by Daryl Bagley

Created on: August 02, 2011

Realm of Empires (RoE) is a Facebook game that requires absolutely no downloading.  The game plays in the browser, and is designed to be played just 15 minutes a day, and still do well, as opposed to other, more time consuming games. The point of this game is to dominate the realm. This game takes place in the middle ages. You start of building a village from scratch with very few buildings. You have a silver mine, which is your main source of income, a headquarters, a treasury, where you store your money, and a farm, where food is produced for the village.

SOCIAL

One of the biggest pieces of this game is the social aspect. In Realm of Empires, your village has a real place in the realm. You have neighbors, which are either computer owned (rebels), or are owned by another player. The object of the game is to dominate the realm, which is nearly impossible without having other people backing you up. One of the best ways to get with others is to join/form a clan. A clan is a group of people with similar ideas and location that fight together and protect each other in times of war. In order to succeed in this game, you will need to be active in your clan to create friends and bonds that will protect you and fight by you when enemies attack. This game has a large social aspect, requiring you to message people, join a clan, attack your enemies, and defend against others.

REAL-TIME

In Realm of Empires, time goes on no matter whether you’re logged in or not. This means that your silver mines will produce silver regardless of whether or not you’re online. This means that you can spend as little as 15 minutes a day going onto your RoE and reading and replying to messages, reports, and forum posts, then selecting which upgrades and troops you’ll have recruiting as you go back to your daily life. This also means that attacks go on while you’re not online.

GAME PLAY

Realm of Empires is easy to play. It requires only clicking and is played in the browser, a fairly easy way for computer challenged people. The game offers a beginner’s tutorial, covering all of the basics, then goes on to explain more information in a series of quests. The game is played by upgrading and building buildings. Buildings will allow you to recruit various types of troops, give you protection, and transport silver. RoE includes a map of the realm that shows you your surroundings including other players, rebels, and abandoned villages where the owner has become inactive. The objective of the game is to dominate the realm. Different buildings allow you to build various troops for defending your village and looting/taking over

GRAPHICS

Realm of Empires has amazing graphics, especially for a browser game. For example, as you progress in the game, the icons depicting your buildings will change. Observe the change in the village from this picture to this picture. RoE also includes a separate picture of your village when it’s night at your specific time zone. RoE includes an easy to use map with a variety of scenery, and different icons based on the level of your village. That way you can get a general idea of the strength of the neighbors. The map also includes flags that allow you to see your diplomatic relationships with other clans.

CONCLUSION

RoE is a great game for people with little time or computer experience. This game can be played in as little as 15 minutes a day, and is a great game to play with your friends. Anyone with an interest in strategy or medieval warfare will enjoy this game.

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