This past week, Old World from Mohawk Games and Hooded Horse released onto Steam and GoG. With it comes the release of its newest expansion pack, Heroes of The Aegean. A turn-based strategy game taking aspects of dynasty builder Crusader Kings and the tile-based empire management of the Civilization series, Old World puts players into the sandals of some of the ancient world’s greatest leaders and challenges them to make their civilization the most powerful. With leaders like Phillip II of Macedonia or the twin brothers Romulus and Remus of Rome, players have up to 7 empires to choose from, with the new expansion adding the Hittite faction to the game.

Not your average 4x strategy game, Old World is more character-driven than others in the same genre. Each turn takes a year, and you will watch your original leader grow old and eventually pass away with their heir becoming the new leader. Events will dynamically shape your characters, court, enemies, and the direction of the empire as a whole. Keeping up with resources allow the construction of sprawling cities, but make sure to keep your military strong as there are barbarians and other empires who covet your riches. Make alliances and friendships to manage your relationships, both within and outside of your empire. Research new technologies or gain free resources and units with a card-based tech tree that insures no playthrough will have the same research path.

While the open sandbox-style campaigns are a great time on their own, Old World has plenty of scenarios to challenge players’ skills. Different historical scenarios are available to play through, and the Heroes of the Aegean expansion adds six new scenarios based on pivotal moments in Greek history. Turn the tide in the battles of Marathon and Thermopylae, unite Greece as Phillip II, or conquer the world as his much more famous son, Alexander the Great.

A turn-based strategy game with so much character, Old World is an impressive and enjoyable game, only slightly bloated with features. You can read our review of Old World here. Check out the trailer below and let us know your thoughts in the comments! Will you be picking up this exciting 4x game?

Old World and its expansion Heroes of the Aegean is available on PC via Epic Games Store, and has just been released to GoG and Steam.