Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic 2003

Is it still worth playing?

You lead a Wizard across the Surface, the Underground and the new Shadow World in this 2003 turn based fantasy strategy game for Windows. In cities you build units and buildings and pay for them in gold, and you research spells from the elemental spheres with mana, while Wizard Towers extend how far you can cast. Heroes you can hire fight better than your Wizard, and every battle is fought on a tactical layer of its own. There are fifteen playable races, and this entry adds random map generation to the series, a campaign editor and an item forge for crafting gear. An attacked unit often retaliates, and the retaliation uses up its movement points, so sieges drag. The choices it keeps handing you, which spheres to research and which heroes to hire, are still its draw today.