Customer Reviews
Simply the best of the "Caesar" games! True Gold 
2008-12-16
A combination of Caesar III, Sid Miers Civilizations and Maxis' Sim City games from the late nineties, Pharaoh takes a lot of what made those games best sellers and combines it into a pretty entertaining, if at this point dated, game. Back in the 90s, "God" style games in which you care for and manage a teeming world of buildings and their denizens were having their hay-day.
While Maxis continued to churn out the Sim City franchise, and Civilizations and it's many spin offs have become legend, most games are not either FPS (First Person Shooters) or RTS (Real Time Strategy). The 90s produced some exceptional top-down city management games, and Pharaoh is a good example. Unfortunately, just like the Egyptian empire that you play in the game, poised at its height of glory, this style of game has fallen largely to the wayside. That's unfortunate.
A city management game at heart, Pharaoh gives you much more control over what you build and where you build it than Sim City games. You choose which buildings you want, and where they will be built, allowing you to create a city to your exact design.
War making does come into play, but it is secondary to city building. Many of the missions will require you to create an army and lead them to victory, but this feels largely anticlimactic compared to the fast paced city management that requires 80 percent of your time.
This game is quite complex, entertaining, and truly a classic of the genre. If you're considering buying it, there are other options like Caeser III, but I think this is a superior game. If you like strategy games from the 90s, this ones definitely for you.
Fun! Fun! Fun! 
2008-10-20
This game was a great buy! You can create your own scenarios or go through an entire family history up until you are Pharaoh. You can name your own family, too. Easy to understand interface and you can change the speed of the game as well. It was great fun to see Egypt develop over time with each generation. Also, appeasing the gods was fun..if you didn't build enough temples/shrines, they would get all jealous or angry, and cause calamity to fall upon your city. It's just another great city building game!!
I love This Game 2008-10-16
Very interesting not too difficult to learn. Bought it back when I was in college to pass the time
good city building game 2008-08-31
I love this game and have loved in since it first came out. You start with simple city building and pretty straightforward missions. WIth each leve it gets more complicated as you manage various areas of the city you build, run the goventment and keep enemies at bay.
This is a game I will start playing and realize hours have passes as I try to keeep the Egyptian Gods appeased while staving off Malairia and buliding my mastaba before the palace treasure goes broke.
You can play missions or enjoy all sorts of free play levels as well. If you enjoy this type of game, this one is great. My kids enjoy this one as well, as it is easy to understand and play.
The best game in my collection! 2005-05-06
I've had this game for years, almost as long as I've had my computer, and I still play it! It's challanging, but not frustrating or complicated, and I spend hours designing city layouts and constructing huge monuments. It's a challange to create the most efficent city I can, and that's what keeps me playing. Sure, it's not a high-stakes, shoot-'em-up game, it's a good, clean game for all ages, and I recommend it highly.
