Game Overview
“Rome: A New Era” is a pixel-art survival-building sandbox game developed by the Swedish indie studio Beartwigs and published by Three Friends. It launched in Early Access on Steam on May 26, 2026, priced at 48 yuan. Set in ancient Rome following its collapse due to a supernatural catastrophe, players must rebuild civilization from the ruins, either in single-player mode or in co-op with up to 8 players. Gather resources and build towns during the day, and fend off attacks from zombies and mythical creatures at night. Simultaneously, offer sacrifices to the Roman gods at altars to unlock technological bonuses. Below, I will provide comprehensive guidance—covering class selection, early-game survival, base location, boss strategies, the deity system, and advanced gameplay—to help you build your own Roman Empire amidst these ruins.
Class Selection and Starting Out
The first step after entering the game is to choose a class. Each class starts with level 5 skills and is equipped with a corresponding tool or weapon. For beginners, we recommend the Shield Bearer (equipped with a shield) or the Woodcutter (equipped with an axe). The Shield Bearer can hold down the right mouse button to defend while attacking with a spear, offering excellent survivability and making it a great choice for newcomers. While Mages are highly efficient at clearing mobs, they are fragile, so this path is not recommended for beginners. When creating a world, solo players should select a Small map to significantly reduce travel time and avoid losing motivation during tedious back-and-forth trips. For multiplayer games with four or fewer players, Small or Standard maps are also recommended.
Early Game Survival:
What to Do on Day 1
1. Initial Tools and Resources: After starting the game, complete the tutorial first. Remember to craft a flint spear as your primary weapon, and equip both a shield and a spear. Crafting an axe and a pickaxe is your top priority; chop down trees and mine stone to quickly make wooden planks. For food, we recommend cooked small game and bread in the early game. You can obtain food by gathering wild wheat or hunting wild boars and deer.
2. Nighttime Defense Before dark, make sure to do two things: craft torches and build a wooden wall around your camp. After dark, the number of zombies increases dramatically, so never linger outside. Road blueprints can be used as initial wall materials; they provide a speed boost and are very useful in the early game.
3. Prioritize Killing Monsters to Level Up: Focus on killing lower-level monsters to accumulate base experience and loot materials. It is recommended to farm monsters continuously until you reach Level 5. Farming monsters early on not only boosts your level but also gathers materials for future gear.
Choosing a Location for Your Base:
The first step that determines success or failure⚠️ This is the mistake beginners make most often, and it’s the main reason I recommend starting the game over.
Don’t build your city right at the spawn point! There’s likely no coal mine nearby, the water source is too far from the mill, and you’ll be miles away from the desert and volcano—you’ll be running yourself ragged hauling materials every time. The golden rule for site selection: Spend time exploring toward the center of the map at the start, and find a spot that straddles multiple biomes. The ideal location is near the junction of the plains, desert, and volcano biomes, as this will make your resource-gathering routes much smoother.
Specific requirements for building in plains/forests: At the boundary between plains and forests, find a spot with clay and at least a 4x2 water source—this is essential if you plan to automate bread production with a waterwheel mill later on. If you don’t want to automate right away, you can temporarily settle for a spot with clay right next to a boss as a stopgap measure; you can use it as a teleportation point later.
Single-player players will find it easier to gather resources on a small map. You might find free carts and wooden barrels near the clay in the plains, so be sure to grab them while you’re at it. Settlement Steps: Once you’ve found an ideal location, place core buildings such as the Town Center, Altar, and Granary near the clay to complete the settlement quest.
