Cradle of Rome is one of my all-time favorite match three games. I played it for days and hours trying to get the last trophy and finish the 100th level. I never reached either goal. Alas, I had to move on as games needed to be played and reviewed.

Of course, I am excited about the upcoming release of Cradle of Rome 2, which is due out in the spring of 2010. Here’s a preview from Awem Studio:

Awem also posts its developer’s diary for those wanting details.

Remember the deal is good on Game du Jour for one day only.

3 March: 40% off on Cradle of Rome

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5 March: 50% off on Socket Logic

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8 March: 50% off on Dream Solitaire

9 March: 50% off on Fruits

I enjoyed, Cradle of Rome, the predecessor to Cradle of Persia, so I was excited when I heard this one was coming. It took longer to get into Cradle of Persia. Eventually, it hooked me, but not as much as its ancestor hooked me.

The major difference between the two comes in how you make the match three. In Cradle of Rome, you select three or more items to make the match. Cradle of Persia not only requires selecting three or more items in a row, but also deciding which direction to go in making the match. If you make the match starting with the first object and moving to the right, the objects behind the first match will move right to replace the matched items’ spots. The same goes for all directions.

It took time to get a handle on this new thinking because the direction you move in can create a new and needed match or break an existing match. Despite the need to use the brain in making the right move, I still prefer Cradle of Rome.

What made Rome appealing was the process of building the city and adding citizens. It’s a great feeling when the screen pops up saying, “You’ve earned a new citizen!” Persia does the same and changing the theme, of course, and the music fits well with the Persian backdrop.

Unlike Rome, Persia lets you know what you need to do to add a citizen with an associated building. In Rome, you had to hope you made the right move. Right-click any building and Cradle of Persia provides the details including the building type, what you earned, and — if applicable, as not all buildings have one — what task to complete to add the citizen. Having this knowledge does not make the game too easy as some tasks are HARD.

Power ups are included, but they work differently. The power ups are not the same as the original and they each have four levels of power. Level 1 provides the least amount of power. For example, dynamite at level 1 only explodes one box while it explodes more at level 4 power.

The good thing about the four levels of power is that you can gain level 1 quickly and have something to use. In Cradle of Rome, you had to wait until the power up filled up to use it. Waiting for each level to power up can make a person antsy. A power up has a thin green line that glows as you destroy its associated power up. The green line proceeds around in a circle. When the circle completes, you gain another level of power.

Some gamers complain about developers releasing a similar version of a hit game, but Awem Studio did a lovely job Cradle of Persia with giving fans of Cradle of Rome the opportunity to get more of the same game play without being too similar. Awem took care to change the power up types, themes, objects, and tasks for earning citizens.

I’m all for Awem doing another. Maybe the company could explore a different one than the often-used Greek (though I do love Greek myths) or other frequently used themes. American history? African theme? Shakespeare theme?

Cradle of Rome fans will enjoy Cradle of Persia and those not having played Cradle of Rome will discover playing Cradle series as fan as a magic carpet ride (well, unless you’re afraid of heights then it’ll be like discovering a Genie in a bottle.).

• Windows 2000/XP/Vista
• 1.0 GHz processor
• 256 MB RAM
• DirectX 8.1 or later
• 81 MB hard drive space

Could this be a Cradle of Rome follow up? Awem Studios announced that Cradle of Persia is coming soon:

Persepol – a mysterious heart of the Ancient Persia. Luxurious palaces decorated with gold and gems, exotic gardens alluring with their peace and freshness. Inscrutability and tempting beauty of the East. Soon you will be able to guess all of its riddles by making a miraculous trip to the land of The Thousand and One Nights! You will need all of your skills and keenness of wit to build a city in the heart of oasis, but what you get in the end will surpass all of your expectations! Cradle of Persia – is coming soon for those who would like to create a miracle with their own hands!

As a fan of Cradle of Rome, I’m eager to see what this one is about. Aquitania also looks intriguing. Similar match three style as Cradle of Rome, but without the building of a city.

Ancient Rome wasn’t built in a day (couldn’t expect me to avoid the cliché, could you?), but it doesn’t stop me from trying in Cradle of Rome, a matching game where players build a Roman empire complete with over 20 masterpieces from village and taverns to Coliseum and Pantheon. Players also work their way up from Peasant to Emperor of Rome.

The purpose is to match three or more of the same object to clear the game board, but it isn’t simple as I advance to higher levels. After conquering earlier epochs, the battles get harder as it takes two matches to destroy a box. Instead of building up frustration, bonuses appear along the way to help me destroy troublemaker spots. Such bonuses include a hammer that can break a box, a lightning bolt that randomly knocks out multiple boxes, not necessarily the ones I want, and a bomb that destroys a specific area. The game contains eight bonuses.

More challenging is getting rid of the chained boxes because the objects can’t move. That means creating a match around the box to clear it. But that isn’t where the challenge stops. I run into objects that have two chains on them and have little room to get other objects lined up to make a match.

The Cradle of Rome game board also changes as you advance higher up in the chain of command to make it difficult to clear objects in corners or to access the boxes that have only one way in. Beautiful scenes representing a part of my growing Roman city appear behind the game for environment variety.

When I eventually lose all my men, the game ends. Fortunately, I don’t have to start at the beginning and work my way up to the fourth of five epochs. The game lets you pick up from the last epoch. As I advance in game play, I pick up strategies for getting better at defeating the board. Unfortunately, no strategy comes to mind for defeating the piles of objects that are double-chained with little room to make matches. I need more bonuses. Too bad, I can’t bribe anyone for them.

In one weekend, I made it past 50 levels. The game comes with over 100 levels to keep feeding my addiction that kept me up past my bedtime and interfered with my nighttime reading. The font styles, the music, the objects, the background and stunning graphics contribute to the game’s ancient Rome feel.

Whether you have time or not, the game fits various schedules. While it doesn’t require regular play, its addicting nature can suck in a busy person’s time as it did mine. I forced myself to read one chapter in a book before rewarding myself with one level of Cradle of Rome.

This is an almost perfect game that’s only missing one thing: Timeless mode. This Zen mode lets kids play it without the stress of beating the clock and adults like me who panic watching the time run out. The music isn’t my favorite, but it fits the game and it’s easy to turn off.

Cradle rocks!

Download the game from your favorite site:

• Amazon
• Big Fish Games
• Reflexive GameCenterSolution