Nova Roma is a new city-builder from the makers of Kingdoms and Castles

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but maybe your version can be?

Lion Shield, developer of medieval city-building game Kingdoms and Castles, and publisher Hooded Horse have announced Nova Roma at the PC Gaming Show 2023. It’s described as a spiritual successor to the studio’s previous title and – as you can gleam from the title – will be themed around Ancient Rome.

You’re given control of a small village and must expand it into a sprawling metropolis by any means necessary – manipulate the terrain and even the flow of rivers to build the city of your dreams. Naturally, this won’t be possible without some hard logistical work and you’ll need to manage ever-expanding supply chains to keep the growing demands of your population satisfied.

Expanding on the foundations of Kingdoms and Castles, Nova Roma introduces new mechanics that challenge players and offers bigger maps than before. Heavy rainfalls and floods can be as big a danger to your settlement as barbarian raids and need to be dealt with, and while medieval peasants may be quite content with their lot in life, the Romans need bread and games to be kept happy.

There are also the gods to consider, for they’ll watch your every move and will need to be appeased – you don’t want to see them upset.

Watch Nova Roma's in-engine announcement trailer below:

“We’re pleased to work with Hooded Horse on Nova Roma,“ said Pete Angstadt, creative director and co-founder at Lion Shield in a press release. “We're building on everything we learned making Kingdoms and Castles and hope to create the best ancient roman-era city builder we can, set in a world informed by both history and mythology."

With cult classics like the Caesar series being counted in the category, Nova Roma certainly has big sandals to fill.

Nova Roma is coming to PC in 2024 as an early access release on Steam.

Make sure to visit videogames.si.com for more coverage of all PC Gaming Show 2023 announcements and reveals.