Underplayed Gems

Tyrants: Fight Through Time (1991)

Tyrants: Fight Through Time cover
Developer
Sensible Software
Publisher
Image Works, Imagineer, Virgin Games, CSK Research Institute, Tec Toy
Platforms
PC-9800 Series, Sharp X68000, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari ST/STE, DOS, FM Towns, Amiga
Genres
Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Rating
4.0 of 5, 17 player ratings

How it feels

A time-spanning RTS where you conquer territories across history with careful resource and troop management.

strategichistorical4xturn-based feelconquestslow-burnwar

About

First you choose one out of four different characters to represent you, Scarlet (red army), Oberon (yellow army), Caesar (green army), or Madcap (blue army). The game is split into 10 levels - the first 9 are groups of 3 territories which can be completed in any order, while the final 'Mother of All Battles' has its own surprises. Land is mostly of sand, grass or ice. You start with 100 men and you can use whatever quantity you find necessary on each island. The rest men left will go to another level with another new 100. In the second half of the game you can freeze men to save them for the Mother of All Battles. Once you select your island and place for your HQ, you must do some research for better weapons and defences. On the roof of your buildings you can put protectors like archers, gunmen, boiling oil men, and later on even laser turrets. If you send a team of unarmed men into an unoccupied square, they will build an additional base there, with larger armies completing this more quickly. Later on higher levels, you'll also build mines and factories, as you'll need to dig a certain material for higher level weapons, depending on whether the area you're on is rich with a certain material or not. With each next level, you'll start from a higher technology level and be able to progress to one higher level up than at the previous level

Trailer

Screenshots

Tyrants: Fight Through Time screenshot 1Tyrants: Fight Through Time screenshot 2Tyrants: Fight Through Time screenshot 3Tyrants: Fight Through Time screenshot 4Tyrants: Fight Through Time screenshot 5Tyrants: Fight Through Time screenshot 6

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