Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2017
Eight-Minute Empire
Developer Acram Digital
Eight-Minute Empire is the super-quick area control game requiring tough decisions. It’s easy to learn and perfect for when you only have a few minutes. ⏱ From the Steam store page
82 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Sep 18, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
76
LovedLoved
56 positive · 18 negative
95% range 65–84%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 56 | 18 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
8 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
99 of 128 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 82 · most liked firstI purchased this game and quickly realized you needed to pay for each additional map. Something like $3-4 each. I'm sorry, but that's insane for such a small and simple game. Also there should be options for longer games. I like the art. I like the gameplay, but even at a discount the game is $20 fully unlocked. I've played way more interesting games with way longer gameplay for less than $10 as the base price. I think Terraria was like $10-14 and I got over 100 hours of good gameplay from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a complete game. Game comes with very little content and requires you to purchase additional content in-game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Strategy Board Game https://youtu.be/A7qUn912ks8 + Might be fun in short bursts with friends. Like the title implies, the games are pretty short. - Extremely Overpriced DLC for Addional Maps - Very limited in Content, only 2 Maps... - The game itself is a bit hard to grasp. Basically each turn you choose a card to either build more troops or move troops. At the end, whoever has control of more land/continents generally wins. However... you also get points for collecting resources from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's very well done port of the Red Raven Games' board game of the same title. I played the analog version and I have to say that the digitized brother is more enjoyable. Things like glows, and victory point sum-ups are pretty obvious.. but now I can see how much this stuff works and it really does! Now I can tell who is winning and why - when playing board game it was always kind of mystery ;-) Due to factions' leaders characters, soldiers, and soundtracks it's much more climatic than board…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a fun little turn-based strategic board-style game that does require good forethought and planning, though randomness does play it's part (as in which card opportunities are presented to you). I really only have two complaints: 1. I really wish there were an opportunity for more turns than seven in a game. I don't mind that seven is the default, as that keeps the game short and sweet...but I think it would DRASTICALLY improve the strategic aspect of the game if it were possible. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →dont let the cool graphics deceve you, the gameplay s h i t not to mention most of the content requires aditional purchases if you want a cheap game or a empire building game or a puzzle game or all 3 there is a entire market of better games unfortunatly when i bought the game i didnt yet know that you can get a refund :(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In Eigh-Minute Empire you produce good and conquer territories and continents to earn victory points in a turn-based cardgame. It's very short as the title suggests, but mechanically very simple. As such it gets boring quickly. So if you want a quick game, you found it, otherwise there are more intersting card games.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good port of the board game. I've played the physical game and this is a nice digital version with the added bonus of an AI so I can play solo. There's a multiplayer option but haven't tried it yet. This doesn't feel like a crappy tablet port and seems to work well with a mouse. The map packs are pricy considering the content but the Emperor Edition has a decent discount to offset the high cost. Still, I think it would have been better to bundle the 4 maps into a single DLC. I know…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems like a decent adaptation of a "Euro"-style resource-collecting, low-conflict boardgame. The thing is, I don't much enjoy Eurogames in general and, in particular, I want some war in my wargames. Also, I was rather disappointed to discover that there's no procedural map generation, only a fixed library of premade maps, and a rather small library at that - three maps in the base game with four others available as add-on purchases.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game! It's even more fun with digital version that with board version. I think it's because of redesign of maps and more place for your units. Acram additionally create totally new maps (dlc), that you can't find in the box with the original board game, with new rules that change game and strategy. I also really like asynchronous mode, because you can continue online playing when you have time. Awsome! Totaly worth it. : )
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well done! Really nice, fast strategic board game. I have played the original version of this game and I think this is very good implementation.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For a lot of people, the appeal of board games like 5-Minute Dungeon or Eight Minute Empire is that you can be done with them in less than ten minutes. But I have news for you: I'm done with every game in less than ten minutes.
unlabelledView post →It is good for a few minutes, fun to pick up a game every now and then.. but I don't think I'd recommend to buy it. The monetisation is pretty aggressive, and you can experience literally all of the content the base game has in less than half an hour, leaving you to, at that point, buy a dlc map of which there are many, and more expensive than you'd expect for something that doesn't have a lot of impact on gameplay. All this to say that the game gets old VERY fast. For the amount of content…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game might be great as a board game,but not as a video game. Limited content: only 3 maps! + expensive DLC Game difficulty is not consistent, because it is all about gambling. Every card you get is random and your choice very limited. Not much strategy can be found here. Sometimes you have no trouble to win vs hard AI, but sometimes you somehow lose vs easy AI.... not much challenge here. Not much room to learn and improve. Just randomness and gambling. Play long enough until you win.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An excellent adaptation of a board game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good adaptation of the board game. This is a light area control game, where, each turn, you buy a card to add armies or move them on the board (there is no fight). Some ressources on the cards or the board give additional points. The presentation is nice, the interface works well and the AI for solo matches gives some challenge. As the title says, a match is not very long. A good small strategy game, to play when I'm not in the mood for something more complex.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Like the title says, the game plays quick and as such, makes it fairly simple to learn. Perfect for when you just want to play a full game of something and not have to save and later try to figure out what direction your strategy was going. Plays a little like Risk in that there are countries and continents to control, but it doesn't utilize dice for battles, instead you have a row of 6 face up cards with actions on them some of which allow you to defeat enemy units. The leftmost card is free…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like this adaptation of very simple, easy to learn board game. Fast to play (can be a drawback if you like long epic games) so it is rather to play if you do not have much time this evening.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More a card game than a empire strategy I was very disappointed with this game. Not enough content or strategy options. only two maps are avalible with the game, additional maps need to be purchased. Don't buy it unless you are sure that the game is for you.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very boring gameplay. looks like the board game risk is very different as far as fun and just overall really repetitive/dull game
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/iKy1tCfF6P8 Hoisted by it's own petard the successful execution of an eight-minute playtime equally reduces the replay value.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome board game. Simple, easy to pick up, and a good game to play with friends. I do see the argument that the DLCs are a little much, as you don't get many maps to play. Still think it's a fair deal at full price.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great little digital implementation of the board game! Games are fast and the creative map based achievements make trying different strategies and goals fun. Plays smooth and fast. I am looking forward to seeing what else this developer comes up with. Id love to see Eight Minute Empire Legends as that system adds some more layers of strategy to this games foundation. Great job!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →KAMGUSTA'S MINI REVIEW It's the digital version of the very same boardgame, with "area control" mechanics and short matches. Its simple gameplay is further simplified by removing the need to calculate the scores. Maps should have been included from the start, they are a hidden cost and without them the game gets repetitive very quickly. It's not bad, but it's better live. Best played with mouse Recommended buy price: 8$ (with all maps included) Score: 6,5/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Much deeper than it first appears, and a perfect game if you don't have a ton of time. Really enjoyed playing this with a friend online.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A number of the negative review are almost all about price, which has notably been cut since launch. That is not even mentioning the constant sales that bring down the game and all DLC to less than four dollars. In either case the game is worth the small price point as a fun remote play or lan game. Aside from that its a simple strategy game that's great for more inexperienced players or those looking for a more laid back experience. I also love the short bite sized nature of each game. Its…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8 minutes is about the period this game managed to hold my interest. Go play the physical board game with friends instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fast to play, as the name would suggest. Simple rules with very interesting strategy. Lots of replay value, thanks to several maps, a few mods, different AI models, and online play. Clean interface that provides good situational awareness.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Edit : Extremely happy to change my vote for this game to positive! The two issues that marred this game : turn-timer and notifications have been fixed. Steam notifications would've been better than email notifications, but the email notify does serve the purpose. Now players not taking a turn in 48hours get booted and the game auto-starts when requirements are met. The result of this is games are starting and also finishing!!! Great job to the devs for investing the time and resource to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The core game is not fun, I can only assume the DLCs don't help either.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feels like a reasonable reproduction of the original boardgame (although I haven't played that in years!).
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I believe that most of the negative reviews of this game are totally unjustified. It is a brilliantly enjoyable board game. Simple, straightforward, albeit at times perhaps a little bit too short (an option to play an extra two rounds could be advantageous). We are never able to actually play a game in 8 minutes, but you could easily play a series of 3 games within two hours, even with the most arduous group of friends. Heck, it might actually be feasible in half an hour, if your friends…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If the X-Wing Miniatures game counts, then that. Otherwise, “Hey, That’s My Fish” is pretty fun Eight-Minute Empire Sequence Skip-Bo (again, not sure if that counts as a board game) Nearly any version of Clue
unlabelledView post →Played Eight-Minute Empire on 2026-01-12. This is the first game I taught my game design class this semester. It's accessible, brisk, accommodates many players, and demonstrates many lovely design principles. Students must wait for a different game to win one against their professor, though!
unlabelledView post →iOS Extra game deals post - Nerd Survivors, Doom and Destiny trilogy, Pocket Rogues: Ultimate, Homo Machina, Inua - A Story in Ice and Time, The Wanderer:, Acram Digital’s board games (Istanbul, Tokaido, Eight-Minute Empire, Steam: Rails to Riches, etc.) and more games at discounted prices
unlabelledView post →🎲Anything I liked but my game group didn’t 🎲Eight Minute Empire 🎲Pitchcar (fun, but too much setup for as little playtime as it got) 🎲Formula De
unlabelledView post →Very fun game. If you play fast it will even go quicker than 8 minutes most of the time. Very simple strategy game with not too many choices to make but just enough to keep it interesting. Most people complain about having to buy the DLC which is just absurd. You can buy the full thing with all the DLCs for less than 15 dollars most of the time. To add to that the people complaining usually have less than an hour playtime. Their problem is not the DLC their problem is that they like to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I see this game has taken some heat for having DLC that's twice the price of the original game. I personally don't have any strong feelings about that. To this point I've spent just shy of 5 hours playing only original map, blissfully unaware of what the DLC has to offer. The achievements do a nice job of keeping things fresh.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quality game, don't let anyone fool you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I Beta tested this for a few weeks. I never tried online play, only local. It was rock solid when played locally. I found only one minor bug, and it was fixed before I reported it (someone else had reported it the day before). I wasn't even going to try it out, because this is (I thought) not the kind of board game I like. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong! Highly addictive, very fun, and super fast. My favorite play is versus 2 AI characters (you can play locally against 1-4 others, any…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great short game - you can play it few hours and you won't get bored.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Eight-Minute Empire takes the familiar pleasures of territorial conquest and resource collection and compresses them into a remarkably concise strategy experience. Developed and published by Acram Digital as an adaptation of Ryan Laukat’s tabletop game, it avoids the sprawling campaigns and complicated economic systems normally associated with empire-building games. Instead, it concentrates on a small collection of interconnected mechanics where every action has consequences. Matches are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun game with a very quick playtime and a good amount of strategy to win. There's some complaints about the add on maps being $2 each, but honestly the full game + maps pack on sale for like $15 still seems worth it to me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Basically got this almost at the strike price point. Too bad it's so addicting it's beating MARVEL SNAP in popularity! WHEW! Glad I got this almost at 0 dollars. It's such a good game the developers are excellent people.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quick, simple rules with strategy that works for a quick bit of fun when you have a few minutes. Very addictive.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is fun for about an hour or so, but becomes very repetitive. It has a lot of content locked behind expensive DLC and this is frankly awful. You need DLC for achievements. Games are extremely short, and gameplay features are fixed based on number of players rather than being adjustable. Honestly this game is a rip off.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Today’s Android app deals and freebies: Atom RPG, Ailment, Eight-Minute Empire, more
unlabelledView post →Red Raven Games announces "Six Sojourns" a reimplementation of the game "Eight-Minute Empire" that took the designer and the publisher to the spotlight. Bigger Board, Renewed Art, new cards and revised rules, and more.
unlabelledView post →very simple game but wow a really fun 8 minute romp area control romp. balancing the set collection next to the area control and just being able to crank out games when you need time to kill is great. I play it on the steam deck when I just need to pass the time. Set expectations. haha this is far from a large epic twighlight imperium experience. but for what it is. oddly addicting. I'd kill for the Legends version of this game to get a digital treatment
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Uhm ACKTUALLY it only tooke me 7 minutes to play my first game!" Alright so this is a digital boardgame akin to your standard fair euro-games but stripped down for fast play. Each card has a resource and an action - collect matching sets of resources for points, use actions to create and move troops around to control regions and continents for more points. Most points at the end of [13 in my game] turns and it's over. Cards are drawn into a communal pool where older cards are cheaper to buy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ooh nice. I’ve not played a Red Raven game since Eight Minute Empire. Have been curious about his recent stuff as it has reviewed very well.
unlabelledView post →After my first game, I was like: ''This is a nice little game. Don't know if I'll keep playing though, it's pretty simple.'' And then I played 20 games in a row.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun strategy game that does not take a bunch of time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Such a neat little game! Quick board game fix right there.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An excellent implementation of the great board game! Plays quickly and has quality AI opponents to practice your skills against. Games may take slightly longer than eight minutes, but they are quick and fun, and there's online multiplayer as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Actually one of the best quick strategy games out there. I love it more every time I play it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this is a great game to finish a game night with friends. my group plays a few rounds at the end of the night and we always have a good game. fun, quick, unique. solid finisher game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting game, I like the concept of concordia like drafting without any hand management. The scoring system is smart in a way that creates some nice tension without inducing AP. I think I might enjoy this as a starter game in a boardgame night. I don't think it works great without the social interaction though, feels a bit too dry.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm really enjoying this game - VERY quick strategy runs that are just deep enough to be interesting and make you want to try again. TONS of achievements. Don't believe the reviews that say you need to purchase extra content to have fun. The base game has more than enough content and AI levels to last for hours of attempts.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short, sweet, creative, simple to play yet outcomes are deliciously complex. Great mix of randomness (available resources and actions) and strategy (What you choose and how you use it.) I only wish it could have more players or - occasionally - a longer playtime mode. I often play a quick game when I just have a few minutes break, or play through a set of 3-5 when I have a longer time, and thoroughly enjoy the challenge.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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