PowerMonger

Powermonger is a real-time strategy game developed by Bullfrog Productions and designed by Peter Molyneux, Glenn Corpes and Kevin Donkin. Built on the Populous engine, it casts you as a warlord set on conquering a fantasy medieval land divided into many territories. Instead of moving units one by one, you lead a captain who recruits villagers, gathers food, trades and invents weapons. Your followers must be fed and supplied, while the world around you stays alive, with villagers farming, working and fighting. Each territory is a three-dimensional landscape where you scout, plan attacks and defeat rival captains, turning a small band of men into a large army. Originally released in 1990, it blends strategy, simulation and conquest.

DOS

Published by Electronic Arts in 1992 and distributed on floppy disks, this PC conversion is entirely mouse-driven and requires a hard drive with at least 560K of free memory to install. Graphics can be set to EGA, VGA 16 colors or VGA 256 colors, so the game adapts to a wide range of PCs. Sound support is extensive, covering Roland MT-32, LAPC-1, Sound Blaster, AdLib and the PC speaker, or no sound at all. A setup menu lets you choose graphics, sound effects, music, mouse port and install directory, though sound effects are not available on the Roland SCC1 card. A two-player mode is available through a modem or null modem link, a rarity for the genre at the time. It remains a faithful, highly configurable way to enjoy the conquest campaign on PC.