Civilization meets Gladiator in Roman strategy game that finally hits 1.0 today

I think about the Roman Empire every day. I know it's a meme, but it's true for me. That meme is my hole, it was made for me etc. I've trekked along Hadrian's Wall, toured the Colosseum in Rome, and beamed every Roman movie I can find into my eyeballs—even the travesty of historical inaccuracies that is Gladiator 2. But I've always wondered why we don't have more Roman video games. Rise: Son of Rome was ok, but the era has largely been bypassed by mainstream studios. That's why I'm glad that Roman 4X game Yield! Fall of Rome has finally exited early access and hit 1.0.

Set in the final days of ancient Rome, starting in 401AD, your job is to preside over the Roman Empire as it crumbles. Pick one of the eight factions vying for control and play out all your Roman dreams in virtual form.

Yield! Fall of Rome plays like a faster Civilization, adding in unique campaigns for each faction to keep you interested. While it hasn't made our list of the best 4X games yet, this faster pace interests time-poor players like me. I simply don't have the time for week-long Civilization campaigns with my friends any more—at least not until the kids are a bit older and can get involved with my tyrannical schemes.

The full release of Yield! Fall of Rome also comes with an update. Having listened to player feedback, developer Billionworlds is increasing faction variety and making monarchs more important. The latter now have more skills, attributes, and abilities, and their experience carries across your whole campaign, even if they fall in battle. Each monarch should also play very differently now, thanks to these changes.

Additionally, there are a bunch of smaller quality of life fixes, as well as some new buildings and refined balancing across the board. However, Billionworlds says that this is just the start, as it plans to "keep building" and supporting this game in the future.

Yield! Fall of Rome is available on Steam now for $19.99 / £16.99. You can buy it here.

Time will tell whether Yield! Fall of Rome will become one of the best strategy games, but I'm willing to give it a try. If you want to refresh ol' reliable, the best Civilization 7 mods will give you a new experience of the popular 4X title.

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