A survival game set in ancient Rome for a tired mark? It’s almost a dream come true for MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus, who has now fulfilled this with Romestead on Steam. And although he has had a lot of fun with the game so far, he is faced with the very thing that brought Rome down back then: the decadence of its people.
Even back during the demo on Steam, Romestead surprised me and I am not alone in this in the editorial team. The limited content back then was enough to create a desire for more. Accordingly, I was excited when we were offered a key to test.
The premise of the game is quite simple: a catastrophe has befallen Rome, undead roam the lands, and the empire has crumbled more or less. As one of the last Romans, we search for other survivors and try to survive while slowly rebuilding everything.
Romestead not only places a high value on the building aspect, even though gathering and crafting take up most of the time, but also comes with an innovative skill system and even engaging combat gameplay.
While testing, the game captivated me for 15 hours, and it would surely have been more, if Conan Exiles hadn’t suddenly released a massive update that has kept me busy since. However, I see myself working more on the reconstruction of Rome soon. Emphasis on “working.”
Ora et labora … a lot of labora
Romestead offers a lot to do right from the start. Even the first quest – yes, there are quests, from the goddess Minerva – requires several steps to complete:
- I am actually only supposed to kill an owl and get its eye.
- I cannot achieve the combat without equipment.
- For equipment, I need a forge and someone to make weapons for me.
- The person also wants to live somewhere, so I need a house.
- To manage all of this, I first need to gather wood, stones, coal, and copper… and of course food for my citizens.
And these are just the first few minutes of the game, where this “always having something to do” has been a consistent theme throughout the experience. As a Swabian with the “shuffling shuffle build houses” mentality, it’s truly a blessing.
What excites me even more about the whole thing is the progress system. New recipes are not just unlocked randomly, but rather through quest rewards or from the gods. They themselves are not quite sure who they are anymore, since no one prays to them.
Accordingly, I unlock new options when I make offerings to the gods and fulfill their tasks, allowing them to slowly gain strength and bestow their blessings on me. Naturally, everyone wants something that suits them: Diana likes hunting-related items, Mars appreciates warriors, and Ceres rewards hard-working farmers. A simple yet highly engaging skill system.
Per aspera ad astra aspera
“Engaging” is actually the key word here, as with every progress I make, Romestead presents me with new hurdles to overcome, constantly. No matter what I have accomplished: the next step is already clearly in front of me.
What may now sound like a never-ending Sisyphus task is quite the opposite for me – because Sisyphus is ultimately a Greek legend, not a Roman one. Sorry, that had to be said …
But seriously, particularly in sandbox games, I often miss the “guide”, something that shows me: there’s more ahead. Romestead manages to clearly provide me with the next goal without pushing me. I can still comfortably explore alongside, defeat dungeons and bosses, or just build. Because that’s exactly what I must do.
Peopley called Romanes’, they build the house – Or they don’t
My probably biggest criticism of Romestead is the unbelievable laziness of the NPC citizens. I don’t know if this is a nod to Roman decadence, just bad luck, or a problem that will be fixed during Early Access, but the people do nothing unless I tell them explicitly. And then I might as well do it myself:
- While I have a lumberjack, when his storage is full, he gets lazy. The same goes for the stonemason.
- The carpenter at least builds buildings on his own that I have to place beforehand, but he only takes materials from the storage… which I have to fill. Thanks for that.
- And my biggest problem: my farmer produces tons of grain, I have a water-powered mill and two bakers. But don’t think for a second that they take care of anything.
The food has long been my problem, as the inhabitants come with disadvantages such as increased food needs. In such moments, I run from the farmer to the mill for 2-3 game days, grinding grain, bringing flour to the bakers, and having the bread baked – a maximum of 10 at a time as well – to then bring it myself to the food store. That the lazy bunch at least serves themselves at the buffet is almost a miracle.
Sobering realization: Not all roads lead to Rome
Expanding my settlement is quite a tricky time management task between supplying my citizens and acquiring new materials that can sometimes be quite far away. It can take a game day to find new ore… if I don’t die on the way or my settlement gets attacked again.
The world is procedurally generated, meaning that key points, especially resource nodes, can be distributed randomly. Accordingly, it can be challenging to even find the right biome and suitable resources.
At least: thanks to a pretty cool system with carts that you can pull and chain together, gathering resources is a pleasant change from the constant weight management found in other survival games.
Have you played Romestead? What do you think of the game or the basic idea? Feel free to leave me a comment.
Romestead comes from a small studio and, with a price of 13.99, is not even in the AA segment. There is even a discount for the Early Access release until June 8. Here you can find Romestead on Steam(LINK).
Especially for the price, I wouldn’t complain, even though I received the game for testing. A lot has improved even between the demo and Early Access, and I suspect that more will happen in the coming weeks and months. The game can be played solo or in co-op with up to 8 players, which would probably resolve some of my issues. And when I disappear into Rome again, colleague Karsten can calmly explore the land of the exiled: Boomer meets Gen Z in Conan Exiles, the player experience couldn’t be more different
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