Dominions 3: The Awakening

A bloated autobattler on sprite engine (early Total Wars look better) melted into a simplified map-coloring simulator (no building) with funny quantity of races & magic spells. All sequels in the series are the same, UI in this one is cooked, buy #5.

Meh- Fun game, but very very slow. Also the newer versions seem to be the same thing but better.

If i played this in 1990 it would have been a good game

Was greatly improved in latter iterations

Great strategic game play for god-wannabes. Setting up your god-avatar has lots of variability and great choices (from a stationary magic fountain, to some color of dragon, to mythical creatures like a manticore or cyclops--each faction has a selection of god-chassis). Like Greek gods? Be one. Or start as a powerful human wizard or druid. Faction troops are fantasy variants of historical cultures, but massively twisted in creatively magical ways (Roman lizard-riders?). Over twenty factions, each with an "early", "middle" and "late" variation. Troops must be assigned to "leader" units before they can be used aggressively. Magic economy is via seven different colors of magic gems, each representing a specialized type of magic (faux-Incans raid for blood slaves in addition). Site-searching for gems, income, and special places is critical. Magic resources are allocated between "tactical" spells (by giving gems to spell-casting leaders) and campaign-changing "global" spells cast at a laboratory site. Stationary militias can be established to protect your holdings. Once bought, these will regenerate as long as you hold their province. Scouts/spies are available--important to kno…

Exactly what I was looking for in a game. Depth and detail unparalleled. Love the retro feel and throwback graphics.