Romans & Zombies

Rome's last legion stands against the dead.

One button. One battlefield. Ten waves - and you will not survive them for a long time.

THE BATTLE Set your line before the horn sounds: legionary rows to hold the centre, archers behind them, cavalry on the wings, catapults for the mass. Then the horde comes — from the front, then the flanks, then everywhere at once. Once the fighting starts you command with path orders on a stamina budget, so every order you give is one you cannot give later.

Wave ten walks a buried king.

THE GROUND Every press of TO BATTLE rolls a new battleground: breached walls, river gates, forest defiles, open flats, snow. Twenty-one hand-built fields, and the ground decides as much as the army does — a breach your formation cannot fit through is a breach that will kill you.

THE LEGION Gold from every battle buys the Army ladders: more men, better armour, longer reach, heavier engines. War chests carry skill cards, and the five skills are army commands rather than hero powers — Rally, Pilum Volley, the Wrath barrage, a cavalry squad, the praetorian guard.

There is no shop in the middle of a fight. What you brought is what you have.

HONEST ABOUT THE DIFFICULTY A fresh legion dies on wave two or three. That is intended. The tenth wave is a long campaign of upgrades away, and the last two demand real command on top of a maxed army. If you want a game you can finish on the first evening, this is not it.

• No in-app purchases • One optional ad, only ever by choice: triple your gold at the end of a battle • Plays offline • Ten languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian

The horn waits.