Ikariam, an Online City Simulator
This Historical Strategy MMO is Free, but it Needs Some Work
An online historical strategy mmo is unique, but Gameforge misunderstood important design features of an online game when programming this game.
Graphical city simulators have been popular for along time. Sierra, the makers of the Spyro series of games, made a variety of combination city simulators and strategy games for the personal computer. Ikariam is an online browser game that carries on the traditions of games like Caesar and Sid Maier's Civilization.
Players who prefer historical accuracy in their stategy games should find a different free browser game to play, but Ikariam is one of the few completely online mmo (massively multplayer online) strategy games availalbe. If a player might want to build a pirate empire instead of a Greek city state, he should check out Dogs of the Seas.
Ikariam: a Somewhat Historical Strategy Game
Half of the military units in Ikariam are historical in nature, but the other half of the game's military units are products of the video game programmers who wanted a higher level of technology than was available in the era of the Greek city states. As Ikariam is not supposed to be purely historical or educational, this is not a major drawback and how the game play of this city simulator becomes the most important basis for judging its merits or flaws.
Ikariam's Flaws and Merits as a Historical City Simulator
The biggest and most obvious flaw with Ikariam from a gameplay standpoint is the amount of time it takes to build buildings and gather resources. It could be argued that this is a good way to force players to manage their resources effecitively, but if the times to build were cut in half, players would still need to wait for long periods of real world time to pass in order to build up their empire.
At least the Ikariam player does not have to be present for the buildings to get built or for research in the academies to continue, all a player needs to do is log onto Ikariam long enough to start the building process. A player must be present in this historical city simulator and strategy game to add units to his army. Building up an army is only part of the charm of this city simulator and strategy, players can also use diplomacy and form trade alliances to bolster their positions.
Ikariam as a Brief Diversion and a Long Term Game
Ikariam shares one feature with an mmorpg that it tends to appeal more to goal oriented people, but this historical simulator does one thing in the reverse order that most of its commercial competition does. It starts with excessively long times which get lowered through upgrades. Ikariam is more than worth the price that the user pays to play it, which is nothing.
As the author has only briefly experimented with the game it is hard to be fully fair to it as it would take a while to do anything of real impact in the game. People who enjoy simulators that allow them to build cities and sending their armies against other opponent in an almost historical context should check out Gameforge's Ikariam free strategy game. All a player needs to experience Ikariam is a browser and an Internet connection.
Sources
Starcraft 2 Release December 2008
