Empire

Empire: Wargame of the Century is one of the most influential early computer strategy games and is often considered a precursor to the modern 4X (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) strategy genre. Originally designed by Walter Bright in 1977 for the PDP-10 mainframe, it was later adapted for home computers including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga, Macintosh, and MS-DOS. Description Starting with a single city on a vast, unexplored world map, your objective is to build a civilization through exploration, conquest, and production. As you discover neutral cities, you capture them and increase your industrial capacity. Every city can be instructed to manufacture different military units, forcing the player to balance expansion, defense, and logistics. Available units typically include: Infantry armies Fighters Bombers Transports Destroyers Cruisers Battleships Aircraft carriers Submarines Each unit has unique movement, combat, and transportation abilities, making combined-arms strategy essential. Gameplay Empire is played in turns on a large grid-based world map. Players must: Explore unknown territory. Capture neutral cities. Build military forces. Protect supply lines. Invade enemy territory by land, sea, and air. Eliminate all opposing empires. The "fog of war" means much of the map is hidden until explored, creating a strong sense of discovery. Naval warfare is especially important because continents are separated by oceans, requiring transports and carrier task forces for overseas invasions. Why it was revolutionary Empire introduced many concepts that later became standard in strategy games: Randomly generated worlds Fog of war City production management Technology through unit progression Strategic logistics Combined land, sea, and air warfare AI opponents Long-form empire building Many historians consider it one of the earliest true computer empire-building games, predating games such as Civilization by more than a decade. Legacy Empire became a cult classic among university computer users during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Numerous versions were produced, including: Original 1977 PDP-10 version 1987 Empire: Wargame of the Century 1993 Empire Deluxe Modern Windows and internet editions Its design has influenced countless turn-based strategy games and remains a favorite among retro strategy enthusiasts. If you're building a Tronsoft Games version inspired by Empire, the core gameplay loop would be: Explore an unknown world. Capture cities. Increase production. Build armies, navies, and air forces. Expand across continents. Defeat rival empires through superior strategy and logistics. This simple but deep formula is a major reason Empire is still regarded as one of the foundational strategy games in computer gaming history.

Strategy HTML5

Open Game

Overview

Empire: Wargame of the Century is one of the most influential early computer strategy games and is often considered a precursor to the modern 4X (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) strategy genre. Originally designed by Walter Bright in 1977 for the PDP-10 mainframe, it was later adapted for home computers including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga, Macintosh, and MS-DOS.

Description

Starting with a single city on a vast, unexplored world map, your objective is to build a civilization through exploration, conquest, and production. As you discover neutral cities, you capture them and increase your industrial capacity. Every city can be instructed to manufacture different military units, forcing the player to balance expansion, defense, and logistics.

Available units typically include:

Infantry armies
Fighters
Bombers
Transports
Destroyers
Cruisers
Battleships
Aircraft carriers
Submarines

Each unit has unique movement, combat, and transportation abilities, making combined-arms strategy essential.

Gameplay

Empire is played in turns on a large grid-based world map.

Players must:

Explore unknown territory.
Capture neutral cities.
Build military forces.
Protect supply lines.
Invade enemy territory by land, sea, and air.
Eliminate all opposing empires.

The "fog of war" means much of the map is hidden until explored, creating a strong sense of discovery. Naval warfare is especially important because continents are separated by oceans, requiring transports and carrier task forces for overseas invasions.

Why it was revolutionary

Empire introduced many concepts that later became standard in strategy games:

Randomly generated worlds
Fog of war
City production management
Technology through unit progression
Strategic logistics
Combined land, sea, and air warfare
AI opponents
Long-form empire building

Many historians consider it one of the earliest true computer empire-building games, predating games such as Civilization by more than a decade.

Legacy

Empire became a cult classic among university computer users during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Numerous versions were produced, including:

Original 1977 PDP-10 version
1987 Empire: Wargame of the Century
1993 Empire Deluxe
Modern Windows and internet editions

Its design has influenced countless turn-based strategy games and remains a favorite among retro strategy enthusiasts.

If you're building a Tronsoft Games version inspired by Empire, the core gameplay loop would be:

Explore an unknown world.
Capture cities.
Increase production.
Build armies, navies, and air forces.
Expand across continents.
Defeat rival empires through superior strategy and logistics.

This simple but deep formula is a major reason Empire is still regarded as one of the foundational strategy games in computer gaming history.

History

Age of Empires is a 1997 real-time strategy video game based on the ancient world, developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft, and the first game in the Age of Empires series. The game uses the Genie Engine, a 2D sprite-based game engine. The game allows the user to act as the leader of an ancient civilization by advancing it through four ages, gaining access to new and improved units with each advance.

Release History

Platform: HTML5
Developer: Tronsoft Games
Installed version: 1.0.0

References

Age of Empires (video game) — Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires_(video_game)
Retrieved July 15, 2026

the holyn roman empire — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/holynromanempire0000unse
Retrieved July 15, 2026

Lopez v. Empire Scaffold, LLC — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.txed.165397
Retrieved July 15, 2026

Starr Indemnity & Liability Company v. Empire Truck Lines, Inc. — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.txsd.1347125
Retrieved July 15, 2026

Hollister Construction Services, LLC v. Empire Excavating, LLC — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.njb.1068809
Retrieved July 15, 2026

Empire State Carpenters Welfare, Pension, Annuity, Apprenticeship, Charitable Trust, Labor Management Cooperation and Scholarship Funds v. Howey Flooring Systems, LLC — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.nyed.298864
Retrieved July 15, 2026

DIAZ v. EMPIRE CITY CASINO, INC. — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.nysd.461944
Retrieved July 15, 2026

NEW JERSEY BUILDING LABORERS STATEWIDE BENEFIR FUNDS AND THE TRUSTEES THEREOF v. EMPIRE CONCRETE CORP. — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.njd.226568
Retrieved July 15, 2026

GLOBAL EMPIRE CORPORATION v. FLOWER TECH CENTER, INC. — Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.njd.375626
Retrieved July 15, 2026

Timeline

1947-01-01T00:00:00Z — Fifth British Empire Forestry Conference

1949-01-01T00:00:00Z — From Empire to Commonwealth: principles of British imperial government

1934-01-01T00:00:00Z — The Rise of The Spanish Empire in the old world and in the new

1937-01-01T00:00:00Z — Lost Empire: the life and adventures of Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov

1966-01-01T00:00:00Z — The struggle for the ottoman empire

1972-01-01T00:00:00Z — THE ENGLISH AND EMPIRE DIGEST

1966-01-01T00:00:00Z — Exploration And Empire: The Explorer And The Scientist In The Winning Of The American West

1967-01-01T00:00:00Z — the holyn roman empire

Preservation

Status: Unreviewed