Imperator: Rome

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Mixed · 66%Mixed · 66%2019

−80%~~$39.99~~$7.99

US Steam price, checked 6 h ago

The verdict

A simple, approachable Roman-era Paradox map-painter that fans say shines with the Invictus mod. Skip it if you want official updates or deep, flavorful vanilla play.

Great for

Ancient history fans and Paradox players wanting a simpler map-painter, ideally with the Invictus mod

Main risk

Vanilla feels shallow and unfinished, abandoned by Paradox, with a clunky UI and constant civil wars

What changed in the last 30 days

27 recent reviews

Many recent negative reviews are protests over Paradox's handling of Atatürk, plus complaints of boredom and emptiness. Not tied to a game update.

27 recent reviews

What players love

Invictus mod transforms the game

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“with the Invictus Mod (basically what if Paradox didn't abandon this game) this game is absolutely amazing.”
Steam review · 125.3 h played ↗

“With the (free ofc) Invictus + the new Reanimata mods: absolutely one of the best Paradox games out there.”
Steam review · 291.1 h played ↗

“The "Imperator Invictus" and "Terra-Indomita" mods still keep it alive.”
Steam review · translated · 775.2 h played ↗

Fixed since rough launch, underrated gem

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“Fantastic game despite an extremely rocky launch. Ignore the negative reviews, they're mostly from when this game was bad.”
Steam review · 310.6 h played ↗

“It's a shame, because 2.0 update made the game fun to play.”
Steam review · 23.5 h played ↗

Great ancient-era setting and atmosphere

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews

“the art/map/UI is just gorgeous; kudos to the devs for nailing the scale, mystique, and mood of the classical era”
Steam review · 50.2 h played ↗

“I feel it is the best Classical Era based strategy game bar none.”
Steam review · 76.1 h played ↗

Satisfying nation building, pops and trade

Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews

“Something about the way you slowly expand in this game and build up your settlements, urbanizing certain areas and extracting resources feels so satisfying to me”
Steam review · 390.6 h played ↗

“The best thing about imperator is the trade system that is easy to understand and still provides for an enjoyable & in-depth gameplay”
Steam review · 130.7 h played ↗

Easier to learn than other Paradox games

Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews

“This game, in my opinion, is a great intro into grand strategy.”
Steam review · 38.5 h played ↗

“once you understand the core mechanics it’s not as complex as it looks”
Steam review · 55.5 h played ↗

Cheap, stable, no DLC treadmill

Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews

“Also, cheapest paradox game, you don’t need to spend 250$ to get all the features.”
Steam review · 8.5 h played ↗

“playable, because said lack of dlc means the game has a stable ecosystem for mods”
Steam review · 27.7 h played ↗

What players complain about

Boring, shallow map-painting

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews

“Trade? Boring. Warfare? Boring. Settlement development? Boring. Politics? Boring.”
Steam review · 234.9 h played ↗

“feels like filling in a spreadsheet. The map is gorgeous, which only makes it sadder, because there is nothing to do on it.”
Steam review · 0.6 h played ↗

Abandoned and unfinished by Paradox

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“Unfinished and abandoned. Avoid.”
Steam review · 278.7 h played ↗

“This game could have been really great, if they had kept working on it, which they didnt, so think carefully before buying.”
Steam review · 35.5 h played ↗

“The game had potential, but it was abandoned, and they even raised the price.”
Steam review · translated · 146.8 h played ↗

Crashes, lag and bugs

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews

“When you get too big and get into the late game it becomes a total lagfest.”
Steam review · 79.7 h played ↗

“the game just crashes for fun. Want to load a save during play - crash.”
Steam review · translated · 8.2 h played ↗

Confusing, cluttered UI and poor tutorial

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews

“Stuff just happens without explanation, the UI is atrocious, and the game just feels incredibly annoying to play.”
Steam review · 28.9 h played ↗

“The interface is terribly tiny and can't be scaled properly, which makes the game simply unplayable.”
Steam review · translated · 31.1 h played ↗

Too much micromanagement and popups

Mentioned in ~1 in 19 negative reviews

“Too many popups and notifications. Too much pointless reading”
Steam review · 10.4 h played ↗

“Cluttered with too much micromanagement in the way that's not at all engaging or rewarding”
Steam review · 3.2 h played ↗

Constant civil wars and rebellions

Mentioned in ~1 in 25 negative reviews

“Its a Civil War and rebellion on every 1 or 2 year simulator. And you cant prevent it.”
Steam review · 18.1 h played ↗

“you find yourself in an endless cycle of civil war/rebellion”
Steam review · 24.8 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Playable

Minimum

OSWindows® 10 Home 64 bit

ProcessorIntel® iCore™ i3-550 or AMD® Phenom II X6 1055T

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNvidia® GeForce™ GTX 460 or AMD® Radeon™ HD 6970

Recommended

OSWindows® 10 Home 64 bit

ProcessorIntel® iCore™ i5- 3570K or AMD® Ryzen™ 3 2200G

Memory6 GB RAM

GraphicsNvidia® GeForce™ GTX 660 or AMD® Radeon™ R9 380

OSWindows® 10 Home 64 bit

ProcessorIntel® iCore™ i3-550 or AMD® Phenom II X6 1055T

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNvidia® GeForce™ GTX 460 or AMD® Radeon™ HD 6970

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