Fall of Rome (play-by-mail game)

Fall of Rome is a play-by-mail strategy wargame that was published by Enlightened Age Entertainment. Set in the period after Roman times, it involved covert action and combat. The game won the Origins Award for Best Play-By-Mail Game of 2004.

Development
Fall of Rome is a closed-ended, computer-moderated turn-based game with a web interface Rick McDowell, previous publisher of Alamaze, designed the game. After assembling a design team, McDowell led the game's development effort to address the lack of "multi-player, turn-based strategy games". Playtesting was completed in 2004. The game launched in the same year.

The publisher researched aspects of gameplay from various sources, including The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, History of the Later Roman Empire, The Goths by Peter Heather, The Barbarian Invasions by Hans Delbrück, and other sources.

Gameplay
The game setting is after the fall of the Roman Empire in the years 410 to 480 CE. Twelve players lead kingdoms during gameplay that involves covert action and combat. Gamers had use of colorful online hex maps of varying scales.

The graphical user interface was user friendly. Players had an opportunity to input orders and the game system calculated results every three days. Games lasted 24 turns. This equated to about two months. Players selected victory conditions related to conquest, development, and other factors.

Economics was a key element of gameplay. Players could advance economically through conquest or position improvement (development). Players could conduct diplomacy by email or by a message board within the game.

Reception
Rick Ghan reviewed the game in the October–November 2004 issue of Flagship magazine. He praised it for its excitement and detail, stating that "Fall of Rome is a thrilling and complex strategy game sure to challenge the most avid gamer." Bob McLain, founding editor of Gaming Universal, reviewed the game in a 2005 issue of Flagship, saying it was one of the rare PBM games that he would play more than once.

Fall of Rome won the Origins Award for Best Play-By-Mail Game of 2004.