Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2013
Rise of Venice
Developer Gaming Minds Studios
Venice: As a young man striving for success, power and wealth and with the support of your family, you begin to build up a trading empire across Genua, Tripoli, Rome, Alexandria and Constantinople in addition to many other significant cities from the Renaissance. This is where your story begins... From the Steam store page
181 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Jan 8, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
55
Mixed
100 positive · 81 negative
95% range 48–62%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 100 | 81 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Mixed
319 of 518 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 181 · most liked firstOnce again, I'm left wanting a "meh" button instead of a thumbs up or down... This isn't so much a bad game as it is the complete stagnation of two different good series. As someone who loved Patrician III, I can say that this game basically just copy-pastes most of the good ideas from that game, dumbed some of them down or made you arbitrarily incapable of trading trading certain goods until you unlocked them, and went piddling on ahead with them. Like Patrician, you basically just get a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a big fan of the Kalypso titles. I played most of the economics titles with the exception of tropico which i will try someday. As for Port royale and Patrician , RoV follow the logic of the economy of Kalypso titles with enough difference to have its own title, you don't place building or expand your city size like Patrician or Port Royale. Everything takes place in the wolrd map , which is not a bad things as it saves tons of loading screens. RoV requires you not to play in '' God mode ''…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a useless copy of port royal 3. As PR3 was a failed game, kalipso labs decided to make exactly the same game but in a different geography. Detailed cities have disappeared, leaving us a full detailed map where options are really simple. Families and political issues have been improved slightly but economy is now stupid. The same price is shared by many articles so a kg of fruit costs the same as a kg of oil. No complexity appears now in this game where changing the Caribbean to the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you've played Patrician IV and/or Port Royale 3, this is "the same, but different". Which some might find off-putting, and which I sure as heck wouldn't recommend at full price. But I got it on a Steam sale for $6 USD, and it was a steal at that price. It's a maritime trading game with city-building elements and a nice politics/intrigue game mechanic that fits the setting along with a nice sense of progression that's a welcome add to the series. If you're not already a fan of this genre,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fired it back up after a year after being disappointed with all the game crashes - hoping that it would somehow be fixed. Well... nothing's changed really. I would strongly, strongly discourage anyone from getting this game if you're on a Nvidia card. Read the forums and you'll find hordes of angry buyers looking for refunds for a title that simply doesn't run for more than 30 mins. Developers are blaming hardware, gamers are up in disbelief (you know this routine). If you're still keen on a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I came here for an economic simulator because I'm sick and I can't do anything exciting (doctor's orders) so I decided to give this one a whirl. I bought it ages ago but never got around to it because Patrician IV is just too good. (I also secretly really enjoy these trading games). So why, in this ECONOMIC simulator, would you put a naval battle that you can't automatically resolve? You can't continue the campaign unless you win it and I am passionate, yet ♥♥♥♥, at video games. I cannot…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quite a bit of negative comments for this game, though I believe largely undeserved. This is a trading/political (lite) simulator. The crux of the game is to further your personal success across a defined region. Many claim the campaign is too simple and after a few trade routes are established This may be accurate, however, the campaign is primarily a long tutorial, not desigend to be crushingly hard. The heart of the game lies in the Free Play mode through setting the world up and stacking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was a good improvement over the Port Royal games and Patrician series. smooth running and intuative trading system. I didn't like that the DLC wasn't available for the campaign, only in a free play. If you like trading games this is worth a buy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well, this is simply the worst game in the honorable Patrician/Port Royale series. After being a long-time fan of the Hansa Tycoon series which were the Patrician games, I'd expect some flavour in a Venice-centered sim. Nothing but disappointment is what I found. Pros: .Simple to play (if you like to play extremely simple games, it's a positive value) Cons: .Economy ridiculously simple. Being a game of economic management, I see it as a major design flaw. Goods have the same standard…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In principle, this Game adds a very nice spin to the well known The Guild/Pirates!/Patrician/High Seas Trader/A.D.1602/Port Royal... settings. It enables you to build up a grand empire from zero up, advance to political honors and get filthy rich. Graphics: Nicely done, do their job. Nice zoom-in/zoom-out function. 8/10 Sound: Not groundbreaking, but OK. 7/10 Mechanics & Gameplay: One of the strong sides of the game. Nice trading system, OK combat mechanics with some tactical depth. Interface…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I regret buying this, I had fun the first few hours, but there's not much more beyond the start. Buy things, sell things, fast forward. You never play on normal speed, and a game like that isn't worth much usually
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the weakest trade sims I've ever tried. It's even slower paced than these games usually are and feels like they took all the worst parts of Patrician and found a way to make them even worse. The graphics are ok for it's age but honestly that's about all this sim has going for it. Beyond that I ran into a handful of bugs in just a short while, nothing completely game breaking but still rather annoying. Hard pass. :-(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you liked Patrician 2 and 3 and Port Royale you should like this. You should also like Port Royale 2. Yet I didn't. I guess too much of the same thing only slightly improved or changed is not automatically a good thing. Also, I like the trading and producing--not the fighting. The more I have to control my own ships in combat the more they get sunk. I'm a big picture/high finance guy. Too much small picture in this game so I stopped. Your milage may vary.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alrighty, so this game definitely isn't for everyone. Personally I'm a fan of simulators and I'm also a fan of merchanting. I played the campaign at my own pace and after I finally accomplished my end-goal of becoming Doge, I had clocked in about sixteen hours. Not bad for such a simple game, and for the right audience could be fun and worth picking up. If you aren't a patient person or don't like simulation games this isn't for you. If you need action, this isn't for you. But if you're looking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Buy low. Sell high. But that's all. Static map. Static production locations. Static prices (dynamically computed, but the cricumstances basically never change). One or two kinds of random events that increase sale prices for a moment. The most interesting part is when you can program your own trade routes, and there is a lot of configurability in how to you load/off-load to your warehouses and how you buy amd sell, but for reasons that defy the imagination, this is done via an…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →10 hours playing and I needed to restart 3 time because the game is not responding. Small improvements compared with Port Royale 3 which is an exact clone of this game. The game play is repetitive a lot after a few hours playing. The map is smaller, has less ports and landmarks. Also the campaign quests are repetitive and not impressive story line. I regret that I spent $10 on the DLC because is not adding much to the game for the value. The DLC should be free for the little improvements that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Starts off well, but other than the absolute basics nothing is explained and the UI is confusing. There is pretty much no purpose to the "detailed 3D-graphics" since they convey no information and in fact only distract from trying to click the right thing of view production details. Even if you get past all that and try to get into the game, it's incredibly shallow. I played for several hours and eventually was just completely bored. There's just not enough here.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good game. Not sure why everyone is saying it's bad, but picking up the game + expansion from a bundle for <$5 is totally worth.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game quite a while ago, but put it aside, as at the time I was still having too much fun with Port Royale 3. As both games share the same main gameplay principle, playing both simultanously didn't work for me. I recently started thinking about going back to Port Royale 3, but then I remembered I haven't given Rise Of Venice its rightful chance yet, so I started playing this instead. As evident by my play-time counter (almost 30 hours, as of writing this review), I got hooked very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is very similar to Patrician IV, the menus are identical as are the sounds. There is not much depth to the game itself, just trading. Unlike in P4, you don't get to plan a city, expand walls or help build a new settlement. The map is WYSIWYG. Naval battles are OK, have a nice touch with the oil and the barrels. In short: If you like P4 and want a bit less features and less depth, this game is for you. If you want a large variety, better stick to P4. I am still enjoying this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its ok but Patrician games are better
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Havent been able to play this game much as it hacks and are randomly slow and sometimes to the Extreme. Not shure why, maybe because of online problems. But from what i have played, this game have no complexity or Depths, but is a game i can play for a few hours and then get bored for and forgett all about. Basic Graphics, basic gameplay and gameinstruction who makes me think this game was menth for children (Or maybe they think we are dumb). The game has a Limited map With few cities to trade…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's basically Patrician 5. Buggy at first but heavily patched since. Does the core trading/business sim well like previous versions, but relocated to Med instead of Baltic/North Sea. Lots of effort to spruce up visuals and streamline some micromanagement, make UI look more appealing. It does look good, but to be honest I found prior UI/Menu systems easier to use. Overall it's much the same as before, perhaps dumbed down a touch here and there.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a bit like Anno in a way, except much simpler, (have heard more like Port Royale but have only ever played an online version of that). But it's OK if you like this sort of thing. Mostly going around trading to earn money and doing various missions. Naval battles are fun once you get the hang of them (there's no decent tutorial).
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are going to get any game from Kalypso, i would say avoid this. If you can get Port Royale 3 or Rise of Venice for less than $5 than get one of those, but don't expect it to be fun for long. All of their games use a very simplistic trading system, used in Patrician Series, Port Royale, Rise of Venice and Grand Ages Medieval. They unfortunately use less and less commodities and seem to shrink the map they use for every new game. The very thought of making a game that uses the entire…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Soothing trader with fun, optional arcade-style combat. I encourage everyone who may be interested to try this game, because I feel like it is a gem. Just remember Steam rules for returning if it isn't to your taste (I've never had a problem returning a game I didn't like but check the rules) The random encounters at sea, such as picking up a stranded sailor, are handled much better in Rise of Venice, compared to its successor Port Royale 4. You can zoom out and not even know they are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game imo, much better than Port Royale 3 or Patrician IV, especially with the DLC and the huge world map. Positive: Many quests being given by towns, the senat or family add to the trading and are welcome. This aspect reminds me of Patrician III, which had more and different Tavern quests. In this game you meet shady people in the tavern and you can order them to do mischief. Sea battles are improved, boarding ships is easier and there is a captian skill to improve this further. Also,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tried to play it in 21-03-2020 and the game wouldn't launch, it also tried me to sign up to a third party and give them rights to share my privacy and data
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have tried for hours to play Rise of Venice only to be blocked by a drop down menu, the only option of which is to purchase Railways Empire. I do not wish to purchase Railways Empire, and thus, the menu does no allow me access to Rise of Venice. I have contacted Kalypso support, but am being ignored.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have enjoyed this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have to say, that I meanwhile really like the game. At fist I was a bit disappointed, because it lacks the depth and micromanagement options of "Hanse". But other then that, it is really a lot of fun to play the campaign.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game appears on the surface to be a good game, but i agree with the other reviews that on the whole think it is a laclustre game with many elements copied BADLY from the patrician series. i have played 6 hours and its been interesting but i wont be playing again, others may like it more and if it is on sale and its very cheap whats the hurt in buying. I wouldn't pay full price though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gorgeous looking game, and a surprising lot of fun! It's not very deep, and the interface can be nightmarish starting off, but one you get to grips with it, it's an addictive little trade sim. Kind of mindless after a while, but the progression is nice. I got this for about £4 and I consider that a fair price. I wouldn't recommend spending £19 on this. In all, decent mindless fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Similar to Patrician IV and Port Royale 3, though this one looks better and trading process is a little bit more interesting. Doubt there is a such a thing as an expedition to other seas (continents) and this make me sad.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For me it is the best trading game on PC ever made. You need some time to get used to the mechanics, but it is worth it, cause you will meet a deep and very tactical game.This no story driven game like RPG´s, so don´t expect a lot of drama. BUT i like the nice intrigues and the politics with the family which is decent made. I am looking forward to a melt between The Guild Series and the Patrician and Venice Series. Hopefully one day.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good sim, no flaw i can really talk about. Similar but slightly differnt to Patracian and Port Royal. This is more fun than Pat.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I haven't put a lot of time into Rise of Venice yet, nor have I bought the DLC (which I will wait for the price to go down) but from the little time I have spent so far in RoV it is a nice little trading SIM. I really like the graphics and haven't ran into any technical issues so far. The game is a nice change of pace, I find it rather relaxing from what I usually play. That said I do not see this as a game that you could play every day for a hours a day and not quickly become bored with.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rise of Venice is a political/trading/economy business/tycoon simulator strategy game set in Venice but with a weird focus on pirate ships and treasure maps, because it's in many ways copied+pasted from Port Royale, another game from Kalypso with a pirate theme. While the game looks nice in screenshots, despite the 2013 release date, it runs very badly on modern PCs. If you have a 4K monitor, it won't display properly at all, instead it tries to display as a postage stamp in the middle of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't understand the negative reviews. I'll admit, the game is Sid Meier's level of difficulty. It's difficult enough to make you pay attention yet your not really at risk of major losses at any point. Set backs rather than game ending losses. My cup of tea after a hard day of work though. I've seen graphics problems, but I've been in the game since Nintendo so I guess I'm not as spoiled. It'd be nice if they fixed it, but it's easy enough to play through it. I'm willing to take the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The map is beautiful but like many beautiful things it can be high maintenance. There is a lot of lag on my system and I believe it is because the map is so animated especially with the people milling in the towns, trees swaying in the wind, and the ocean waves. I plan to upgrade my pc after the holidays. I will try it again then. (My system meets the requirements listed here)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This may change, but I've bought the game and have never played it becuase it has some kind of "Failure to find" this file and that file problem. It's been over a week since I've gotten it and all the devs say is to unistall it and re-install it and update your drivers. I've got almost 300 games on steam, I've never had this problem and I've never had a dev blame thier problems on me. Simply Unacceptable! Also of note- X3 is great trading sim game, however, it's in space. I realize this is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Suggest players stay away from this game until the major problems with the program launch has been resolved.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short explanation: Rise of Venice is a fascinating game and it pains me to write it but i can not recommend it unless ... you love tideous work and are immune to stress from countless messages and you enjoy micromanaging while dealing with lots of menues. And you should look positive at the lack of explanations, the campaign is - no joke - a lacking and very long, drawn out tutorial. In terms of ideas and complexity and scenario the game is fine. You may not notice the pain points in the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While not the best trading simulator it’s nominally enjoyable with semi decent ship to ship combat. The politics of the games campaign can be a tad annoying but maintaining a trade empire throughout the Mediterranean is a fun challenge. The campaign does an okay job explaining deeper more nuanced concepts. It’s okay, maybe worth a few dollars on sale 68/100
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've had hours of fun with this game on multiple occasions. The art style, the very setting of the game are like oxygen to me on top of the management element. If you have a thing for medieval/renaissance settings, the Venice/Genoa trade "wars", some political intrigue and family duties (you can get married and have kids), or merchant themed games, then this is for you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is broken for wide-screen resolutions. No excuse for that.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked it because i'm hungry for trade sims. Since PR3, no games have shown up. And it has Turkish and Morocco coasts of historical.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really nice game. Not many Venice-era settings are there but this one manages to give you a taste of Venice's maritime power back in the day. Too bad it kind of gets repetitive after several hours.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Need a game to help you fall asleep, this might be it. Merchant prince (Machiavelli: the Prince), is way more fun than this, and I find myself returning to that each time I try this. While this has good graphics, they removed all the fun aspects. Machiavelli: the Prince has more to do, you can for instance hire mercenaries to completely capture ports for you, where only you can trade in them then, or hire cardinals that can get elected pope, which you control then to excommunicate cities.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →1664 playing hours interesting game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a gamer whou should be the ideal target marget for this type of game. My many hours of 'gameplay' have been spent simply trying to get the game to function as intended by the developers. Sadly for me the game sound stutters terribly, so the game is unbearable to play. This is despite the fact I'm able to play all my other games without similar issue, so the hardware should not be at fault here. This is a common cause of ffrustration for many players, and often put down to players having…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best one of the series so far. Not a big fan of the direction the politics went, but they're tolerable (but still quite challenging). The trade is improved over the previous installments and I like the variety of goods to trade, as well as how satisfying it is to gain wealth. It takes more work to make money but it makes it that much sweeter when it happens.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once again they have put the same exact concept and gameplay in a different skin. OKAY so there are some alterations with the politics in Venice, but it's Patrician/Port Royal all over again. The naval combat is frustraiting and unintuitive.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game for €20,- on a Steam sale and that's exactly what it's worth. If you've played Patrician IV you'll miss the detailed towns, but this game has a few more things to offer in return. Unfortunately naval battles is not one of those things. Apart from that I still really like this game. If you haven't played Patrician IV or Port Royale, then I think this game might be difficult at first, since the tutorial isn't great. TL;DR It's better than it's predecessors, but not worth…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yet another unacceptably basic shell of game, sold at a full price with the intent of bleeding us dry with DLC. The base game is dull and boring. The Rise of Venice expansion has released for £14.99 less than two months after release probably improves it but I will not be buying because you ripped me off selling me a half game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid cozy and charming game, works well in 2024 on Windows 10. The Endless Gameplay mode offers: - has three difficulty settings - pirate activity is okay and manageable with at least one warrior convoy patrolling the sea - you can lure pirates to your warrior convoy with trading vessels if you're visually monitoring most of the map - can pause and manage game speed to your liking - you get a family with wife/husband and receive access to your spouse's extended family, even generating up to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like Rise of Venice (a economic game simulator). This game is simply relaxing, time passer and a lot of fun to play. Best of all, I control the speed of time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →better than port royale 3.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rise of Venice is like the Patrician and Port Royale series (both of which I liked), but RoV is more cramped, slow, and opaque. I cannot recommend it. Cramped: They took the slider trading model of the other games and forced it into the setting of the game Merchant Prince, then only gave you half of the Mediterranean to play the campaign in. Slow: Having to wait a month between promotion votes to increase rank in the Senate was an incredibly poor design choice. It is very easy to meet the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd be surprised if I don't hit a thousand hours in this game, it never gets old
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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