Grepolis

Game Review

Grepolis is a free empire building MMORTS for Mac and Windows set in the world of Ancient Greece. Beginning with a small town the player must attempt to build a grand metropolis and ultimately an empire, earn the favor of the Gods, and achieve great fame, wealth and power.

As with other RTS games, the mechanics revolve around the acquisition and management of resources and the development of buildings and troops coupled with trading and optionally waging war. There are five resource types in Grepolis: the basic resources of Wood, Stone, Silver and People (Citizens) and an extra resource Favor indicating how much the Gods like you. Some special units from Greek Mythology can be added to your armies once you have earned enough Favor such as Minotaurs, Hydras and even Medusa! You will need all the help you can get however, should you attempt to build your army and navy to the point of conquering other cities. Each island in Grepolis generally has a surplus of a single resource and little of the others which makes trading a necessity in the game. You can either trade with farming villages or with other players to achieve the amount of each resource needed to keep your city running smoothly.

To truly build an empire in the Grepolis MMO for Mac you must expand and gain new cities. Colonization is probably the easiest way to gain a new city and involves simply selecting a site and sending the necessary Colony Ship and some troops to defend it. The second way to gain a new city is to conquer one with your troops. You must be wary if you go down this path though as you may just discover that what you thought was an easy steal is a heavily guarded fort town!

The game of Grepolis doesn’t take long to learn but is difficult to master, giving the game a healthy playable lifespan. Many players have already become die-hard fans and this has given the game a steady community for new players to join. Creating a new account is fast and simple, and you can join in the fun right away. What will your town become?