Ozymandias is a simplified 4X strategy that is easy to grasp and by similar games standards, quick to play. A game can be completed in less than two hours. Potentially far less.
The story mode tutorial got me up to speed and since then I’ve been gradually increasing the difficulty with each victory. It was at the middle point of difficulty where I ran into my first defeats. Mainly because I have a bad tendency for my play style to default to total conquest, when that is not the way to win here. You’ve got to keep your eye on the crowns.
There are seven measures of an empires progress, such as number of armies, wealth, population, conquered cities. At the start of a game each is allocated a value of one to three crowns. Seven crowns are needed to win. Targeting the right combination of goals using an empire with appropriate traits is vital. The victory crown conditions can be modified to your preference at the start but I always accepted the first random draw.
Terrain is the other key part of tactics. Eight types of terrain (eg grassland, hills, desert) give you different amounts of three resources – food, knowledge, and money. These can be used to expand your territory and buy armies of increasing power. I found that upgrading my power in a specific terrain to form a strong border helped stabilise my empire. It was great fun building a super strong naval fleet that could surround a peninsula of land and bombard it into submission. One of the prizes from the opportunity cards I received was an ocean city called Atlantis.
The only extra function I would like added is the ability to zoom on the map so it’s easier to play windowed. Some additional or an option to randomise maps would also be a welcome future update.
I’ve not covered every detail of the tactics but these are the mains points. Having played over half of the eight maps I’m more than happy with Ozymandias. It’s somewhere between Risk and Civilization, offering a good dose of strategy while respecting your time. The AI is smart enough to be a challenge on at least one of the many difficulty settings. It has online multiplayer for human opponents.
mishmash 