IMPERATOR

Imperator is a simple card swipe strategy game where you take on the role of a Roman Emperor who must make various decisions concerning the government of the empire. Your goal is to stay in power as long as possible by balancing the demands of the Senate, the People, the Army and the Treasury - ensuring no group becomes too strong or too weak and a therefore a risk to your own power.

Inspired by the popular mobile game Reigns (and its successors), I wanted to recreate this compelling card swiping strategy gameplay as a fun personal challenge. From the outside the game appears very simple and straightforward, but behind the scenes a lot of work is required to accurately track player choices and consequences. Tackling this design challenge was what I was most interested in.

As opposed to the original Reigns, which follows a whimsical medieval theme, I wanted to design a narrative experience that was more historically authentic and grounded in reality, with many of the scenarios featured in the game being based directly on people and events from Roman history.