Yield! Fall of Rome has you pick apart the collapsing Imperium

We’re absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to strategy games that depict the (potential) fall of Rome. Yield!: Fall of Rome twists that a little, with you taking on the role of one of the nations picking away at the collapsing empire.

As if I didn’t already have a plethora of Rome/Roman-based games, up pops Yield!: Fall of Rome… While I largely play games that busy themselves with World War II, I’ve always got time for a bit of a dive into ancient history and Yield‘s specific timeframe — the collapse of the ‘Western’ Roman Empire — is a rarely trodden one, and as such an exciting one. I never thought I’d end up with too many Roman games, of all things.

Set around the era of the Fall of the Roman Empire, you can play as any nation still around after Rome’s wrath through Europe… any nation except Rome that is. That means that you can take on the roll of the Arabs, Berbers, Bulgars, Franks and more, even the distant Britons (under highlander Calcacus). Now, you can unlock and play as the Romans, but only if you win a special/separate ten-scenario list that has been designed especially to test you before you take on the job..

Without having to play as Rome, it’s still an excellent game. If you’ve ever played a 4X, Civ-like game, then you’ll feel right at home from the start. (If not, it’s still extremely easy to learn.) At first, it deals with money only, which is a resource we can all relate to the importance of, and everything available (buying units at the beginning) uses gold.

A little hint: From the beginning, keep your eye on the research abilities to buy. Once you get a little further down the technology tree, then you can slowly build up your towns’ infrastructures as well. This will slowly improve your towns(s) by allowing you to build bigger and better places, luxuries, amenities, housing, etc. for your citizens. As your towns develop, so does your income, supplies, and available technologies and policies.

Town growth vastly increases your opportunities for more aggressive moves, abilities, and options. How you choose to divide your citizens between building and maintenance of cities, versus your upkeep and adding to armies, is, of course, the key to winning. Watch for your policy advancements as well. Every bit, if not more, as important than your technology tree.

Yield!: Fall of Rome is a far different concept than the usual Roman game. When you open up the ability to play as Rome……. newp, no spoilers here. Regardless, your goal, of course, is to become the greatest empire in the world… {shocker) whether you play as Rome or not!

Yield!: Fall of Rome is available now for PC and Mac.