Old World Complete

Old World is a historical strategy game in which you lead an empire across multiple generations, building a legacy that outlasts you. You manage a court, form relationships with noble families and foreign leaders, develop your realm, and defend its borders.

Families and heirs

Each of the seven kingdoms has four noble families. Putting a family in charge of a city grants various benefits, while events, actions and marriages can help keep its members happy and earn additional benefits. Upset families may turn against you, and giving them too much power risks their ire. You can maintain a strong family unit or pursue illicit adventures.

Marriage can serve political purposes, and you raise heirs as you manage relationships with the families of your kingdom.

Characters and court

Characters have distinct personalities, strengths and weaknesses. You can recruit famed warriors, philosophers, builders and others to tutor your children, lead armies and further your reign. Personality archetypes affect how court members perform similar roles, including as governors, diplomats, spymasters or your spouse, so you can combine them to suit your needs.

Characters gain experience and develop new personalities and traits over time. They grow old, may fall ill and eventually die, making way for the next generation.

Wilderness and events

Unsettled tribes, barbarian marauders and remnants of earlier cultures inhabit the vast unexplored wilderness. You can find artifacts and great heroes of the past in ruins scattered across the map. The game includes over 3,000 unique events inspired by history and mythology, while contact with foreign dignitaries can lead to event chains, stories and courtroom drama.

You can pursue ambitions and legacies focused on conquest, development, faith and more. Scenarios include leading Carthage to victory as Hannibal in the Punic Wars and holding your own against Barbarian Hordes. Maps can be randomly generated or handcrafted, and the game also includes weekly challenge games and fictional scenarios where you compete against other players.

Strategy and multiplayer

Old World changes several familiar strategy systems. Buildings use wood and stone rather than an abstract resource such as “industry,” and population growth depends on more than “food” alone. Orders are shared across your realm: units can move multiple times in a turn until they become fatigued or your Orders run out. Technology is randomized rather than predetermined, helping keep the technology trees fresh across playthroughs. You can also undo mistaken commands and use nested tooltips for more information.

Multiplayer offers hotseat, asynchronous and cloud play. The game also includes a Grammy-nominated soundtrack that blends Arabic music with contemporary influences, and supports mods for creating new worlds, empires and dynasties inspired by real life or fiction.