Arena Monarchy

Arena Monarchy is set in the same world as Dead Monarchy. You manage a ludus and personally lead gladiators in combat, planning ahead and accepting that losses can be permanent. You play as a lanista whose life is at stake in every fight: if your player character dies in combat, the game ends.

Manage your ludus

You balance investment in your gladiators with upgrades to your ludus’s eight buildings, each of which has a distinct effect. Gladiators have backgrounds that determine the weapon types they are proficient with. You can save manually or play in ironman mode, and your fellow gladiators’ deaths are permanent.

Lead gladiators in combat

You can lead up to 12 gladiators in battle against more than 35 factions, each with its own fighting style and visually distinct units. Combat includes elevation, which affects hit chance, as well as counterattacks, attacks of opportunity, ranged combat and flanking, where unit positioning matters. Weapon abilities expand this system.

There are 35 melee weapon types, five shield types and one ranged weapon type. Each weapon type has its own abilities and upgrades. You can focus a gladiator’s build on weapon abilities, use general perks, or combine both and switch between two weapon types to create hybrid fighting styles. The game contains 500 abilities and perks in total.

Equipment and progression

You can collect over 500 pieces of equipment, including visually distinct helmets, armor, trinkets and rings, as well as over 250 visually distinct weapons. Helmets, armor and weapons each have six quality tiers. Light, medium and heavy armor affect fighting style, while masterwork equipment offers unique effects and higher stats. Finding rare masterwork weapons is a goal of equipment progression.

A world of factions

The setting is an anachronistic world inspired by ancient and medieval history. Its weapons and armor are loosely based on real-world civilizations.