Dominions – Priests, Prophets & Pretenders

Ancient gods wage war through mortal kingdoms in a demanding turn-based fantasy strategy game where conquest alone never guarantees victory. You create a Pretender deity, choose its physical form and magical leanings, then lead one of fourteen distinct nations in a struggle to establish divine rule. Armies, sacred troops, mages, prophets, and monsters all serve a wider religious war, as your dominion spreads across the map and clashes with rival gods’ influence. The mood is more tabletop wargame than cinematic fantasy: dense, unforgiving, and packed with strange interactions that reward patience.

Each turn revolves around recruiting commanders, raising troops, researching spells, forging equipment, claiming provinces, and issuing orders before battles resolve automatically. Generals lead conventional forces while mages support them with an enormous selection of battlefield magic, from elemental attacks to rituals that reshape the strategic situation. Priests preach to expand your god’s sacred presence, which improves friendly territory and can weaken or corrupt enemies caught beneath another Pretender’s dominion. Fortresses protect vital provinces, require sieges before assault, and improve recruitment, while a shared mercenary market creates tense bidding wars between every player. Single-player campaigns sit alongside hotseat, play-by-email, and TCP/IP multiplayer for up to fourteen contenders.

Its greatest strength is the sheer number of viable plans hidden inside its old-school presentation. More than 600 units, hundreds of spells and items, customizable gods, random heroes, and scenario or monster creation give every nation a wildly different route to power. Automatic combat means success comes from preparation rather than twitch skill, but watching an apparently perfect army collapse under the wrong magical counter can be brutal. Fans of complex 4X strategy, tabletop army-building, and later Dominions entries will appreciate the foundation on display, while newcomers are better served by Dominions 6 before returning here for historical curiosity.