An interesting game. Not without flaws, but one I'm glad to have played overall. As for people saying that it is boring, I can understand that viewpoint as there is a strong focus on history, and if the player does not happen to care about the history of Egypt at all, this game might get dull pretty quickly as most of the mechanics are based around learning about and participating in ancient Egyptian history. I personally have a near-fanatical interest in ancient Egypt and can devour most media relating to it voraciously, so this was never an issue for me, but I don't think you have to be quite so fascinated to still enjoy the game for what it is. If you have even a mild interest in Egyptology, you will probably find some value in it.

Starting with the positives, this game largely succeeds in what it's trying to do.

- As a simulation of the history of Old Kingdom Egypt, you would be hard pushed to find a game with as much detail and accuracy while still being engaging. As an Egyptologist I can verify that what is presented in this game (assuming you are playing the historical mode) is true to the conventional Egyptological consensus, bar a few minor mistakes.

- It presents the subject matter, which on its own can be rather dry, through the medium of its mechanics, so that rather than simply being told about how the Old Kingdom rose and fell, the player is put in the position of an Egyptian ruler themselves. One of the best examples of this is the way decentralisation mechanics in the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties represent the decline of the Old Kingdom, and how the precarious balancing act of absolute royal authority and devolving power to regional nobles ultimately sowed the seeds of its downfall. If you are interested in learning more about the history behind the mechanics, further information is provided in the "meaning" tabs of each info box. That's not to say that players shouldn't expect there to be a good amount of reading in each playthrough, this is an educational game after all, but it is up to them how deep they delve into the learning aspect.

- The art is beautiful and authentic. Almost all the art in the game is in the style of ancient Egyptian wall paintings, and it does a good job of recreating the evocative mystique of Egyptian artwork while still being appropriate to a video game. This is supplemented by a few cool still images of important tombs, many of which still stand today, imagined as they would have originally appeared thousands of years ago. From a purely visual standpoint, this game is a treat for anyone who has even a passing appreciation for Egyptian art and architecture.

- The interface is also nice, and fits in pretty seamlessly with the rest of the game's aesthetic.

Now, regarding the areas that the game falls short:

- Replayability. There is not, as yet, enough variety in possible playstyles. From one playthrough to the next, there will probably be little substantial difference in the player's experience beyond whether they win or lose. For example, the player can currently only start based in Inbu-Hedj (Memphis), and cannot visit other cities apart from on the world map. On top of that, the layout of the landscape in Memphis is always the same, although the tribes that populate it and their attitude to the player will be different each time. To give players a reason to come back to the game after they complete one or two playthroughs, I think that the developers should either provide the option to play based in other locations and have the challenges presented differ (it might be fun to play in Upper Egypt at Abydos/Abdju or Hierakonpolis/Nekhen for example) or allow the player to visit and customise other cities within their realm in one playthrough.

- Difficulty. On the first playthrough with easy options selected, the campaign is mostly a faceroll with the game holding the player's hand for much of it, the only real difficulty comes with scripted events simulating the fracturing of the Kingdom. On a harder difficulty level (even just medium settings) there are a lot of frustrating and needlessly punishing challenges that, in my opinion, do little to enhance the experience and make RNG way too big a factor in success or failure. Man-eating lions popping up in the same spots every other turn and killing vast swathes of your population for no reason is needlessly punishing and defeats the purpose of slaughtering them, for example. Whenever I try a playthrough on merdium difficulty settings the process of building tombs for First and Second Dynasty kings leaves me bankrupt when the time comes to deal with separatism and civil war, which in turn causes a barage of negative events to destroy my whole city. Honestly it doesn't feel at all like there is a balance of good and bad events, bad events massively outnumber good ones. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if the tutorial properly equiped the player to know how to deal with these challenges, but because the tutorial playthrough on easy mode hardly features them, the learning curve is damn near unsurmountable.

That being said, this game did exceed my expectations in a lot of ways, and I do reccomend giving it a try if you are interested in history.

ADDENDUM
If I were to offer a suggestion for improvement, I think that the most important thing that needs to be changed is that there should be a much greater incentive to building large tombs and pyramids. As things stand, the cost of maintaining the funerary cults of tombs is by far the most difficult part of the game's resource management. It makes sense that building the tombs should be difficult, but there is currently not a significant enough benefit to the player for constructing huge limestone pyramids as opposed to small mastabas or no tombs at all, because the upkeep costs are hugely draining and the bonuses to religious favour don't really balance it out. It doesn't make much sense in a game about building pyramids for the player to be punished for doing so.

Why I picked this game:
- Played tons of Pharaoh and was hopeful I would enjoy a non-overwhelming dose of Egyptology lessons
- Saw a majority of reviews had limited hours played (10-30), so I only expected a short, albeit replayable, story mode
- Saw a majority of negative reviews COMPLAINING ABOUT DIFFICULTY. Yes, you read that right. I *love* challenging games, so an important qualifying factor for me is the number of flames on difficulty.
- It was on sale

My conclusion after story mode:
- All of my expectations were met

I have two weirdly specific things I love in games: Agriculture, and Ancient History. Which makes me suspect Clarus Victoria is spying on me and making their games based entirely upon my interests. And as long as they are this compelling to play, I am 100% on board with that.

The best turn-based strategy games give you a different experience every time you play, forcing you to adapt: Maybe you're given aggressive neighbors, so you to shift gears into warmongering early on. Maybe you're constrained to an isolated corner of the map, so you focus on exploration and expansion. Maybe an opponent takes an early lead, so you seek out allies to combine your forces against them. The challenge of these games is that you have to assess an ever-changing situation and craft the right response.

Egypt: Old Kingdom isn't one of those games. It's a much more linear experience. The game essentially asks you to do one thing: Maximize resource production. Sometimes it throws challenges at you, but those challenges are always of the form "Produce enough resources to build X," and if you succeed, you're rewarded with more resources. There's a battle component, but military might is just another resource, and the consequence of each battle is some net gain or loss of resources. After a while, it feels more like a spreadsheet than a strategy game.

A good game, but not a good sequel.

You could not know, but there was a game in 2016, Pre-dynastic game. I played it for a couple of days without any rest. A great game. I expected to play something similar and better, but played similar and worse.

I wont talk much about this game. The game mechanics is the same as an original game.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198263427469/recommended/461620/

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398076718
So if you didn't play original I recommend to start with it. There are some important changes: The game in 3d now and it looks worse now. Devs also changed building mechanics by giving freedom but forgot to add options, it lacks of content now. Battle mechanics remains the same. Trials system too. They also added 1 new resource, Luxuries, which is needed for several purposes now.

They added new elements on starting location which could give negative or positive bonuses. They can give small passive bonus ot you can interact with them and get 1 big one-time bonus. It's really funny.

Global map was changed too. There are several new mechanics which... are tough to understand.

In total, the game is average now and have some issues. I am sure, Devs will make changes soon and it becomes good.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398076756
Pros
- Nice game mechanics with building/tech/battle elements
- Learn history playing
- Free in choices. You can achieve goals with different ways
- Cool 2d art

Cons
- A little worse then original game
- 3d is not great. 2d art maps were better
- Building mechanic was better in original game
- Some bugs
- Balance issues.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398076770

First of all, if you want to try this game, I want to recommend to play Pre-Civilization Egypt first, because it is simplier. New game has much more complex mechanics which could confuse. If you will like original game, I can recommen you Egypt Old Kingdom with 33% or more discount.

this is a tough review to write. I want to say I like this game, and to a large extent I do. As a massive history nerd, I would give a standing ovation for any game intent on teaching history in an enjoyable way and Clarus Victoria are very good at that. As a sequel to Predynastic Egypt this game is an upgrade on everything from its predecessor. The graphics, challenge and style are all improved and made bigger and better, unfortunately all the problems and frustrations of the original are back and bigger than ever.

The early to mid game is challenging and fun, a couple of false starts and a frustrating lack of clairty regarding objectives aren't much of a hurdle to finally watching your settlement flourish and turn into a mighty city state. After that though...once you first enter the map of Egypt its rather daunting but for a brief while the game seduces you into thinking you're doing quite well. Everything is balanced and works as you build the tombs of the first dynasty. And then it all goes wrong. Either you research the pyramid upgrades or make some similar mark of progression which hits your manpower and suddenly you find yourself hemorrhaging resources at a rate that simply cannot be overcome without astonishing prescience and luck. This is one of the biggest problems I have with the game all round, on many occassions the upgrades you research seem to be a punishment rather than achievement. The upgrades and building cost drain your resources far faster than you can overcome and then the finished buildings or challenges simply do not provide enough reward to make them worth it. However, if you somehow manage to overcome this brutality by some miracle around the mid game you just get hit by an event. Depending how far along you are it could be the Upper Kingdom invasion, attach from local tribes or the Seperatist movement event. Whichver one it is, they hit just as you start to get hit by higher resource costs and the game basically decides you've lost. The first two events I've managed to overcome with replay and careful management but the second either triggers and wipes out half your territory or you prempt it by destroying half your population. There isn't really any middleground.

Combined with a lack of any meaningful tutorial this series of ludicrously unforgiving events just hamstring my chance to really get into the game. For about an hour or so at a time I manage to have great fun (especially now that I actually understand what the hell I'm meant to be doing after the first dozen playthroughs) and then I slam up against that event or upgrade wall and it all comes crashing down. I'm going to have to give this a negative review, even though I'm almost certainly going to play this again and again and I'm sure I may well end up overcoming the seperatist event. However, the amount of unfun frustration and wasted time and effort that has gone in just limits my enjoyability. I enjoy the game but much of my playtime isn't down to pure enjoyment but to frustrating restarts due to the utterly gamebreaking lack of balance.

I hope the developer reads this, I love his games series ever since he released the stone age ones, and I was incredibly disillusioned when for what felt like forever I couldn't play this game because of the rebels bug of the 5th trial. After churning my game list I read the news of this game again and found out it has been fixed on April. I want to believe my report helped :D.

I just want to say thank you, and I hope you make more games of other time periods I love historic games and managerial games so every game you guys have released have always been on my marks... Plus your sense of humour has been appreciated. спасибо!

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You travel as part of a tribe looking to expand your territory and find new trade opportunities. You find a place by the river Nile with fertile land, great for growing crops, surrounded by hills where you can build upon and be protected in times of floods. From these humble beginnings, lead your tribe through history, unify the upper and lower parts of Egypt into one nation and create one of the greatest civilisations of all time.

Upon choosing a new game you’ll have the option to pick a prologue, four categories with three options in each. This will determine the difficulty and how the game is played. The four categories are: Reason for Arrival, Generosity of the Gods, Choice the Gods Gave Us and Patron God of Memphis. The top four options are highlighted already for you and this is the option for beginners. The next four below are for intermediates while the bottom four are for those who like a challenge. However, you can mix and match any of the options to your liking. You will be told that selecting the default settings of Organised Migration and Earthly Paradise is recommended until you’ve completed the game, otherwise you may find it a little too difficult, but you can ignore this message should you wish to. After selecting the options for your game, enter a name and hit the start game button to proceed.

As the game loads you’ll be given some history on ancient Egypt. Once loaded you’ll be looking down over a bit of land with a veil of cloud covering the rest of the area. A quest will appear which will let you know your current objective, which to start with is to increase the size of your tribe to five workers and to rule the surrounding lands. Upon completing an objective you’ll be given a one-time reward.

You settle down on lands close to the river Nile, in an area that will one day be known as Aned-Hetch (The White Walls) because of its fortress, and later as the ancient capital city of Memphis. Your goal as one of the tribes of Upper Egypt is to colonise Lower Egypt, bringing all of Egypt under one rule and as one nation. From your humble beginnings you must build a thriving and powerful nation. This must be done within three hundred turns (one thousand
four hundred years) and survive the final trial.

You start with two workers and if you have the tutorial checked in the options it will tell you what to do while also giving you some information on anything new you uncover as you progress. To start with you put one of your workers too use by dragging them from the hub at the bottom right-hand side of the screen to an available location on the map. At a location there are some icons which will tell you the type of ground, resources it may produce and any improvements which can be done there. For example, hills which are raised above the floodplains are ideal for houses, barracks, workshops, cemeteries, temples and palaces. While the floodplains nourished by the annual floods each year are great for growing crops.

Now you’ve got a worker on a location before they can collect any resources, you may have to work the land first. On the left side of a worker are the icons with the options on offer to you; the icons underneath show the resources collected per turn. Click on the floodplain icon and you’ll be able to work the land into fertile land able to grow grain and flax. It will take a certain number of turns before any land or buildings are completed and this will be indicated above your worker. As grain is important, it’s a good idea to get some fields growing and bringing in those much-needed resources.

At the top of the screen you’ll find your current resources; there’s Food, Production, Luxuries, Army, Culture and Favour. The number of resources you have at your disposal is in white, any surplus this turn is in green, and if you don’t have enough of a resource to complete something this turn, then it’ll be shown in red.

Around the map you may notice some eye of Horus icons with a number; these are places which haven’t been revealed yet. To reveal a place just drag a worker onto that location, and it will then be revealed to you in several turns (the number of turns will be stated on the icon). So, once you’ve got enough resources to create another worker you can start unlocking the surrounding area. If you move a worker off a location, then no resources will be produced from that location and you could also lose that location to another of the tribes in the area, so use your workers wisely.

As time goes by you’ll uncover new technologies, of which there are twenty-one to unlock as you progress through the game. They’ll cover everything you need to help develop your civilisation, from basic agriculture, irrigation and writing to the first tombs and the building of the pyramids, laws and a new belief in the afterlife can be found. They do cost some culture points to unlock, starting with the lesser techs first and the more complicated ones being unlocked later.

You can also choose to worship one of the twelve gods (when all unlocked) every now and then. Which god you choose to worship will depend on your current circumstance. You may wish for prosperity, peace and abundance, so worshipping Hapi will give you an added food bonus for six turns. While Ptah will increase your production and luxuries when called upon. Using the right god at the right time may just get you through a tough period.

Throughout the game you’ll have to complete tasks and quests, like the assimilation of two hundred and eighty clans into a unified culture or the building of a tomb or temple for a king. On some tasks you only have a limited time to get them completed, if you don’t then it will influence your final score. You’ll also put up with disasters, like disease (which can spread rapidly through your workers), famine, war, and wild animals such as lions, hyenas and (hungry hungry) hippos, as well as respecting your ancestors, all of which can have a heavy burden on your resources. And don’t forget to respect your ancestors!

On the main menu screen there’s Play, Additional, Options, Credits, Our Website, Contact Support and Exit, along with a selection of languages to choose from in the right-hand corner of the screen. After clicking the play button, you’ll find New Game, Load Game, Gallery, Quizzes and Back. In the options you’ll find Camera Move Speed, Camera Drag Speed, Sound and Music volume controls, Autosave with save options from Never, Every Turn or Every Two, Five, Ten or Twenty turns, and tutorial mode can be selected here. In the Graphics, there’s Resolution, Windowed, Quality, Antialiasing, Anisotropic Filtering, Texture resolution, Shadow Quality and V-Sync.

When you go to exit the game, it reveals your score. So far, I’m not doing very well as I’ve not completed some of the set tasks. So it tells me I’m as wise as a helpless child … my mummy doesn’t think so.

Positives
+ Not overly complicated
+ Enjoyable game
+ Historical information throughout the game
+ Achievements
+ Cards

Negatives
- It said I was as wise as a helpless child
- As above

Explore new lands, learn new technologies, build monuments and unite all of Egypt in to one nation as you lead your people through history. 7/10

Key provided by developer/publisher for review purposes via THE CPT FROGGY CLUB!
Any opinions expressed are entirely my own!

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There are reviews saying this game is punishingly difficult, linear with no replayability, poorly balanced, whatever.

As of version 2.0.1, it is none of those things.
Yes, it will be hard when you just starting to play it, because you'll be learning game mechanics and priorities. You probably won't win in first several attempts, but as you discover more about the game, you'll find ways to overcome obstacles.
Yes, game events happen in the same order and the map is mostly the same, but there are tons of random factors influencing the game. In addition, there are three different patron gods that promote quite different game styles.
Yes, the balance seems odd because the hardest trial happens not in the end of the game, but in the middle, and one of the key features in the game hinders you more than it helps you at that time. But this is just another choice: will you take it easy or go for a harder trial and have more fun in the end game?

This is one of the cruellest games I've played. Beautiful, simple gameplay gets you started and entices, only to gradually completely screw you over. Like a vice tightening, the game mechanics totally lock you down, with nowhere to go, until you see the game pull your work apart. I'm a veteran of many strategy games, played civ on deity yet this really caught me by surprise. Yeah OK, learning curve and all.. but that learning curve basically only agressively pushes you towards an imaginary center line. Go a little more aggressive with your army, and resources will ♥♥♥♥ you up. Go safe on resources and get ready to be pillaged. Didn't pray enough? Go figure. It's a knife's edge, a golden rule that is to be followed that ruins the entire game. The game's quests and trials, though fun at first, become the torture tools that will have you yell at your computer in disbelief.