Aegis - Addictive Strategy, Cunning Politics, War & Peace

Game: Aegis

Aegis is a game of strategy, cunning and politics. Set sometime in the middle ages you find yourself in a world with two continents (USA and Europe), both with established, often helpful players. One is newer than the other, but both offer the same gameplay, spread over 24 turns a day (you can save up to 120). You start the game as a small, independant province. And from there you grow.

As you grow larger, you can become a Kingdom, or join a kingdom of other provinces. These could be of similar size, or could include the top player of the whole game – the emperor/ress, or anything in between. As your province grows so does your skill at working out what you want to build, and in time, what you want your people to be focussed on – Magic, Religion, or Science.

You can build a province geared towards peaceful growth, or you can be a warmonger, conquering lands as you progress. As you grow, so will your list of allies and foes, creating an increasingly addicitve game. You will also learn which build strategies work best for you, and when you should or should not engage in military conflict, and how to make it a success. If you want to become the number one player of the game, you can expect quite a few months of gameplay on either continent.

Aegis has forums, and encourages player participation and support in them. You have forums for the entire Aegean continent you are a province of, and there are forums for the Kingdom you have chosen to be a part of. There is also a Java chat room and an IRC chat room. Most players will help you out in which way to go when you are confused, whether or not to fight other players, and will do what they can to try and make sure you do not end up on an ’Aegis Most Wanted’ list, or some such. There are, like in all games, morons here too. For the most part, they do not last, as politics are vital for survival, and immature, childish, schoolyard behaviour is not. Mostly.

Like most online games, Aegis uses advertising to support itself, but this is largely inobtrusive. You can also offer your financial support for the developers, for some minor in game benefits. They are useful benefits, but they are not balance altering benefits (unlike a lot of ’pay for play’ games out there). Non financial support is also rewarded, whether it is voting for the game or clicking on the ads, with extra turns.