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Six empires, every one played for a month

Two of these games are built around the sea, two around land borders and village wars, and two take you somewhere the genre rarely goes: the banks of the Nile and the cities of Mesoamerica. Each card says where it runs, what it asks of a week, and which kind of commander it suits.

GrepolisOur first harbour01
Greek island strategy

Grepolis

Found a polis on an Aegean island, pick a patron god, and grow toward a fleet that can carry your ambitions across the water. Grepolis blends a patient city-builder with real naval warfare, mythical units and culture-driven expansion, all inside an alliance game that rewards months of steady attention.

City-state buildingMythological unitsNaval warfare
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Strategic depth9
Week-to-week rhythm7
Free-player standing8
Alliance life9
Sail to GrepolisFull review
TravianThe old master02
Village empire MMO

Travian

The game that shaped the genre, still running and still demanding. Choose one of five tribes, grow eighteen resource fields and a village centre, expand on culture points, and fight alongside your alliance toward a World Wonder that only becomes possible late in a round. Travian rewards long memories and careful planning.

Village buildingTribe choiceAlliance goals
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Strategic depth9
Week-to-week rhythm5
Free-player standing7
Alliance life9
Choose a tribeFull review
IkariamThe trader’s pick03
Island trade strategy

Ikariam

Gameforge’s Mediterranean classic gives every island wood and exactly one luxury good, whether wine, marble, crystal glass or sulphur. To grow, you must trade, colonize or raid for the rest. Cargo ships, four research branches and island wonders make it the most economic, and most cooperative, game on our list.

Island coloniesTrade by necessityPort sieges
Desktop browser
Strategic depth8
Week-to-week rhythm8
Free-player standing7
Alliance life6
Load the cargo shipsFull review
Tribal Wars 2For hard campaigners04
Medieval conquest MMO

Tribal Wars 2

InnoGames’ sequel to its classic browser war game hands you a small medieval village and a map full of neighbours who want it. Wood, clay, iron and provisions feed an army of spearmen, axe fighters and cavalry, while noblemen take villages and tribes coordinate offensives across worlds that run for months.

Village conquestTribe coordinationMonths-long worlds
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Strategic depth8
Week-to-week rhythm6
Free-player standing7
Alliance life9
Raise your bannerFull review
TentlanRewards patience05
Mesoamerican city strategy

Tentlan

Lionmoon’s strategy game leaves Greece and Rome behind for a Mesoamerican world of temples, maize and jaguar warriors. Production is gathered by hand, rituals at the Moon Temple can change the season, and some research waits until you do. It rewards planners who enjoy timing as much as building.

City & resource growthAlliance strategyLong progression rhythm
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Strategic depth7
Week-to-week rhythm7
Free-player standing7
Alliance life6
Enter the jungle cityFull review
AnocrisCalmest start06
Egyptian empire builder

Anocris

Begin in 1200 BCE with a single settlement on the Nile and grow it into a realm of temples, pyramids and disciplined armies. Anocris, also from Lionmoon, favours careful economic choices, festivals and season spells, and lets you test your troops on nomad camps before you ever trouble a neighbour.

Egyptian city-buildingEconomy managementStrategic expansion
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Strategic depth6
Week-to-week rhythm8
Free-player standing7
Alliance life5
Settle the NileFull review