Today, Hooded Horse and Lion Shield officially released a free demo for its upcoming Roman-themed city-building game Nova Roma ahead of its early access launch in the new year.
The Nova Roma demo features a preview of early portions of the game, letting would-be Caesars establish a new Pax Romana on faraway shores. Alongside the demo news, it was also announced that the game will be coming to GOG and the Microsoft Store (as well as PC Game Pass).
Fans can check out a quick look at what to expect in the demo build below:
Nova Roma places players in the shoes of the leader of a small band of citizens fleeing the decaying empire to build their very own society. Start with a small, humble village and work your way up to your own empire by keeping the Gods happy and the Barbarians at bay.
In the demo, you’ll be able to learn the basics of the game’s mechanics and production chains on small, procedurally generated islands, as you interact with a small selection of the game’s Pantheon of Roman Gods, and meet their requests to gain special currency. These can be used to unlock the early portions of the tech tree, which let you develop industries to improve food offerings, create advanced goods for trade, and unlock vital engineering technologies, like Aqueducts.
Creation brings destruction, so you’ll need to prepare your village by creating a Militia to help your citizens fend off pirates and invaders, as the old Empire is always on the hunt. The full early access launch will feature later-game techs, advanced buildings and production chains, and expanded combat systems to offer a more complete foundation.
Nova Roma will release into early access for PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store) and be available via PC Game Pass on day one.