14 DAY TRIAL // D3Publisher is announcing that the Nintendo DS will be receiving a port of the already popular PC game Cradle of Rome, which will sport some 100 levels that will present various strategic challenges that can be overcome through various puzzle games. Development duties on the title are handled by cerasus.media and Cradle of Rome will likely launch on the North American market on November 18.
D3Publisher has previously launched massive casual success Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, which employs match-3 mechanics to power a light role playing adventure.
Pete Andrew, who is the vice president of product development at D3P, says that "Cradle of Rome offers the highly addictive puzzle gameplay that fans know and love. It’s easy to pick up and play making it a perfect fit for on-the-go gaming on Nintendo DS. Players can enjoy Cradle of Rome for a few minutes or for hours at a time and brush-up on Ancient Roman history while they’re at it".
The casual nature of the game means that it will not require you to learn complicated gameplay mechanics, while allowing you to take advantage of the unique and innovative stylus-based control scheme of the Nintendo DS.
In the game you can build more than 20 historical sites hailing from 5 different eras of Ancient Rome. You need to gather a variety of resources like wood, tools and gold to be able to complete the monuments. Resource collection is done via a simple match-3 puzzle game where you have to match rows of 3 or more colored pieces to obtain as much of one resource as possible before the time runs out. The ultimate goal of any player is to take the city he manages from lowly village to glowing capital while amassing the power needed to become Emperor.