Today I learned of this full-featured, multiplayer, turn-based strategy game developed in Shockwave. It's called Conqueror, created by Blip Amalgamated Internet Pleasureworks. Although Conqueror! is very similar to Risk, its gameplay is a lot richer. Instead of armies alone, each territory has a peasant population that can produce both gold and soliders. However, if you don't tend to their needs, they can also rebel against you. It's all handled through a system of influence you maintain over each of your territories—such as sending diplomats, developing culture, and building fortifications—you either increase your control over the country, or chance losing it from neglect.
Here's what their website says of the game:
"Conqueror is a turn-based, multiplayer strategy game that takes place on a map of medieval Europe. Play on the web against as many as 16 human or AI opponents, for games as short as 30 minutes or as long as 4 hours. An ingenious system of simultaneous turns means that you don't have to wait for other players to make their moves!"
The graphics are really superb and the sound effects add a nice subtle touch that addresses the medieval theme of the game. Although the site says the game is still in beta release, I was able to play the game for over 3 hours without a major problem. This is an excellent game for anyone interested in turn-based strategy games.
Dude, that game is so addicting... I wish there was an offline version so I could play it without tying up the phone line here at home. :-P
You're telling me it is! I have been playing every free moment I have, even after posting all the other games since, I keep coming back to Conqueror! I thought it might have been you that I was chatting with last night in the game when the game crashed on us. I hope they fix that build quickly as it was a step in the wrong direction when they posted the new build yesterday. I never had Shockwave crash on me before, and I have played that game many times! =)
Its very buggy (at least on this computer). I have a lot of problems with the client crashing.
The AI sucks. If you take over an AI's position past the very beginning of the game you have no hope of beating a human. The AI builds huge armies it cant support that then desert.
Great idea. If the AI was halfway decent it would be a great game. Since it is designed for you to play hotseat with AI it would be nice if you didn't always take over an empire with no infrastructure.
hey jay- do you know of any other good online games that are similar to this, risk, settlers of catan, etc. ?
No, sorry, I don't know of many multiuser online games you can play in a browser. I wish there were more of them.
this game is so addictive. i played in the same game for over 5 hours. i was named emperor...hehe coool....
I've run into quite a few bugs. For one, I keep getting crowned Count or Duke or whatever every turn.
I've been trying to play this, but i find I just run out of money straight away, just with the automatic paying of armies and therefore can't really do anything... is there a way of making more money or something that I'm missing?
Yeah, the trick is to manage the amount of armies you have on each province so that the population can support them. I believe it's one army per 10,000 population. If you keep each one within those limits, then you will not have to pay anything when winter comes around.
Each turn is a season (spring, summer, fall, winter), so you have to continually move armies around to maintain their levels.
It's best to begin my building up the populations, not armies. Build only the armies that your provinces can support. Then, as the population increases, have one province building armies and move them around as needed.
Also, diplomats are important to bring your reputation into favorable terms. If the population is not favorable to you, then you will find it very difficult to build anything at all (read: it takes much much longer). Diplomats will turn your population to favor you, and then you will get more done.
I love the game but i finally started kickin butt and it all of a sudden would freeze up during my turn and then just run the computers turns so i never had a chance to make any adjustments......???
this game is awesome...but i start my game at 6 am (when i get to work...every fricking time around 8 o clock it never fails..the game freezes up and all my work is in vein....i frickin hate it...its crap and needs to be fixed.....now
I can't even play that, look what I see
What's wrong with that? How do I fix it?
Sentinel - it looks like a problem with your Shockwave install, as the game appears fine to me. Try uninstalling Shockwave and reinstalling the latest player. Also, empty your browser cache in between when you do so as well. That's the best advice I can offer.
how do u raise taxes?
To raise gold, change options in the toolbar at left to levy taxes. More developed countries bring in more gold, and primitive ones give very little. Your capital usually has the most gold per turn. More soldiers means paying more gold.
great game, i discovered it thanks to this site and now whenever im bored i pick a random game in the suggestions box because this is a good site, but i just keep on coming back to Conqueror. Ausome game [considering it's free:)]
still fun even if it glitches a lot.
So addicting. I had stopped playing it after I stayed up all night conquering the whole world, or the parts that it will let you. Now I'm back, but pretty regularly the shockwave will crash and disconnect from the server, especially when I'm really dominating.
I'll re-ask the above question:
Does anybody know of any other games like this?
Depends on what you mean by "like this", FactWino. You can play various free versions of Risk, some of which are somewhat similar to this.
There's: MissionRisk, Jrisk(http://jrisk.sourceforge.net/), and DominateGame (http://www.dominategame.com/website.php?). That last one as I recall has far too many restrictions and sucks. The second one is a pretty good version of Risk.
Conqueror was designed with Risk and Civilizations in mind. So you could also play FreeCiv. Lastly, I know somebody who's gestating a space-based game similar to this one, but completion's probably a long way off.
That's about it as far as I know.
also check out globalconquest.com
This game was very glitchy for me, but it was addictive anyway. I really enjoy risk, and this was a cool version of it. I will definitely play it many more times in the future. (Yeah, first comment!)
They're going through a transition right now to a new version with more features, so the game is insanely buggy. I stopped playing because of all the bugs. For example:
-When you have a province set to recruit troops, it will levy taxes AND get troops
-Troops don't cost anything in the winter
Those are the two big ones, and they are BIG
Real good game. A tip to help stop the shockwave crashing. You have a maximum of 5 moves. Sometimes, if you try to make more than 5 the game has a shockwave error and the browser crashes. Try to make your 5th move last and if you forget you will notice the outline of the country you select, after the 5th move, stays white. This is a sign that it will crash. Press end turn and do not select on the screen until the next turn goes.
The counts and dukes are not bugs. They are part of the game. Everyone gets promoted. I am not sure what the reason behind that is but isn't it great to be promoted?!
The bugs are a real problem, do you know when they wil get it sorted?? i can't seem to find anything on the site.
Actually Jake, I have found DominateGame to be the best availible free online Risk-type offering. There's a nag-banner, but the community is huge meaning you can always get a game quickly.
Conqueror sucks now. The new server gets slower and slower with each turn and then finally just stops or crashes. The lobby chat is messed up now--can't toggle between lobby and game chat anymore (you can, but lobby chat does not work when you are in a game). The player list is blank, so you don't know who's playing. The shockwave error is worse then ever now. And the developer wants to start charging $5 a month for the privilege of playing a game that just went from barely tolerable to jack. Gimme a break.
The Server Problems were just temporary and the Bugs are fixed... its a great game, totaly addictive :]
gogo ConquerorGame!
Man, this game is STILL all buggy and messed up! I wish the author would take it open source, since it seems like it's never going to be fixed otherwise.
Are there any games like this where I play against AI's?
The AI's are much tougher now, and you can play a solo game offline to practice. No registration needed. Also all of the serious bugs have been fixed!
The AI is nothing... I played half a solo game, which was more than enough to predict the rest. The solo AI is pathetic.
You can just wait until spring when all the enemy's troops desert (which happens most years), then march in unopposed. And if you take the enemy's capital, you pillage what little gold they had to pay their troops, preventing them from paying their armies, so once again they desert. Also they spread out their troops where they don't need them, attack with single digits when they could've sent in 50 or 100, etc...
It's like playing a toddler, you almost want to let the computer win.
I'm sure playing other humans is fantastic, though.
This game is cool.
- Michael
I already wrote an email to jayisgames to update the review of this gem. the game has seen a major update this year bringing a pretty stable and bugfree browser version of this game without the need to use the buggy shockwave. it has been completely refreshed bringing a new user interface, lobby, two new maps, teamgames, singleplayer mode and map customization amongst many other details. this game is not without reason as highly rated as it is. i havnt seen anything like it around the internet. completely free, strategically deep with a international community. really, this game deserves a lot more attention!
I forgot to mention that the platform is wrong, the screenshot is outdated and the company information isnt correct. the ai has also seen a complete update. there also is an updated help section where you can find very informative guides on how to play the game and basic strategies. if you like turn based strategy games, give it a try. so staff of jayisgames, revisit this game for its 10th year anniversary on this wonderful website.
Sorry for double posting, but i didnt find a way to edit my post.
Update