Sānguó: 223

Sānguó: 223 is a real-time strategy war game set in the Three Kingdoms period after 223, focusing on Zhuge Liang, Cao Pi and Sun Quan. You choose to begin as Wei, Shu, Wu or Yan, and can decide whether to enable magic elements.

Build and command

You develop cities, strengthen the economy and manpower, replenish equipment, deploy generals and troops, and conquer enemy cities in an effort to unify the world. Battles are fully automatic: before a fight, you set the army’s formation, style and tactics, choose suitable generals, and take the terrain into account. Generals’ skills trigger automatically and are designed to reflect their fighting styles and, where possible, the historical figures’ characteristics. For example, Sima Yi’s skill is named Luoshen Fu, referring to Cao Zhi.

Nations and events

Each country has distinct characteristics expressed through its principles, concepts, event groups and disaster system. The game includes many fictional events, often presented as dialogue with decisions to make; these events express views and thoughts about the era. Enabling magic adds three fictional heroes and many fictional events, increasing the variety of play and reducing difficulty.

The disaster system simulates the decline or possible extinction of Wei, Shu and Wu. You can avoid triggering disasters or take steps to prevent them.

Land and naval warfare

In naval warfare, countries other than Wu must secure control of the river. Shipbuilding methods, concepts and ship types give vessels different attributes that affect the outcome of naval battles.

Diplomacy and activities

You cannot see other countries’ detailed situations directly. Instead, you can appoint a general as a temporary intelligence supervisor to estimate other forces’ military strength and locations. During war preparations, you can also take part in activities designed for the emperor: Horse racing, Sword debate, Roman war and Magic Palace.

Generals

The game has a general-generation system that lets you freely add generals to your country.