Ikariam – Civ in a browser game

For the past few days I have been enjoying the Travian-like browser game Ikariam. So far I have been really enjoying, it in fact.

It has all the elements you would expect: real-time-based harvesting of resources and building construction, construction of defensive walls and military units, trading with other settlements, establishing colonies and forming alliances with other players.

What is mainly attracting me to Ikariam at the moment is the polish and depth that has been put into the game.

You can tell just from the design of the site and its graphics that there is a high degree of polish. This is evident also in the presentation of information on the game screen, though there can be some room for improvement - I find the way they use the sidebar a bit unwieldy at times. I have also caught more than one misspelling.

But those are minor quibbles, as the depth they have added to the game is something to be admired.

First, like a Sid Meier game (don't you think their mascot looks a little like Sid?), they have a tech tree. To construct certain buildings, train certain troops or access bonuses you can research a technology. There are even classes of technologies (military, economic, etc.) with research interdependencies between each other. To research technologies you must build an academy and staff it with scientists.

There are also advisors that will assist you with information about your production and consumption, military affairs ... even happiness. Yes, there is a happiness metric in the game that you must pay attention to or suffer negative bonuses.

Perhaps the reason I find myself so immediately fond of this game is that it is basically Civilization translated into a Travian-like.

So far my one complaint is that it doesn't have a really good trading system in place - but it does have one, so I am ultimately reserving my judgement on it until I have played it longer and seen more of what it has to offer. At this point it doesn't appear many people around me are using it and there are only a few basic trading goods in the game - Nile Online's trading feels somewhat limited to me, but so far I like it much more than Ikariam's system.

Ikariam is free to play, but does have a micropayment system in place. Points, called "Ambrosia" can be purchased for real money and then used to activate a bonus system that makes managing multiple cities easier. These Ambrosia points can also be used to boost your production and research rates.

While it seems Ikariam can be fully played without ever spending a dime, I suppose the Ambrosia points are useful when managing larger empires with the aim of being competitive in the leaderboards.

For now I am having a lot of fun with it, just building up my first town and harvesting the bejeezus out of wood and marble.