Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2014
Alea Jacta Est
Developer Ageod
“ALEA JACTA EST” (The Die is Cast) is what Caesar said as he crossed the Rubicon River when he learned that the Senate had removed him from his command. Crossing that small Italian river was equivalent to disobeying Rome’s orders and entering into open rebellion in this historical turn-based strategy wargame . From the Steam store page
86 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Jan 1, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
69
Fresh
58 positive · 26 negative
95% range 59–78%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 58 | 26 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
2 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
99 of 137 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 86 · most liked firstTotal War: Rome II is fine for the plebeian masses, but for the true Romanophile there is Alea Jacta Est. Not only does it include some of the more popular conflicts such as Caesar's civil war and the slave revolt of Spartacus (DLC), but also has some of lesser known internal struggles like Marius vs. Sulla, and the year of the four emperors (my personal fav). For those who have never played an AGEOD game before the learning curve may be a little steep, though not nearly as bad as some of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You love Grand Strategy Games? You love historical Settings? You are willing to read a manual? You love a challenge? You are not afraid of your wife? You know how to handle the "Just one more turn" syndrom? Graphics and visual presentation is not more important for you than gameplay? If you can answer all these question with "Yes, Sir, Yes!", you should really consider to buy one of the AGEOD Grand Strategy Games. (The one with the historical setting you are interested in!) To be honest, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ENG: Alea Jacta Est(AJE) was my first AGEod game, and which brought me to the world of AGEod strategy games. Don't check my Steam play time - game just release at Steam Store, while was selling at Matrix Games Store since 2012. As I have said multiple times: It's incredible - how AGEod engine can simulate Ancient Roman Wars, American Revolution, American Civil War and finally Great War, despite such a large spread in time frame, each game is unique, - I have never had a feeling that I'm…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alea Jacta Est as an idea for a game is a good one In execution it needs a lot of work The game suffers from slow run time and an annoying habit of crashing and at times the game simply doesn't register my commands and i have to click multiple times before it gets the message (although this cold just be the slow runtime) The gameplay could be interesting if I knew what was going on as the tutorial does a very poor job of explaining how battles work and tells you nothing at all about the units…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sooner or later, when playing Rome Total War, you start getting this uncomfortable feeling that what you're doing on the strategic map is just a stage prop for pixel soldiers to run around in pretty period costumes. Alea Jacta Est, though very nice to look at, is not about eye candy. Instead, it gives you a very detailed strategic and operational view of what the opposing sides were dealing with. When battles or skirmishes take place they are resolved abstractly, though the abstraction gives…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am a fan of historical wargames and obtuse strategic simulations, so I picked this up on sale. Generally speaking it has all of the necessary components for a historical wargame. The battles themselves are quite hands off, the game focuses on the logistics leading up to a battle and then the calculations are made. It seems reasonably well researched, though it's more of a spreadsheet than an immersive experience as a Roman general/politician/powerbroker. However, what leads me to caution…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In case its not obvious - I have played this game for a long time before its Steam release. This is a brilliant strategic wargame available at a ridiculously low price. I have lost many a glorious hour in the maps and stat screens and menus of this game, now its finally on Steam. If the strategic aspects of Roman warfare, such as logistics, army movement, stances and numbers appeal to you; if you were disappointed by the lack of strategic depth and authenticity in Total War Rome 2 or the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My 1st ever Ageod game. I remeber buying the DVD version of it (those were the days!) playing thru the tutorial, a big WTF and then I didnt touch it for 3 years. Then I got somehow back into it, checked the amazing Ageod forums and became a lifelong addict to anything Ageod ever released. This is the best company for lovers of history ever. You will feel the pressure that generals back then felt. Dont be discourged by the apparently steep learning curve, check the forums (the BEST gaming…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Edit: Pass this game by, the 30 day turns ruin the game and the only purpose they serve is to artificially help the AI. There needs to be a mod or DLC that changes the turn length to a week or so might make this game believable. Old review - Boring and generally a bad design, but it gets points for trying. There are so few real (non-RTS) based strategy games, you could give this one a try. The game is complex and deep, but, by far, the biggest challenge is overcoming the game design. DO NOT…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The engine is slow...never quite sure if the game has froze or still loading. the turns are slow and laggy. The game play its self is poor. Unless you like a laggy game that constantly over rides your orders and does what it wants anyway then hands you your ass the moment you start to turn things around this game isn't for you. I have invested enough hours to assess this game as a boat anchor.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a true gem in multiplayer, but the AI is not worth a dime. I would say, it is the best game of the Roman period on a strategic and operational scale. The standalone titles are pretty nice, especially BoR and PAR. Supply routes and weather conditions are substantial part of the the game, the command chain is well done and leader abilities can change the course of war. Where light is , there is shadow. The worst on this game is the unstable engine, especially, if you run other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In 2024 why would you get this 12+ years old Roman strategy wargame? Overall I strongly recommend Alea Jacta Est along with all its DLCs which form an auto-sufficient ecosytem. 1. PROS - Focused on warfare (80%) and a little on economic and political decision (20%) - Historical accuracy - 2D Beautiful and colourful map of the Mediterranean and the Middle East - Superb unit counters - In-depht - Limited number of units to manage - Weather and logistics play a major role - Low level of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sorry guys, I wanted to like this game. If I ever learn it, I may even still. However, the game is not for me. Overly complicated management systems are fine when they are less obfuscated. The tutorial teaches you the very basics, and then you are thrown into a set up limited turn scenario where you cannot waste turns figuring things out. I cannot figure out how the economy works. Some of that may just be that I am currently playing multiple games and don't want to spend the hours trying…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I recommend this game if you get it cheap in a bundle, or you're a wargame fanatic. Otherwise, beware. The good Extremely detailed Historically accurate, probably to a fault Has everything grognards want in a wargame Clean visuals for the type of game it is The bad Probably bore a Total War fan to tears Turns can take forever to resolve Some of the translations are iffy Resource management can be a full-time job
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a fan of Ageod games, having played most of their previous releases. The learning curve for new players might be a little steep, but if you give this (and other Ageod titles) a few hours to learn how to play you will not be dissapointed - so long as you are into turn based strategy gaming ;)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alea Jacta Est is an absolutely wonderful game. Focusing on any Roman time period of signficant importance from the times of the dictator "Sulla" to Julius Caesars glorious rise to power, and even the war of control by his heir Octavian. I won't lie, like many AGEODS titles this game requires patience to learn, but the tooltips soon become your friends and you are playing without a doubt the most detailed game focusing on the period. Nothing is left out, even Senators of the time can often be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I spent very little time with this game. But as a gamer who has spent a ridiculous amount of time with games like Europa Universallis, Victoria 2, and many others like it. I was dissapointed at the steepness of the learning curve and the complexity and difficulty of performing simple tasks. The incredible shoehorning of forcing the player into roughly 5 or 6 scenarios with set turn limits was extremely limiting and dissapointing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First and probably last review for a long time. I only comment on this title as I think I paid way too much money for it. As much as I would like to dive into this game and its elaborate back stories, the engine they use is so bloated and unefficient, that on my office PC it is unplayable. Turns take minutes, scrolling is a pain, and using the interface is lagged as hell. Running it from an SSD helps a little, but still unplayable. This on a machine that runs Deus EX HR and Mass Effect 3 just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Poorly optimised as usual. You're fighting the interface as much as you are the in game opposition. But this stands as a strategic appraisal of various Roman struggles, east and west and those games are few and far between. Tempted to thumb it up, but it just falls short of keeping the attention, at least for me. Pros: Parthians (DLC). Sasanids would've been fantastic though. Cons: The usual lag. The worst bugle soundtrack in gaming. Absolutely the worst; beats Distant Worlds by 12dB.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Outstanding simulation of Roman wars. Not city building. Not technology racing. A straight up war game covering many of Romes wars.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →BUYER BEWARE!!!! : I love grand strategy games, so I was excited to dive into the depths of this game and love it for everything it was or was not. I was never able to get the game to play in an acceptable resolution. Everytime I tried to change the resolution via the config file found in the games root directory it completly crashed my computer all the way to a cold boot. Out of the 509 games I currently have on steam it is the ONLY one that crashes my computer EVERYTIME I try to change my…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Verdict: This is one of the best strategy games in which you're commanding armies of antiquity. Pros: 1. Units are quite detailed and seem to be about as effective as their historical counterparts. 2. There is some logistics which prevents you from ahistorical winter fighting - it is really hard to get supplies most of the time, although is possible and might catch your opponent with his pants down. 3. Quite a few nations and different time settings which means a lot of diversity. 4. Many…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought the game, played for three hours and despite an i7 processor and SSD this game ran at a 'steady' 5 FPS making it an unforgettably horrific experience. A pity... because this is a great game with a lot to offer strategy fans. Hopefully will be fixed in the future in which case I'll gladly buy it again, but in this state it's unplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Turns take nearly a minute to process. This is absurd. No apparent payoff in terms of gameplay experience. For a game of perhaps 70 or so turns, you’ll see the same 20 or so types of events happen over and over. A real grind. I experience approx 2-3 crashes/freezeups per game. Options are wierd and cryptic. I’ll probably still play the game, hoping I start to see what’s special about it, but certainly wouldn’t buy it again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game if you like Roman History. One of the best roman games i played, and on sale with all dlc its not that pricey. The game is largely about logistics, since you don't personaly fight the battles yourself, but has a lot of strategic depth. It also has just the right about of scripting to keep as acurate as possible to history, without feeling railroaded. However, if your expecting a top notch graphics game, or something more sandbox like, then this is not for you. As for performance,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of the more polished of Ageod games and my recommendation for newcomers to this game engine and it's plethora of historical strategy based programs. Alea Jacta Est. The Die is Cast. It is challenging with a diabolical AI, that may seem like it cheats, but there is always something to factor in all the complexities. For instance, each leader has their bonuses during certain circumstances which when in play goes unoticed until closer inspection. The gameplay will have you using…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →None of its games are playable. I mean, none. All of Ageod's games are the same: buggy, UI confusing, runs slowly, crashes time to time. Even they can not make a good tutorial! Learn some modern techniques to build a game, Ageod!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am really enjoying this game as a whole, and the DLCs add so much additional content for such a low price. The AGEOD team has really done an amazing job with the details of this game. The character portraits are very accurate caricatures of their real-life counterparts who they are meant to represent. The game is expansive in its scope, and boasts quite a large map as well. When one plays this game, moving the armies about, organizing supply lines, and determining whether or not to engage in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alea Jacta Est (hence AJE) simulates Roman-era warfare at a strategic level, and it is probably the best one on Steam. As any good strategy game, AJE is a game of informations, and its brilliance shines the most in how these informations are acquired: unlike other "arcade" games (e.g. Rome Total War 1/2) the map does not show true data, but just a patchwork of rumors, whose reliabililty depends on factors under the player's control (e.g. own army composition, scouting), factors out of control…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a piece of Junk!!!! Before I could even begin to play the game, it kept changing the resolution of my screen so half the controls and a third of any map displayed was off the screen. Then the bombshell, it failed time and time again to install updates and then five minutes of waiting for it to install files before you can begin. Feeling miffed, we were when we then found theres no tutorial mode even if we could play with a fair proportion of the map, controls and messages missing!!!!!!…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game simulates the warfare of the period on operational scale, wit emphasis on proper army organisation and logistics. I think it represents the peak of AGEOD development , as it was published without feature bloat that causes some later games to have various issues. As usual with AGEOD's titles - it's playable solo, but the AI gets lost in longer scenarios, or those with larger theatres of operations. Clear and functional visuals.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good game. But if you arent a real wargamer, and have no experience, you are going to shy away from it. Dont be intimidated. It is worth learning to play. All in all, a solid release from Ageod, from whom one expects greatness.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game if you enjoy obtuse grand strategy kind of like Paradoxs main games. But it is kind of choppy even on a high end system and crashes within an hour every time. If that ever gets fixed get it but it has been forever. Consider their WW1 game intead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bland and boring. It's a board game for sure. Not really a good video game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best war strategy games that has a great deal of focus on realism over the otehr arcadey stuff. Tough to get into. I myself played it and abandoned it lots of times (been playing a non steam version for the past 3 years). Howver, the developers dont really support the old games when the new AGEOD titles come out. Thus, dont expect paradox/taleworlds kind of mod support or dev support. This is the only dissapointement. THe developers actually make no attempts to make it more enjoyable…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alea Jacta Est is an older game from 2014. It's a venerable 10 years old at the time of this review. And it's bad, real bad. This is basically a ripoff of Total War: Rome, but without the actual realtime combat. So basically the Total War Rome map view. Thsi is Total War from Wish. Which is fully appropriate because Slytherine is basically Paragon from Wish. Except Wish is kinda cheap and Slytherine gouges like a cornered animal on pricing. I'll go into pricing later but make sure…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alea Jacta Est "The die is cast" This is a difficult game to write a review for. The game gets huge plus marks for historicity, attention to detail and complexity. However, ironically, it is the positives here that produce the most negatives. Ageod Games traditionally provide strategic simulations with large attention to detail and they also tend to cover ignored portions of historical conflict (the Russian Civil War, the Spanish Civil War and the Thirty Years War to name a few). However,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I give both of my thumbs up for this detailed and historicaly plausible and immersive game. Negative reviews for it are motly not justified. Note that I bought the game at first directly from Slitherine so my played hours are higher then the ones logged on Steam. Game puts you into the ancient generals boots and immerses you within the obstacles and opportunites those strategos faced and you start to really see how other such games really lack many realistic layers that AJE provides. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once you get the hang of it , it gets very fun. One of the most detailed History Games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best wargames I have played. Best played via PBEM. The system isnt too complex but the gameplay is very deep. I have played it way more than the total above. The asynchronos turn resolution is excellent.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty much all AGEOD games have the exact same problem of having alot of depth to their gameplay, but no way to learn how to play the game that is actually fun. The only way to get an understanding of these games is to jump right into the game managing a huge amount of territory and dozens of different screens while looking at a manual. This game in particular is difficult to pick up as this is a digital copy and the game crashes when alt-tabbed (despite being turn based).
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A superb but very difficult game. Only if you like refined strategy games. It has not fancy graphics or ui and it's very complex to understand and master game mechanics, but it' profound and very challengimg, besides its historical accuracy. If you like the period (also the DLCs are very good) you should buy it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →,,The die is cast". One of the true great strategy games in which lets you play in the roman time period. This game is all about the careful planning of the operations on a beautiful map, managing supplie lines, anticipating your opponents moves whike syncronizing your own. It was so much fun dueling the romans with the parthians in the carrhare campaign and catching the romans offguard. You have to make sure that your army is well supplied and rested, otherwise they might fall appart. It…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A faithful to history game with focus on some of the lesser known Roman conflicts. It's easy to learn and has a great variety of unique campaigns and challenges. However the engine in cluncky and tends to lag and crash.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simply the best. An utterly immersive wargame bringing to life the glory and agony of ancient Rome in incredible historical detail and gripping gameplay. No one does it better than AGEOD.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great strategy game which captures the essence of ancient warfare quite well, notably the problem of supply, and taking fortified cities. The learning curve can be quite steep at first and things seem more complicated than they actually are, but I found that watching players on Youtube helped me learn the game. The Spartacus and Birth of Rome DLC is also helpful to learn the ropes due to the smaller scope of the scenarios.I personally haven't had any issues with game stability as other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good grief... Such a simple concept, a simple aesthetic, a simple approach to a complex time period (which tempts us with potentiality), and a simple interface. Underneath is a lurking monster ready to devour your patience and your sense of enjoyment of period strategy titles. I could very well have had more hours clocked into this thing, but my patience would always be threadbare by the 3rd turn (yes, 4 hours clocked and I've played a total of maybe 10 turns, many of which nothing happened…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good, deep simulation of Roman warfare. I do recommend picking up the Rise of Rome and the Punic Wars dlc as these scenario's are more varied and not 'Roman vs Roman'. Carefull though... the game has a steep learning curve. I only played it so far at the easier difficulties after watchign a few let's plays. I definitely prefer the DLC scenarios. So pick them up and the basegame at a discount. ...definitely wait for a discount as the game is not for all. Expect a steep learning curve and a bit…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very confusing at first but I'm getting to grips with it and have really enjoyed it! Worth a go, don't be scared!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game to get you introduced to AGEOD's game mechanics.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is very very bad game :(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The only fault of the game is geography, the region/city names in Gallia Cisalpina are all shifted to east, between wrong rivers... but the other issues are very beautiful and you forget these weird geographical errors...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Too simplistic and too esoteric. By simplistic I mean, there aren't that many interesting moves to make - some recruiting, loyalty buffs, a tiny amount of economy. Most of it boils down to moving an army to fight a battle. That would be fine, this is a war game after all. However... Battles give no useful indication as to why they occurred the way they did. Even if you read the manual, all you get are vague notions as to what does what. I can infer some things based on terrain, but I'm…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best of the series.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great game with many interesting scenarios.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best simulation of Roman wars I played. Too bad new DLCs aren't made.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Deep strategy game!!! If you like the theme get it!!!! Also please do not buy this from the Steam store directly thank you, their monopoly on PC gaming is not good for the consumer!!!!!! They heavily censor people in the forums, you can't speak freely out of fear of being banned, I have had a 1 year community ban because of stupid silly bans, they accumulate, and eventually land you a community ban!!!! If you support Steam, you support such censorship!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Probably one of the best Roman games I’ve played on PC since the RTR mod many years ago. It is just as complex as I.R but without the random events which ruins that game. The random events that happen on AJE are expected, like slave revolts, but they are manageable if you react, unlike I.R that takes half your empire. AJE is very complex (for me) and has taken me a long time just to get the basics so I can have a decent game, yet there is still so much more to learn which will take many weeks…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →just....amazing
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Waste of Money for me. I cant be anymore constructive than that. Slow turn times in windows 10 make it unplayable
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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