If you're the kind of person that found yourself addicted to building farms in Farmville or a cafe in Cafeville, then you'll absolutely love Imperia Online. It's the same sort of real-time "building" strategy game where you assign events to happen and then come back later when it's finished.

Even better, if you're a fan of all things medieval, and you love multiplayer online games in a virtual medieval world, then this game is right up your alley.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't like the first-person MMO game like Atlantica Online that Matt reviewed. Instead, it's more like a combination of that game and FreeCiv - the Civilization clone that I've reviewed. Combining the two together, you'll discover a game where you not only battle others for land and power, but you get to build your own village using your peasants, and attack and take over other villages and regions using your knights and fighters.

Building an Empire at Imperia Online

Maybe you have inklings for power, and want to experience what it's like to rise up and rule the land. Just keep in mind that when you play Imperia, there are lots of other online players that have those same dreams of glory and valor.

When you first download and install Imperia Online, you can choose from one of two kinds of civilizations - the Imperians or the Nomads. As you can probably guess, the theme is clearly East vs. West, so choose wisely because this is the side that you're going to be on all the way to the end.

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When you first play the game, you'll have a guide appear that will walk you through the first basic steps to get started. This is actually what I like the most about this game, there's almost no learning curve. With other games of this genre - where you build a civilization or a colony - sometimes, it can be really, really hard to come up to speed on what all of the buttons, status lights and statistics mean. That's not at all the case with Imperia Online.

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The first thing you'll want to do immediately is build up your resources. You can build buildings by clicking on your town hall, which is located around the middle of your new village. When you do, you'll see all of the buildings that are available to build (if they are not grayed out). To get started, you build the lumber mill, iron mine, and stone quarry.

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All of those buildings will provide the foundation you need to start forming your village. Before you can build a garrison, town square, university and other buildings to enhance your community, you have to build the population up so that they can work for you and help grow the village. Here's what a fledgling village will look like. The mines are off the side in the hills, the houses are clustered to the North, and the town hall is at the center.

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All that green space is where you're going to grow. Whenever you choose a building to build, it shifts up into the construction area with a percentage completed and time remaining. If you are willing to pay for it, you can get "instant construction". Or, just schedule everything you want to build and then come back later when it's done. If you're familiar with other games like Farmville - then this is not new to you.

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After you build your raw-goods places like the lumber bill and stone quarry, don't forget to "hire" your population. They're there to work for you - don't let all of your peasants sit idle!

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Each time you reach a certain level, like a population limit or you've made it to a certain level in the game, you'll get "rewards". These are sometimes raw goods, money, or just an increased level of buildings - which means better productivity.

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Off to the left you'll see three icons where you can get the current stats and info about your progress. The Throne Hall will show you your total population, expenses, income and total resources all in one shot.

The scroll icon is where you'll find the overall "Rankings", which includes rankings of everyone online that's playing the game around the world. As you can see, you have some competition already in the game - it's time to get started and get your name known!

As your population grows, you'll see your peasants standing around in the village. Those are idle folks! Get them to work by clicking on one of the buildings where they can work, and move the slider to the right to increase the number of workers there.

If you click on the "imperial map" at the upper left corner of the screen, you'll be able to see your village and the land you rule over, along with all bordering lands. As you grow in power and strength, you'll need to be prepared to protect yourself from those threats, as well as overpower your neighbors by sheer force - or through espionage!

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Whatever path you take to expand your influence and power in the land, you can rest assured that with Imperia Online, you'll be able to start doing it immediately. The game is simple enough for younger kids to learn, but fun enough for adults to enjoy as well. Give Imperia Online a try and start building your own kingdom!

Try it out and let us know what you think. Did you catch on fast and do you like the game? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Fantasy Castle via Shutterstock