Drawer 03 · review
0 A.D.
A historical real-time strategy game of ancient civilisations, built with care for how they really looked.
Our score 4/5
Our take
0 A.D. asks who would have come out ahead if the great civilisations of the ancient world had met at their peak. You gather food, wood, stone and metal, raise a town, and build an army from units modelled on historical reconstructions and named in their original languages, Greek and Latin among them.
Release 28, called Boiorix, arrived in February 2026. It is a big download, around one and a half gigabytes, and asks for a reasonably modern computer, but what you get is a polished, good-looking strategy game made entirely by volunteers.
Matches against the computer can be as calm or as busy as you like. Start with an easy opponent and a small map, and the game gives you time to learn how a town grows.
A first sitting
- Download Release 28 from the official site.
- Play the tutorial, then a single-player match on a small map against a Sandbox or Very Easy opponent.
- Read the in-game history notes on your chosen civilisation.
Where to stop
Matches can stretch. Save the game when the first hour is up, and come back to it another evening rather than pushing on late.
