Theocracy Reviews

I really love this game. The idea of using Miracles like nukes in Civ games to capture cities (attack with one swordsman, gain 25% followers, bomb it with a Solar Eclipse, and that city is yours), which come late in the tech tree, is such a fresh take on the genre. Unfortunately, what I don't love about this game is the performance. While my laptop isn't a potato by usual standards (it can run Endless Space 2 with an Exceptional-sized universe at a smooth 40fps on high settings), the framerate is choppy as hell. While it might be a small thing for other players, it feels jarring and slow to me. Even clicking on menus feel sluggish like it takes a whole second (or maybe 0.7 seconds) to look up. That kind of affected my experience and slowly crept as turns progressed that made me stop playing this game, but seriously, for a one-man army like Marcel and his great concept of a game, this has really good potential. I'd like to play it again and again if the framerate improves. I don't regret buying it. I honestly recommend you buy it for the gameplay and idea (which is so good), but I wouldn't want to recommend it due to the performance issues it currently has.

This is a very well-designed 4X game, and it's a lot of fun to play. I just won the beginner game, which took me just under 7 hours. The time flew by - it really has that one more turn feeling and I highly recommend it. Your aim is to convert as many people as possible to your theocracy, and control the biggest part of the map. The gameplay is similar to Civilization in that you have regions (cities) that you want to grow and develop. City locations are pre-defined, so you have to go out and convert the ones that don't belong to you. It's also similar to Master of Magic, where every so often you can cast miracles (spells) on the map to create new units, convert population or destroy it. There is no diplomacy in the game. Each theocracy wants to gain as many followers as possible, so you are always at war with everyone. The game has a very good tutorial where tips guide you through everything from basic interface icons to advanced game mechanics. At no point did I feel lost. There's also an extensive in-game help that provides more details. I really like the graphics. They are very clear and colourful. I can see at a glance what's going on. Overall the gameplay is less complex than the 'big' 4X games out there - in a good way. You still have plenty of interesting decisions to make, but you're not chasing multiple objectives or juggling mechanics. So it's a great experience if you're looking to just have fun playing a 4X.