Elysium: Blood Games

Blood and Sand

It's passing as a 'game' and, therefore, passes the minimum requirements to be played on Steam, I guess?

We can call it a strategic war game played over text. Some imbalances caught my eye, but in terms of price performance, it is a production that can be considered an example of its kind. You will say that this is the production that will be an example of its kind? I will say yes because there are very few games in this concept. For this reason, there are not many alternatives. I had fun, I recommend it to everyone.

No coherent art style, looks like it was made with whatever the dev found on google images. Fighting, the main gameplay, consists of just reading what happens with little excitement, watching a number go down. Really needs some kind of tutorial because the game just starts and has lots of things unexplained unless you want to read pages of tutorials before your first fight. It should also be able to be fullscreened properly.

If there was an art pass and the pre battle menu was tidied up and streamlined it could be interesting but for now its quite painful to play.

I do not get this erm game?
Nor having tried it do i, A) Consider it a game or B) Want it.

I don't know if it wants to be a blend of Management Sim and a Visual Novel but that's how it felt to play.

I got a discount voucher for this game after crafting some cards.
I spent a whopping £0.27.
I over spent by way to much.

Exactly how much - £0.27, 122 MB Install & over an hour trying to understand or enjoy this erm thing

For my first battle I battled an opponent better than me and obviously i lost it being my first go with no tutorial i figured i would figure it out as i go, then i lost to every single opponent i faced too including ones with weaker stats.
Attack choices don't seem connected to the battle at all.
As stated no real tutorial just some blurb at the start, but nothing about how to level up/upgrade or hire new fighters etc.

A Management Sim meats a Virtual Novel Done badly on all fronts.
It looks crappy with shoddy music and no enjoyment factor.

Verdict.
-10/10

The game itself isn't to bad; it has some great ideas in it but it just felt bland. There also isn't a lot of instruction with a lot of confusing mechanics so a tutorial would have been nice. It really needed more umph to the fighting part of the game. But for the price it isn't to bad.

This is an interesting concept. In this game, you run a gladiator stable, and try to earn prestige (and money) as they fight up the ranks. While easy on the surface, it can be tricky to figure out exactly what type of attack to do against each opponent (and which attack in which round). Also, sometimes Lady Luck decides to visit you. Sometimes loving you... and sometimes loving you like Hubba in Cellblock C...

Still, it is fine for its price.

it's good but I didn't see improvement in the weapons or what I chose with the fighter during the arena fights. Probably will purchase again when dev puts in more content or has full screen for 1920 X 1080 screens and other things to make the game better. Don't recommend just yet plus it seems like a clone of Colisum from long ago with improvements and I only played that demo over and over

This is a game that fails its great concept. You are put in charge of a ludus and must develop your gladiators to become the greatest dominus in Rome. Fantastic concept. But the execution leaves much to be desired in virtually every arena (heh).

For starters, the RNG in this game is ridiculous. Your fighters will range from 4-8 feet with no weighting given any expected norms. The gladiator's weight is just as variable. Not that this affects the fighting, near as I can tell, but it is a prominent example of how insane the RNG can be.

The weapons are INSANELY expensive. You can afford one at the start and they are tied to whomever you give it to. Even if they die, they keep their weapon. So if your main guy dies, you are borked.

None of your development options really seem to help because the RNG is so wacky that you can send a very strong, well developed gladiator against a very weak foe and still hve your man on the slab at the end.

It's just not a satisfying game. Plenty of frustration but none of the stuff you have to go though to get a guy built up is rewarding.

Don't get me started on the character portraits. They are bad. Most of them have your guys looking like total putzes.

Thumb's down for me.

Ah, this game brings back memories of the PBM (play by mail/email) games I used to play back in the 90's and early 2000's. Good old arena combat! I could probably do with a bit more text detail of the fights, a homage to the rich text detail of the play by mail games, but it's still fun none-the-less. If you're looking for a graphical game, this isn't it, though the artwork used in the game isn't bad.

The creator of the game keeps updating it regularly which let's me know he is still striving to upgrade the game and make it even better even though it's already a finished product.

It is addictive, you always want to see how well your main gladiator will do against the next opponent, and maybe cringe if you're fighting one of the best... though you could always try to bribe them to lose if the option is available for that particular opponent. Even bribed opponents may still win, then you'll be out both gold and a win, double whammy.

Opponents (and your own) can be injured, even killed. And carry reputations per se, though I'm unsure how that aspect of the game works, your gladiators can become embroiled in scandals, but have a skill which can reduce (or eliminate?) these chances. Maybe your main gladiator is 8 and 0, with an easy opponent coming up, then blam, suspended for misconduct for 6 matches.

*Edit - Forgot to mention there is also questing, to try and improve stats and gain gold. And also training for improving stats. So basically you have three gladiators at any given time. One is your main gladiator fighting in the games, a second one will be training, usually your alternate for gladiator combat, and one will be adventuring on a quest. And through it all, you have to manage your stamina (and injuries, and the rare death).

Overall, this game fills that void for gladiatorial combat. I love it, and didn't hesitate to buy it after checking it out. And it's a steal at only $5 I believe?

~Lawler

i find this game fun and something you can put some hours into and progess and feel rewarded for it, i think some of the negative reviews come from not putting enough time into the game to discover all its features and the keys to making your gladiator a top fighter as at first it is hard and you will lose alot of matches but dont be put off or give up, it would be pointless to make a perfect winner at the start and nothing to aim for in the game so you need to earn some money by betting on matches to get your gladiator a weapon then you will begin to progress and win some matches and then for me the most fun starts in training hopefully a top fighter!
this game is a gladiator management game thats text based so you wont see violent gory visual matches but there is detailed text of your gladiators attacks and damage to your opponent,it can get a bit dull after a season of reading all the attck/defence text i admit but it also displays the amount of damage you do or take so you can always just read that bit of it.
a minor negative of the game would be the limited pictures of the fighters, they are just 3d headshots that are reused alot so i would have liked to see full views of the fighters instead but this doesnt affect gameplay in any way.
the game is at a very affordable price so i would say its good value for what you get in return.
to sum it all up this works and feels different to another gladiator management i love age of gladiators and while i dont find it addictive as that game it is something to keep you busy and entertained for a good number of hours so worth its price

The shallow gameplay sometimes seems utterly random with incomplete descriptions of many elements.
Looks like an amateur game with design inconsistencies all over the place. It just hurts.

Really disappointing even at this price point.

Huge thumbs down
I play F2P Facebook games with more substance then this game

was on sale cheap so figured why not but the game is almost non existant

Gladiators have like 6 attacks and all are ultra generic

Its just not what you would expect for a game like this after all the Gladiator shows and movies of late showing the politics and depth of running a Lutis

I paid $2.48 for game and honestly,
I think I over paid for what actually comes with game

It just needs so much more content added
Good idea
Bad follow through

Very unintuitive, alot of reading that is kind of hard to read. It had a good premise but didn't follow through. The combat... what combat? If it were brushed up it could be much better.

+ It's an easy-to-get-into sport simulation, which involves a little strategy (defensive for me).
+ Almost every page of the menu got its little "i" somewhere on it, so you can get further information.
+ Little side-goals, which bring quite some boost (beeing gold, influence, league points or even stats!).
+/- There is randomness in this game -- you can beat gladiators with much better stats than yours, but on the other hand you - ofc - can loose against weaker ones.
Also, your fighter can just drop dead if you're abusing brews too often.
+/- Since it's easy-to-get-into it lacks the depths of MoO3, CK2 or EU4... but it wouldn't be casual then either ;)
- After 12 seasons and the same amount of successful championships, I start to run out on goals (having achieved the biggest possible arena. almost 340k gold and a reserve of over 120 influence-pts, there's not much to go for).
Once I get 1 or 2 of my fighters to (near) stat-cap, I will be w/o goals and can only hope something new will be added by then. Some kind of online-highscore after 10 seasons or such would be nice.

++ Developers are quick to respond to questions and react to improvement-suggestions - so I can still hope some add-ons are to come to give me new goals.

Last, but not least, I've gotta say that this game SCREAMS for a multiplayer option (w/o saving then naturally) - wouldn't it be fun to battle other players?!?
So, overall, I paid much more for much less time of fun and can fully recommend this lil gem of a game!

If you like management sims, Roman style genres/history & aren't fussed about graphics, there's lots to like about this game.

Quite a straightforward concept: You have 3 fighters, choose your best one, stick him in the ring & hopefully watch him win. Train the other two, or send them on quests for random rewards (either gold or improvement to their stats, or both), wait for your best fighter to get knackered or injured (or killed, if unlucky), then choose your next best one to fight for you.

At the end of the season, if you've won enough fights, you go into a playoff to hopefully win the tournament, then do it all over again next year, by which time your youngsters will have ranked up due to experience, or your veterans may have declined.

Certain power ups help you out - weapons, upgrades, individual fighter traits, bribes or potions.

Decision-making matters to some degree, but you don't necessarily have to go through painstaking thought-processes about every tiny detail.

Pro's:-

-Satisfying to watch your 18 year old prodige become a real man
-Very good value for money
-unpredictable (though some might say this is a con)
-enough decisions to make to keep it interesting for a while, but perhaps not enough for a full 20 season campaign (although the developer has suggested that other stuff might get added to keep it interesting for longer)

Cons:-

-Results can feel a bit random: Even when an opponent is bribed, injured, worse than your man, even when your man is pumped on steriods (well, potions), you will often still get beaten
-A bit buggy: Have had saves just crash straight after loading (although the developer has fixed one within half an hour of me raising the issue)
-No graphics, but I have a dinosaur PC, so this is a good thing for me because I can actually run it
-As mentioned in pro's, not sure I could complete en entire 20 season stint, unless more is added

Would definitely recommend.

Inexpensive text gaming with some twists.
Derek has created a slightly different version of his "Imperium: Arena of Death" to share over Steam.

Text gaming, might not be for everyone, but his games are much more interactive than "visual novels" that you find here at higher prices.
Is it worth the price to check it out?
As its fresh from the programming press, the game portrays your personna as a Gladiator manager with 3 new recruits to start your roster.
The combat is random, but influencing it is your pre-game descisions as well as your round by round tactical advice.
Though the RNG is in play, managing your set of workers gives you a number of options besides fighting.
You can bet on the other matches, use your gained influence to beef up the crowds, buy elixirs, send other workers on quests or exerscise regimes to hopefully boost up stats.

The battles play out in broadcasted play-by-play events.

Though it may seem rinse-repeat activity and occasional bugs, Derek is continously working on this, adding updates and content.
He seems to be willing to listen to his purchasers and try things out.
There is a bit of cosmetic moddability capable with this game (which I hope he will open up more into the text banter itself).
Derek has some clever ideas, give him a brilliant artist and storywriter and who knows where he could rocket into.
I recommend this to support Derek's efforts, a stepping stone to greater things.
Elysium isn't a game to consume Skyrim sized hours into it, nor the depth.
It's a small priced gladiator management game in a fantasy world, something to kick the imagination in gear beween the ears.
The interface takes a few tries to get used to before catching the flow of the game, there is a bit of improvement needed on visual clairity (there are popups to help)

If running your own gladiator school appeals to you and you don't mind an old school interface, this is a fun and great value management game. It's set in a fantasy world with only cosmetic similarities to Rome (e.g. gladiator schools are still called Ludas) - but for me at least that's a good thing, as I find Ancient Roman culture rather un likeable.

There's several different options for improving your fighters, making sure they win, and maximising revenue and attendance. The actual fights can be quite tense, with good, concise written descrptions of the action.

Audio is a week point, but not an issue if you youtube some epic music while you're playing. For a casual game, there is a slight learning curve at the start- no tutorial, so you have to explore the tool tips and info screens to work out what to do. But this only take 20 mins and then game play is nice and simple, with enough moments of tension to keep it interesting.

For $5, its a fun casual game that I have no regret buying.

Having people give feedback on "your vision" just because it doesnt meet their expectation has to be hard (annoying even). The promptness of the responses has been very positive, and I can only imagine the game getting better as more people play and give their feedback and ideas.

I can happily recommend this game to anyone who likes a management game.

Okay, so there are things that need tweaking but now that I have played a little more and actually talked to the developer, this gets a positive review. It is hard these days to even get feedback from a developer but this one goes out of his way to make sure people are happy and heard. I have faith the game will be balanced and tweaked to satisfaction in the future.

This game actually gets kind of addicting after a while, give it a few seasons, they don't take very long.

My old review (which still holds relevance): At first this was a very novel idea and something I would be highly interested in. I love management games. I am finding that having an extremely good fighter who is much better than your oppoenet matters very little more often that it probably should. I am also finding that you do not have very much influence over the development of your fighters, it is pretty much random. This game feels a lot like you have very little control over what is happening at all. It is a great concept, it just needs more ability to actually control the development of your fighters.

Another day, another indie game biting the dust.

3/10

+Interesting stat system and short or long game modes with a small game package allows for quick rounds
+Stat progression and arena progression always plusses in management games
+Who doesn't enjoy gambling and winning?

-Archaic, invisible, and head-scratching paper-rock-scissors outcomes devoid of correlation to stats or attack decisions.
-Potentially interesting but ultimately useless bye-week activities for your non-active roster
-Smallest scale imaginable for a management game

Long-story short: Unless they release a lot of extra content, I wouldn't recommend this game.

Long-story:
The main issue I have with this game is that you start off with 3 warriors (no indication that your team ever grows after completing a season and reaching the finals) and try to raise them into legitimate warriors. These guys have a robust stat system of Strength, Agility, Speed (? redundant?), Intellect, and Durability, with stats ranging to 100 and age is a factor. But herein lies the problem.

None of these stats seem to matter. There is almost no correlation of stats and attack choices to damage done or received.

And with stats out of 100 (maybe more? but not naturally), and seasons at 20 days max, training and ambiguous 'soul quests' were largely tacked-on things to do with your inactive roster (of 2 gladiators that are generally needing to rest by the end of the season anyway).

Graphics and audio, good god.... I felt like I was playing Baldur's Gate using only Open Source elements. If you play this, listen for the sound of someone biting an apple when a hit connects. (This sounds like a joke, it's not.)

This game had a lot of promise, potentially being a unique take on games like Football Manager or Franchise mode of popular sports game but fell tragically short. In case a dev sees this, I would totally revisit with the following additional elements:
Meaningful stat increases, both for gladiators and the arena. Money and attendance are the only benefits I could tell of upgrading, but attendance only increases money, and money can easily be generated by making decent conservative bets season-round. Favor, gained from victory, only increases money and attendance. Training costs money, but even maximum training only cost me something like 250g per gladiator and a victory generally nets me 3x that. (3 of course being how many gladiators you can have anyway).

Meaningful arena upgrades. I love the idea of unique upgrades a la lemonade stand or even dinopark tycoon. Let me upgrade the chariot parking lot, or invest in armored lions (btw, these dicks showed up randomly in a fight and did 30% damage to my warrior who was already being curb-stomped by the enemy despite a 2:1 stat ratio in my favor), how about some leg of lamb seasonings for more attendees?

Stat increases should be significant. Gaining 1 or 2 stats per day while training at all is useless in a 20 day season, especially given how they seem to be awarded every other day in random areas? (Plus...:

Stats don't seem to do a thing. Strength seems to be a roll of the dice where the dice don't change despite significant stat differences. I understand needing to keep a game of fighting management semi-random, but the unknown only seemed to leave me scratching my head. Even using attacks that play to my strengths seemed to let my opponent urinate on my gladiator for 20 damage.

Larger roster. Without a larger roster, why even bother training? I can likely hire a new gladiator with my uesless heaps of gold that is better than my current roster rather than spending half their life training at a snail's pace.
Equipment. Equipment would be an excellent gold sink, requiring upkeep, training, and a staff...

I WANT A STAFF! How about providing a staff of people? The game even compares itself to baseball, why do I not have a "coaching staff" of a blacksmith, nurses, marketing, and construction? You could do some amazing things with these. Upgrade your forge, your hospital, your construction and equipment, and upgrades and research take weeks out of the season. You could pay for better smelting techniques and better staff in general, but you have to upgrade your arena to have room for them.

Favor could be used to petition the gods for better victory, healing, or research.

Lastly, bribes are so useless. I bribed so many matches and lost almost all of them despite a bribe making victory "much more likely." What a crock.

This game leaves way too much to be desired. An extremely interesting premise but what is ultimately less interesting than the colisseums of Caesar 3. Spend some more time at the drawing board and release some free content that adds some actual management rather than pure RNG, especially if you're going to boast stats and upgrades.