Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition similar games & best alternatives

Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - Trailer
Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - total-war-rome-ii-emperor-edition_1.avif
Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - total-war-rome-ii-emperor-edition_2.avif
Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - total-war-rome-ii-emperor-edition_3.avif
Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - total-war-rome-ii-emperor-edition_4.avif
Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - total-war-rome-ii-emperor-edition_5.avif
Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - total-war-rome-ii-emperor-edition_6.avif

Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition

PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac • 2013

Should you play it?

Emperor Edition is the definitive edition of ROME II, featuring an improved politics system, overhauled building chains, rebalanced battles and improved visuals in both campaign and battleEmperor Edition contains all free feature updates since its release in 2013, which includes bug fixes, balancing, Twitch.

What works

  • Historical setting and immersive atmosphere
  • Large variety of factions and units
  • Deep strategic and tactical gameplay
  • Strong modding community extending replayability
  • Improved ai and game stability after patches

Things to keep in mind

  • Initial launch was buggy and unpolished
  • Ai still has weaknesses in diplomacy and battle tactics
  • Heavy dlc fragmentation and pricing complaints
  • Some ui and gameplay simplifications compared to predecessors
  • Long campaigns can become grindy or tedious

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Total War: PHARAOH DYNASTIES

  • Blood of Steel

  • A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA

  • Medieval II: Total War™ Kingdoms

  • Total War: WARHAMMER

  • Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition

More fantastical

Games that feels like Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition but with more imaginative fiction

  • Age of Wonders III

  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition (Classic)

  • Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East

  • Total War: WARHAMMER III

  • Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® - Dark Crusade

  • Age of Wonders 4

More intimate

Games that feels like Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition but with more focus on close relationships

  • Holdfast: Nations At War

  • Battle Cry of Freedom

  • Total War: SHOGUN 2

  • Total War: THREE KINGDOMS

  • Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition

  • Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Less social

Games that feels like Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition but with less teamwork and cooperation

  • Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders

  • Total War: ATTILA

  • Total War: ROME REMASTERED

  • Voor De Kroon

  • Heroes of Might & Magic V

  • Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition

Choose your own criteria ->

From the same developer

From the same developer, ranked by motivational fit.

  • Medieval II: Total War™ Kingdoms

  • Total War: SHOGUN 2

  • Total War: WARHAMMER III

  • Total War: ATTILA

  • Medieval: Total War™ - Collection

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition. These titles are not in What to play next.

Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Competition, Status, Fellowship, Domination. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Leadership. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Intimacy, Fantasy.

Last update: 21/08/2026