Theocracy (video game)

Did You Know?

• The player leads the Atlan tribe, a fictional tribe that escaped oppression under the Axocopans.
• The game includes 'Chronicles', objective-based missions about Aztec heroes that serve mainly as tutorials.
• Development began after Philos Laboratories hired employees who had worked on Perihelion: The Prophecy, and the Aztec theme was chosen by the graphic artists.

Gameplay

The game offers two modes: province view and realm view. In province view, the player manages a specific province and assigns tasks to persons, but time does not advance until the player switches to realm view. Realm view displays a hand-drawn map of Central America with province borders and color-coded faction control: blue for the player, red, yellow, green, purple, and cobalt for other tribes, paper-colored for random neutral tribes, and grey for Spanish-controlled provinces once they arrive. Each of the eight tribes has a unique AI personality; for example, the red Izhuacans are aggressive and warlike, often making the first hostile move, while the green Huaputecs are peaceful and never attack unless provoked. Tribes also differ in military composition: the yellow Yaxuna rely on sword units, spearmen, jaguars, and nature priests, whereas the cyan Teotitlans field large crossbow units called Wonderbows and soul priests. Players can build Aztec-style pyramids to harness magic from five spheres: Sun, Star, Moon, Nature, and Soul. Mana, used by priests to cast spells, is limited and recharged through sacrifices at pyramids. Sun priests focus on attack spells, Moon on defense, Nature on healing, Star on debuffs, and Soul priests are balanced. The time scale can be paused or adjusted; at the slowest rate a year passes in about ten minutes, at the fastest in about twenty seconds.

Province View

In province view, each region can be closely managed through construction, training, and allocation of slaves. The majority of a realm's population consists of slaves, basic worker units that can perform any task except fighting and transporting resources between realms. New slaves are born each year based on the province's health, food supply, and current population. Every province must produce enough food to feed its entire population; corn and meat are the two food types. Corn, produced from farms, is faster and more plentiful but less nutritious than meat, and is also needed to feed llamas. Meat, from ranches and fishing huts, takes longer but requires fewer slaves and feeds more people per unit, making it more economical; it is also required for tamed jaguars. Other resources include wood (used in construction and for Wonderbows), stone (for advanced buildings), and gold, jade, and jewels. Jewels, made from gold and/or jade in a workshop, serve as currency and for decorating advanced buildings; using both gold and jade together yields more jewels than using either alone. Mana functions differently: it is used for spells, accessible anywhere, and generated slowly from temples; sacrificing slaves produces mana faster but risks harming the economy. Each magic sphere has its own mana stockpile.

Buildings

Buildings in Theocracy fall into three categories. Resource-producing buildings must be staffed: ranches and fishing huts produce meat; small and large farms produce corn; quarries and mines yield stone, gold, and jade; lumberyards produce wood. Training buildings convert slave recruits into workers or warriors. Schools (small, medium, large) train workers who speed up resource production; small schools train only basic workers, medium schools most types, and large schools any type but only one at a time. Barracks (small, medium, large) produce warriors; small and medium barracks train one warrior type, with medium being faster, while large barracks can train any of three types but only one at a time and much faster. Storage buildings hold all resources except mana and jewels; in order of size and cost they are provision stores, small stores, medium stores, and large stores. To construct a building, slaves are sent to an unfinished structure; they build automatically using the realm's stored resources, and if resources are insufficient, construction pauses until more are delivered manually.

Reception

Theocracy received mixed reviews. Eurogamer praised its mix of real-time and turn-based strategy, noting that it operated on a larger canvas than purely real-time games. PC Zone lauded its originality, comparing it favorably to a refreshing drink. However, the game scored only 72 on MobyGames, with some critics calling it simple and archaic, while others found the interface cumbersome and the learning curve steep. Despite being mostly unknown outside Europe, it sold well, particularly on Linux where it became a best-seller. A Linux port reviewer described it as solid and professional, with satisfying button sounds. The port also drew complaints about installation problems, technical faults such as 16-bit color only and lack of proper full-screen mode, yet it maintained an average of four out of five stars at The Linux Game Tome. A German print magazine, LinuxUser, gave a mostly positive review.