About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

For the city building fan looking for a new game to try, "Children of the Nile" is a great pick. The gameplay is similar to other city builders, but at the same time takes on unique twists. "Children of the Nile" is not a game for casual gamers, but for those who love watching their city grow and mature, and look past the flaws.



Pros

• 3D graphical world
• many hours of gameplay
• camera control easy to learn

Cons

• periodically gameplay pace is slow
• few graphical bugs

Description

• Release Date: November 2004
• Developer: Tilted Mill
• Publisher: Myelin Media
• The Gods have appointed you as the Pharaoh of a civilization in Ancient Egypt.
• The 3D environment will allow you to up close and personal with the townspeople.
• Earn prestige & keep the family dynasty alive by making the people happy and building a pyramid.
• Make friends (trade) or enemies (combat) with neighboring villages and cities.
• Customize and create your own maps and scenarios with an editor.
• Build private and government homes for workers while providing their basic needs and wants.
• Make sure people have the common and luxury wares they need, as well as healthcare services.

Guide Review - "Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile" Review

I was thrilled to hear that the team who created "Pharaoh" and "Zeus" were together again at Titled Mill and working on a new city builder set in Egypt. "Pharaoh" had been a favorite of mine, but with the advancements in gaming technology, it was time to have another go at building cities in Egypt.

"Children of the Nile" did not disappoint me with shallow gameplay that was easily and quickly played in full. The tutorial itself took hours to play, and afterwards I felt like I knew what I was doing. The campaign play is no different, except you aren't led to your next move. The camera is controlled entirely by the mouse, and was very easy to learn.

"Children of the Nile" brings the focus of not buildings, but to the people. The 3D graphical engine allows you to get unbelievably close to their world. You can track people and follow them throughout their day. The focus of individual families is the start of one problem I had with the game: the lack of charts and data about the city as a whole. I could check on each family individually, but there was no quick and easy way to see what the problems were.

Building wares shops, farms, government buildings, and my favorite, the pyramids is an engaging process. You must build slowly, so not to disrupt the flow of food and products. This gives times for positions to be filled as they become available.

Graphical bugs and lack of info screens aside, "Children of the Nile" is a must have for serious city builders.