Grepolis Online

“The Gods favor the bold” – Ovid (1st Century CE)

Grepolis Online has you take control of a small town (Polis), and turn it into a magnificent city state, the likes of Athens or Sparta. Grepolis Online is a browser based game, that encompasses all the duties of an Ancient Greek King (historically only the Kings ruled, but this being 2010, Queens may also rule). You establish your economy, gather resources, undertake the building and defense of a grand Metropolis (massive city), and the commanding of vast armies and navies.

Signing up couldn’t be easier, and it asks for no private information, just your name and email address. You pick a world in which to build your city (denoted by the Greek alphabet) this just determines the server you will play on, and makes no difference to gameplay. You then pick a starting corner of the map (I picked Southwest, but it doesn’t make much difference either). Make sure you follow the tutorial, the rewards are generous, and it gives a real kick start to your soon-thriving state. Early on you’ll want to focus mainly on growing your city, so expansion of your farms should take priority, in Grepolis population growth is very important, as with any economy of scale, the more manpower you have, the faster your state will grow. The game world is massive, just on my starting island there are about 15 other players, and beyond the shores lie hundreds of islands for the taking, but that will come later.

From there, you can begin your grand empire. Good luck in your conquests, and did I mention, its FREE to play.