Pax Augusta

Swiss solo developer Roger Gassmann spent seven years working on Pax Augusta. Fascinated by ancient Rome and city-building games such as Caesar and Imperium Romanum, he created his own Roman city-builder with a special focus on authenticity.

According to sole developer Roger Gassmann and publisher Senatis, Pax Augusta is probably the "most authentic" city-building simulation set in ancient Rome - many of the buildings in the game are based on real-life models and have been recreated with great attention to detail, even if much of it ends up in a rather rectangular city layout later on.

The game puts players in the role of a governor building new cities along the Roman frontiers in the provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Magna. There are four game modes to choose from. Career mode allows players to prove themselves as a capable governor, Story mode tells the story of a Roman equites who aspires to become a senator, and Sandbox mode allows players to build without restrictions. Finally, there is a tutorial to guide players through the basic aspects of the game - even with German voiceovers. But regardless of which game mode is chosen, the game does not begin with the construction of a city, but rather on a European world map similar to that of Total War. Players travel around in a covered wagon, completing quests and looking for places to settle. When it comes to building a city, however, the game becomes a classic city-builder, most comparable to the Anno series, although there are no war elements here. It also brings back memories of Caesar or Pharaoh.

Players begin by building roads as central supply routes, planning the village centre and attending to the needs of the population, which is divided into five tiers with increasingly complex requirements that must be met. All the while, players will need to collect and manage resources such as wood, iron, bricks, marble and food, as well as money (denarii), and ensure that production chains run efficiently - although this aspect and optimization are stronger in Anno. Players will build residential areas, marketplaces, temples, baths and more as the city grows from a small outpost to a metropolis. Later, players will have to import and export goods, deal with the more complex needs of citizens, and deal with the changing whims of emperors. Basically, there is a lot of micromanagement and a lot to manage.

Aspects such as slavery and corruption are not left out, and players will also have to deal with natural disasters, uprisings and political power struggles. As the game progresses, players will be able to build additional cities and appoint a governor to take control of the 'old' ones. Successful cities will increase a player's fame and wealth in Rome, opening up new positions and opportunities in the Cursus Honorum, but founding new cities also costs fame. If things don't go so well in the cities, the player can be dismissed as governor.

It is impressive that this game has been made by a single developer, and the graphics hold their own, even if the settlements lack the vibrancy and detail of Anno or Manor Lords. However, the interface and general usability and presentation could be improved, and there have been reports of bugs and crashes on Steam. The first patches for optimisations and bug fixes are already in the works.

"I am a big fan of games like the Caesar series and Imperator: Rome, and in my search for more games like these, I finally decided to make one myself. "I am thrilled to finally release Pax Augusta after years of hard work on this game, supported by a great community, including historians and architects, whose feedback has been invaluable in making Pax Augusta as authentic as possible!" - Roger Gassmann about the creation of Pax Augusta

Pax Augusta is being developed by Roger Gassmann, a solo developer from Switzerland. Gassmann has been fascinated by Roman history since a school trip to Augusta Raurica. As a big fan of games like Imperium Romanum, Imperator: Rome and the Caesar series, he decided to learn to code in order to create his own Roman city-building simulator. Pax Augusta started as a hobby project in early 2019, and has grown into something much bigger with its growing community. The game's publisher is Senatis, based in Frankfurt am Main with an office in the US, which specialises in traditional PC and console games. The company was founded in 2018, and its Managing Director is Wolfgang Duhr, who is also COO of the gamigo group. He was previously Managing Director and Co-founder of 2tainment (now shareholder), Publishing Director at Kalypso Media Group, founder of bitComposer and International Marketing & Sales Manager at Sunflowers (Anno 1503, Knights of Honor). Senatis will also publish G-Rebels, an action-packed combat flight sim from Reakktor Studios in Hannover, in 2025.

"Our role as a publisher is to empower the developer’s vision without diluting it. Roger Gassmann has created something truly special. We simply made sure the world would notice." - Wolfgang Duhr, Managing Director, Senatis

Pax Augusta was released on 17 April 2025 for PC (Steam) for €24.99.

Conclusion

A fairly authentic city builder where players can manage multiple cities at once and climb the Roman career ladder, with lots of micromanagement and usability quirks.

Features

• Intricate and complex Roman city-builder
• Roman career at the heart of the game
• Strong focus on authenticity