This year, we’ve had a rush of what look to be top-tier, creative new entries to the Rome games setting. Naturally, much of the focus is on building Rome and expanding the Roman Empire, but there are also some that seek to give the player a more immersive, ground-level experience. Of course, each new entry has a lot to live up to in this space.

A Booming Year for Rome Games

One of the first major and expansive games venturing back in time to the days of Ancient Rome was Memoriapolis. Released on April 30, it uniquely melds several different gameplay mechanics. You play a role in the politics of the time as well as build the city out from a small town through five ages.

The goal is to stay in power throughout, and while your usual city-building resource management underpins your advancement, so does how you wrangle the Senate. You need to meet the demands of the people while also navigating the political infighting of the Senate, posing a particularly political challenge to players.

Coming out a mere week before Memoriapolis, online gaming sites welcomed the blood-drenched, medium-high volatility game Reign of Rome. A popular entry to the new slots section of the jackpot casino, the game amps up the tempo with a booming soundtrack that hits a new tier when the Hidden Epic Bonus launches.

Here, the This Is Rome bonus and all other features come into play, kicking the warriors on either side of the reels into action. It leans heavily into the glory of Rome and combat in the age of the empire, as does Romestead, to an extent. This incredibly eye-catching game is all about rebuilding a fallen Rome.

Why has Rome fallen? Well, that would be because of zombies. In the pixel-art survival co-op, you need to go out, battle the wilds, collect resources, and gradually build Rome back to its former glory. The reveal trailer landed in March, so a release date might not be this year. What is promised to arrive in 2025, however, is a new Anno game.

It has been given a 2025 release window by Ubisoft, which can certainly been taken with a handful of salt, but anticipation is high for this one. Anno 117: Pax Romana takes the legendary simulation and real-time strategy letting you shape the Roman Empire at a time when, in history Emperor Hadrian commenced an era of consolidation.

A Very High Bar for the New Entries

In history, the Roman Empire has a particularly prestigious place that’s been revered for centuries. In gaming, there have been enough top-tier games set in ancient Rome that the setting boasts a similar reverence within the entertainment medium.

Chief among these is the third game from the Total War series, Rome: Total War, and its long-awaited sequel, Total War: Rome II. The first entry set a new bar for historical management and simulation games, let alone Rome games, and inspired plenty of the best games to come, including the expansive Imperator: Rome.

Prior to Rome: Total War, Age of Empires set a rather high bar, and the series has since evolved to improve on all of its key gameplay aspects. Away from strategy and simulation games, we see the 2022 hit roguelike We Who Are About To Die offer a particularly brutal run at the days of combat in ancient Rome.

It’s a great time to want to play a new game set in Rome, and by the looks of it, some of the new entries may be able to rival some of the classics.