What is a game in the Empire Series?

A Game with a Long, Proven History of Challenging Strategic Play

Over three decades, literally hundreds of thousands of people have played a game in the Empire Series.

The Empire series was started by Walter Bright in the seventies, with version 1.0.

In the late eighties, Walter Bright and Mark Baldwin took the game and put it on the PC. This version of Empire, (version 2.0), is called “Empire Wargame of the Century”. It was quite popular, and I remember many sleepless nights playing this game on the Atari ST.

In the early to mid 1990’s, coming off the success of the Tank Battle game The Perfect General, Mark Baldwin and Bob Rakosky took Empire Wargame of The Century, added some units and rules, and created the extremely successful game of Empire Deluxe. (version 3.0).

Mark Kinkead acquired the rights to Empire Deluxe, and in May 2003 released Empire Deluxe Internet Edition, version 3.50 in the series, maintaining the core rules and units, but adding Internet play and several other features.

Now, Empire Deluxe Enhanced Edition is available. This is version 4.0, offering some new rules, new units, and the ability to create even more units.

A Game of Global Domination and Conquest

For those new to the Empire Series, the basic objective of Empire Deluxe is global domination on a strategic scale. A game from the Empire Series is commonly started with each player in possession of one "city" on an unexplored world of a predetermined size. This city is able to produce a "unit" for the player in a specified number of turns. Units are used to explore the map, transport other units, search and destroy enemy units, and capture more cities. The game traditionally ends when all other opponents cease to exist. The Empire Series, though mimicked and expanded upon by other games, has lasted for decades with this simple concept.

Simple and Easy To Learn, Years to Master

Often commented on as "Easy to learn, years to master", this well balanced game offers strategic subtleties for the player to experience in the areas of combat, exploration, intelligence information gathering, production, force strength projection and supply, maneuver and control, course of action planning and execution, and probability calculation.

A Challenge for Both Man vs. Machine and Man vs. Man

The game can be played in a solitaire fashion, with the only other players being computer driven opponents. When computer players do not satiate the hunger for a challenging opponent, the game has been played against various combinations of both human and computer driver opponents via email or network. Players have formed tournaments and ladders to determine where they stand in regards to other players.

A Different Challenge Every Time

There are additional ways to play than just explore, expand, and conquer. Preset maps and scenarios have offered additional challenges to play. Players have recreated both real historical and imagined starting situations on detailed maps. The random and customizable aspects of maps and scenarios make every new game a new challenge for the player.

Try A Game and See For Yourself

The latest available version in the Empire Series is Empire Deluxe Enhanced Edition. A demo is available. Previous to this, there was Empire Deluxe Internet Edition. A demo of this game is available as well.

A Game That Will Last A Lifetime

Cool games come and go, but the Empire Series has had the longevity unfathomable to most computer games, and is older than many of its players. Not due to fancy and gimmicky graphics or cut scenes, but because of its basic concepts coupled with the constant and solid strategic challenge that it presents for the player. The community of players is made up of strategy gamers, some of whom have just started playing, and others who have been playing for a very long time.

Again, a demonstration version of Empire Deluxe Enhanced Edition is freely available to give you a better understanding of how the game works.