Imperator: Rome
Skip · Strategy · 2019
Steam Deck PlayableThe verdict
SKIP IT.
It scores 17, under the fair line, at $39.99.
- Cost per hour▼
- $2.44/hr
- Reviews▼
- 65% of 26,946
- Critics
- 76 players 11 lower
- Genre rank
- Top 77% Strategy
Holding it back: Reviews, DRM
Why
Recent reviews trending down: 51% over the last 30 days against 65% all-time.
Watch this gameOne alert at a price you pick.
Time and effort
- Main story
- 16.4h
- To 100%
- 664.5h 40.5x the story
- Finish
- <1% reach the ending
- Achievements
- 72
Price and sales
- Sales
- 54 on record
- Typical cut
- 75% off
- Steam low
- $7.59 April 2025
- Sale every
- 42d last October 2026
Players and genre
- Online
- 160 now
- Recent reviews
- 51% 30 days
- Cheaper than
- 1% of its genre
- Better reviewed
- 15% of its genre
Price and player charts
The drop-off
19% start to <1% finishSteam counts fewer than one in ten of its players at the ending achievement. Steam global achievements
The value story
The value story
54 discounts in the 8 years on record, a median of 75 percent off across all of them, roughly 6 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended 9 days ago.
It is pricier than 99 percent of its genre, and less well reviewed than 85 percent. Victoria 3 ($49.99, scores 27) outscores it, and so does Victoria II ($19.99, scores 84). Both sit among its closest neighbours.
More about Imperator: Rome
Critics scored it 76, but players land 11 points lower at 65 percent. The reviews were kinder than the room.
Steam's global achievement data puts under 1 percent of players at this game's ending achievement. On a 16.4-hour game, the hours short of it still count in its price per hour. Players rate it 65 percent positive over its lifetime, but the last 30 days run 51 percent. Something recent has soured the room. This site sampled 800 of its Steam-purchase reviews; 13 were written by buyers who refunded it, sampled from reviews written November 2022 to October 2026. Inside the two-hour refund window, 35 percent of the 1,914 reviews written there were positive, against 65 percent overall, and those are 10 percent of everything written about it.
16.4 hours to finish it, 665 to exhaust it. The completionist tail is 41 times the campaign.
Buy now or wait
Buy now or wait
Discounted in each of its last 8 seasonal sales. Last discount ended 9 days ago.
- Next sale
- Winter Sale, Dec 17 to Jan 4
Sources: IsThereAnyDeal, Valve.
What drives the score
Grades: S best, D weakest
S is the best grade and D the weakest, judged as a buyer. ▲ raises the score, ▼ lowers it, ? is an input we do not have, • is a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
What players say
its a solid grand strategy experience from paradox. it isnt perfect but what game is. it is absolutely better than the reception its received in my opinion a hidden gem thats worth the price of admission i would recommend to everybody that enjoys grand strategy and ancient rome
2 more reviews, 1 not recommended
worthwhile if you either want to: play as rome before op, play abandonware, or do a megacampaign (i wouldnt if i were you, save yourself the torture)
This could be a great game. There is a whole ancient world to be reshaped, and paradox decided to not give a shot because they think "this isn't what customers want". The customers didn't want hearts of iron, or crusader kings, or victoria, or stellaris either... Pdx created the supply first, and the demand followed. This could have been the new pdx flagship game. But if pdx isn't going to bleed the customer dry...
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
About the game
Dominate the classical Mediterranean in Imperator: Rome, a grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive. Navigate the dangerous waters of politics and diplomacy as you build up your provinces and conquer foreign lands. Now available with special content and the digital artbook.
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: 4 GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 6970. Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Cite this score
Imperator: Rome scores 17/100 on the BANG Score (a skip) as of Nov 8, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/859580/imperator-romeReviews set the ceiling, and price against real length moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Nov 7, price as of Nov 7. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.