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About Trireme Commander
Trireme Commander is an accurate simulation of ancient Greek and Persian triremes - rowed war galleys. It is an animated single-player PC game that is highly educational on the performance and tactics of the triremes.
The download includes 16 scenarios. The Helmsman Tutorial is the only option to start with, this scenario guides the player through the training area. Pass this to become a cadet. A cadet has two challenges, a trireme race and to ram and sink an empty enemy vessel. Pass these two and reach the rank of Helmsman. There are four Helmsman scenarios, two conflicts with a single enemy trireme (one damaged, one not), a recon of the Salamis straits, and an important Signals Tutorial: a guide to signalling vessels under your command to form different formations. Pass all of these to reach the rank of Captain. Then, with a single squadron, there are conflicts against an enemy squadron of lesser, equal, and greater size. The last of these is a tough challenge to pass, but when it is completed the player reaches the rank of Commander. At this level there are two battles, each side with three or four squadrons. Finally, with these two completed, the player can re-enact the Battle of Salamis (an epic battle from ancient history), the Battle of Artemisium (where the Athenians used the famous Kyklos - a defensive circle), and two possible but fictional encounters - a battle out in the open sea (so greatly to the Persian advantage) and another in the straits of Megara between Coryinthians (Athenian allies) and Egyptians (Persian allies).
All of these scenarios are included in the package, many with audio and diagrams as educational introductions to the scenario, and the history behind them. The battles are all fought around the island of Salamis. The ships all have names, the Athenian triremes have names from a list left behind and rediscovered. The physical performance of the Athenian trireme is reliably recreated, as a replica trireme - Olympias - was built and had full sea trials in 1988. The performance of a Persian trireme involved a little guesswork - they were reported to be slightly smaller and lighter than the Athenian vessels, but were no doubt very seaworthy given their voyages across the Mediterranean. In many of the larger scenarios, a player can select which ancient leader they wish to play including the Athenian mastermind Themistocles, Adeimantos - the Corinthian admiral, or, on the Persian side, Ariabignes -brother of Xerxes (the Persian King), or perhaps Queen Artemisia - one of naval history's very few female commanders. By the time a player has reached the rank of Captain, Commander or Admiral, they will have a very good understanding of what trireme warfare was really like.
The download includes 16 scenarios. The Helmsman Tutorial is the only option to start with, this scenario guides the player through the training area. Pass this to become a cadet. A cadet has two challenges, a trireme race and to ram and sink an empty enemy vessel. Pass these two and reach the rank of Helmsman. There are four Helmsman scenarios, two conflicts with a single enemy trireme (one damaged, one not), a recon of the Salamis straits, and an important Signals Tutorial: a guide to signalling vessels under your command to form different formations. Pass all of these to reach the rank of Captain. Then, with a single squadron, there are conflicts against an enemy squadron of lesser, equal, and greater size. The last of these is a tough challenge to pass, but when it is completed the player reaches the rank of Commander. At this level there are two battles, each side with three or four squadrons. Finally, with these two completed, the player can re-enact the Battle of Salamis (an epic battle from ancient history), the Battle of Artemisium (where the Athenians used the famous Kyklos - a defensive circle), and two possible but fictional encounters - a battle out in the open sea (so greatly to the Persian advantage) and another in the straits of Megara between Coryinthians (Athenian allies) and Egyptians (Persian allies).
All of these scenarios are included in the package, many with audio and diagrams as educational introductions to the scenario, and the history behind them. The battles are all fought around the island of Salamis. The ships all have names, the Athenian triremes have names from a list left behind and rediscovered. The physical performance of the Athenian trireme is reliably recreated, as a replica trireme - Olympias - was built and had full sea trials in 1988. The performance of a Persian trireme involved a little guesswork - they were reported to be slightly smaller and lighter than the Athenian vessels, but were no doubt very seaworthy given their voyages across the Mediterranean. In many of the larger scenarios, a player can select which ancient leader they wish to play including the Athenian mastermind Themistocles, Adeimantos - the Corinthian admiral, or, on the Persian side, Ariabignes -brother of Xerxes (the Persian King), or perhaps Queen Artemisia - one of naval history's very few female commanders. By the time a player has reached the rank of Captain, Commander or Admiral, they will have a very good understanding of what trireme warfare was really like.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
✦ AI summary
Players appreciate the game's historical accuracy and commitment to authenticity in ancient naval combat, with some enjoying its straightforward 90s-style simplicity. However, many criticize the clunky gameplay mechanics, particularly the lack of keybinds and over-reliance on mouse controls, which makes executing maneuvers feel sluggish and unintuitive, ultimately limiting the experience to only the most dedicated simulator enthusiasts willing to overlook these quality-of-life shortcomings.
I was so on board to play this game; there is a ton of good info in here. Too bad it is hiding behind some fairly terrible gameplay. https://youtu.be/hjblBt_S_YQ11 found this helpful
Love this game! The commitment to historical accuracy and realism is unique and something no one other game provides. I also appreciate the 90's style and simplicity, it makes the combat very easy to get into. Make sure to have sound on so you can hear the instructions! Also, I usually have 3x speed on all the time, even in a fight.4 found this helpful
[NOTE: Lots of caveats to this positive review.] I only suggest this program (It's a bit much to call it a game by today's standards) to people who have a specifically high interest in naval action of antiquity with an intersection of an interest in simulator-type games or experiences, and a lot of patience. This program/game is admittedly fairly lacking in quality-of-life functions that ease the experience in. Namely, any sort of keybinding setup. As a real trireme, there are many functions for many different modes of maneuvering, but absolutely everything must be done by mouse clicking, which makes sudden movements or planned maneuvers incredibly sluggish to perform, and I daresay unrealistically so. Just as a quick suggestion, I would personally have the Shift key lift both rudders (for maximum speed), Left-Control to lift the oars to "glide", have the space key put on full braking (both rudders & all oars), W and S to increase or decrease speed, (and holding either W or S to automatically accelerate to maximum forward or maximum reverse speed). 1 and 2 could deploy the left and right rudder halfway, a second keypress fully submerging, and holding could lift them (or yo…1 found this helpful
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