increasingly precise strategies. However, some users report frustration when previous successful strategies fail under new conditions, leading to unexpected setbacks despite their efforts to optimize their economies.
“Even on the more complex settings, the choices are never too complex, and the difficulty is entirely based around the game setting you various resource production goals and giving you various handicaps that together demand ever more perfect optimization to overcome.”
“After many trials, I think I understood it, and it's quite okay, but then I start a trial (which I succeeded in previously) and famine kicks in. Despite having a huge population and moving my pawns all over the map to food resources, I still can't fight it. The game kills the pawns, and I still can't keep up when I thought I had maximized - at least optimized - my economy compared to my previous games.”
“The optimization mechanics feel inconsistent. I often find myself struggling to maintain resources despite following what I thought were the best strategies. It's frustrating to see my efforts go to waste.”
“I spent hours trying to optimize my strategy, but the game seems to have a mind of its own. No matter how well I plan, unexpected issues arise that completely derail my progress.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is well-received, with players appreciating the developers' inclusion of quirky elements like ancient aliens and zombie-mummies, which adds a fun and entertaining layer to the experience.
“The developers seem to be humorous enough to add in some fun stuff for the community, like ancient aliens and zombie-mummies!”
“It's really funny.”
