Nova Roma crosses Cities: Skylines with Age of Mythology, and it rules

City builders have hit and missed very hard this century, with Sim City 2013 being declared some kind of catastrophe, only for Cities Skylines to swoop in and take the crown. But now Cities Skylines 2 has had its own terrible launch, and has garnered a reputation for being rushed and unfinished (even if things seem to have stabilized at this point). So what comes next? Well, Nova Roma is taking a good swing. It’s an indie game developed by Lion Shield, the studio behind Kingdoms and Castles, and published by what is quickly becoming my favorite indie publisher, Hooded Horse.

Nova Roma is a city builder that takes place in ancient Rome, on a procedurally generated map that has dynamic hills, cliffs, and rivers that expand and shrink as the rain washes down. You start with a simple outpost building which then expands out into farms, luxury services like pottery makers, loud resource gatherers, military defenses, and temples.