Jon Shafer's At the Gates

I feel compelled to defend this game. Here's the thing: the good far outweighs the bad. Is it buggy? Yes. Unfinished? Feels like it. Frustratingly just-shy-of-being-excellent? Also yes. What this game has going for it is the deep satisfaction you get from a world-building game with rich economic supply chains that you can develop from the ground up, all within an exciting time period that evokes the tone and the feel of a genuine 5th-century struggle for survival, and ultimately, power. In short, if you are at all drawn to the history of the era and are looking for something that is kind of like civ, but less cartoonish and more about a hard-scrabble attempt to keep your people fed, clothed, and alive in an unforgiving landscape -- you should try this game. Get it on sale. As I said, it is unfinished. There will be crashes. Although on that point, I seem to have had a lot fewer of them lately, not sure why. But you will be frustrated at times. The learning curve is a touch steeper than similar games. Some things you will learn through trial and error. For example, if you add an apprentice to a stone (upgraded) sheep pasture, you will double the herd, but you won't double the +1 bonus you get each turn. Ok, so what? Just move the apprentice out and find some other herd to capture. Stuff like that. Combat: it's sort of satisfying in its own unique way. Not super-difficult, since it's basically a numbers game that you can safely predict ahead of time. But warfare is not the primary aspect of the game that keeps you clicking "next turn." You keep clicking next turn because you get really into building a dark ages society from the ground up. Each new clan is a new opportunity to add a new resource to your value chain. You will get more and more interested in climbing up that value chain, crafting ever-more valuable goods that you can use to create wealth and defend your fledgling tribes. Even when you've reached a comfortable level, you will keep playing -- even when you know that victory is certain and you have more gold than you know what to do with -- you will keep playing. And that's the best praise I can give this flawed game. Because it's not just about a mad dash to "winning." You are crafting a world and a story with bizarre little clans that have personalities and desires (literally). Civ doesn't offer you that. Bottom line: give it a try. The negative reviews here aren't wrong. They're just not the whole story.