There are three options when starting a new game, all of which branch out into more complex choices. Structures can be explored and exploited, wandering monsters and armies are encountered, and the stakes gradually escalate as competing forces enhance their power. Spells will be researched, turn-based combat will ensue, and heroes will collect and equip loot as they explore the world. It has them conducting basic diplomacy with factions small and large.

In the decades-old tradition of the Age of Magic and the Master of Wonders, Triumph’s latest has players building cities, which produce units and construct buildings. This is precisely what the doctor would have ordered if doctors were groovy and unscientific enough to treat patients with strategic entertainment. Since there’s been a ten year wait for a sequel to Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, which was (somewhat confusingly) the third game in the series, I find less cause to bemoan the lack of innovation. If you’ve played any of the previous Age of Wonders games, or have even the vaguest knowledge of the swords and the sorcery, then the third entry in the series will feel as comfortable as a pair of slippers, a crackling fire and a mug of hot chocolate. There’s nothing particularly unusual in the selection of units, creatures and spells, which somewhat detracts from the ‘Wonders’ of the title, but the presentation is exquisite at times, and even the unfinished code that I’ve been dabbling with is solid and enjoyable.ĭon’t expect any surprises though. Patently ridiculous, the dwarf-on-a-pig is presented in earnest, as is the rest of Age of Wonders III.

It’s like the aftermath of a kitchen fire at a hip burger bar. He’s so fond of the tusky creatures that he straddles boar-back when he takes to the battlefield and every firebolt that I hurl at him fills the air with the odour of overcooked pulled pork and frazzled face-whiskers.

His Throne City, the capital of his miniature kingdom, must have a pigsty in place of a palace. The angry Dwarf in the North sends a sounder of boars in my direction every other turn. Last year we discovered that the Dutch developers were returning to the wonders that they knew so well, with a strategic turn-based sequel to the superb Shadow Magic and I've been playing a preview build for several days now. I'd assumed Triumph were otherwise engaged though, following the release of the Overlord games and a period of silence. The wait for Age Of Wonders III would have been far more painful if I'd been anticipating a return to the series since the release of the most recent game in 2003.

Age of wonders 3 guide to combat