Overview: My Empire is a Greco-Roman themed city building game. The graphics are well-done and adorable, the music as cute, and there are a wide number of decorations and non-functional items to make building a really individual and quirky city the best part of the game. The addition of exploration and fights adds another layer of gameplay which gives players a lot more to do when their ready cash runs out, as well.

The tutorial is short and sweet, showing you how to place buildings and decorations. There’s some very simple balancing going on – adding houses increases your population, but then you have to add decorations or entertainment buildings to keep your population happy. The decorations are plentiful and quirky – statues, shrubs, livestock, and ponds are all options. As you increase in level, the choices become less rustic and more refined, so low-level villages have a lot of straw-thatched huts and high-level ones have gleaming marble buildings.

You earn money by hiring a tax collector – this starts a timer after which you have a limited amount of time to secure your revenue. You can choose different intervals, so if you’re actively playing you can get a little income every five minutes, or you can check back in at longer intervals instead. After the first few levels, you can also build a few resource-gathering buildings. Resources (wood, iron, and stone) are needed for the higher-level buildings.

At level 8 you unlock the Academy, which opens up the ability to research. Research unlocks the higher-level buildings, including those that produce the higher-level resources. It’s all an interlocking prerequisite system – it’s not terribly complex, but it does prevent people from jumping ahead to the higher-tier items.You’ll also be able to construct a Barracks and recruit soldiers, which you will use to explore new islands and win gold and resources. This is a great way to kill time while waiting for the tax collector to finish his rounds.

Overall, My Empire is a well-constructed city-building game. The exploration is fun, although basic, and if you like laying out attractive cities this game has a lot to offer.

8/6/2010: Temple of Zeus Update Review