Download Dominus

I was very surprised I didn’t know of this game earlier. It’s a good and complex strategy game that will be appreciated also by the people who’re not in the hard core strategy.

You are in your library when you get the important message that your realm is in danger. Enemy hoards are approaching and are planning to attack you. At your command you have four generals (weird looking animal like creatures) with their armies. Your castle is in the middle of the map and there are several provinces surrounding it.

To prevent the enemies from storming your castle, you can place traps in the provinces they need to pass. You can also deploy armies of monsters to fight off the enemies. Don’t forget, that in such a case you need to gather more armed forces afterwards, or your castle may be defenseless (if too many soldiers die). You can even join the battle yourself (by clicking the chariot icon when watching a battle).

You can kill your enemies, or try to capture them (the best way is with traps). My favorite part of the game is interrogation. There’s a dungeon in your castle, where you take your prisoners too (and you know what wicked and highly painful things were done to prisoners in dungeons). This way you can get information. There’s a better use for the prisoners though. You can mix them together to create heroes (making a mutant cocktail).

The game also lets you come up with magic spells. You have an entire alchemist’s laboratory at your disposal and you get to mix things up, or go through the spells you already know in order to enhance your magic capabilities. Magic is very useful in the art of trap-building and very helpful in many other aspects. You can also have your armies search for magic (or traps) in the provinces.

So far it all sounds very diverse and exciting (it actually is), but the game has a few downsides too. I especially dislike the battle option. If you decide to join the battle yourself (you’ll arrive at the battlefield in a cool flying chariot). To move around hold SHIFT and move him with the mouse.

Also I’d appreciate a bit more time before the initial attack (you don’t even have the time to set any traps). You’d think that you’d have a bit more time to prepare before the first attack (they didn’t make you their sovereign on the eve of battle).

Apart from that, the game features very good graphics, full mouse control, smooth animations and a solid sound (although the tune may become slightly irritating). All in all it’s a good game that I can strongly recommend, but it’s not easy to master.