Grepolis: A Background
Grepolis an MMORTS set in Ancient Greece, was first developed by InnoGames in Hamburg Germany, and released in December 2009. Popularity skyrocketed, to the point where Grepolis was in the top 500 websites visited in Germany (according to Alexa rankings). To expand the player base and reach a wider audience, the developers translated Grepolis from German to English, and launched multiple new worlds. Below is the trailer (with German writing of course, an English trailer is yet to be released).
Whilst the pacing in Grepolis can seem slow at first (especially if there’s an advanced active player on your island with a score of 1500+ points) don’t worry too much, after a week or two of daily activity, the pace picks up and you’ll soon be raiding nearby cities and farms on a regular basis to fuel your Polis’s growth. Once your city has progressed far enough, The Gods start to play an important role in Grepolis once you construct a temple, you can choose which God to worship. The four Gods in Grepolis are:
Zeus – The most powerful of all gods, he controls the earth and the skies, and offers mainly offensive powers, such as lightning bolts. By worshiping Zeus your able to train Minotaur’s (a very strong defensive unit) and Manticores (a strong and speedy offensive unit) at your barracks at levels 10 and 15.
Hera – The wife and sister of Zeus (the Ancient Greek’s had social norms far removed from our own). Hera is the Goddess of marriage, childbirth and fertility, and the miracles made available in Grepolis are focused on giving resources, and speeding up the growth of your city. Worshiping Hera will give you access at your barracks to Medusa, a strong balanced unit with no specific weaknesses, and the Harpy, a very fast offensive unit.
Poseidon – The brother of Zeus, and the God of the Sea, consequently, in Grepolis Poseidon’s divine powers are focused mainly on the sea, allowing you to send storms at your enemies ships, and to wreck your enemies city walls with earthquakes. Choosing to worship Poseidon in Grepolis will give you access to the Hydra, the most powerful and only mythological sea unit, as well as the Cyclops, a strong and balanced unit (but with a fatal weakness to sharp attacks).
Athena – The daughter of Zeus, is the God of Wisdom. In Grepolis, Athena offers defensive miracles that can protect your Polis from the attacks of your enemy’s God for 12 hours. By worshiping Athena your granted the ability to train the Centaur, and the Pegasus, both strong defensive units, and both very fast, the Pegasus is the fastest unit available in Grepolis.
Chose your God wisely, and according to your situation, for example if you’re on the warpath choose either Zeus or Poseiden, should you want to speed up the development of your Polis, choose Hera, and if your on a hostile island, with many powerful players, choose Athena. You can switch Gods, but Grepolis penalizes you by removing access to the mythological units of your former God, as well as any favor you had built up.
