Lords of Conquest

Lords of Conquest is a strategy game from Electronic Arts inspired by board games like Risk, in which players compete for dominance over a map divided into territories using armies, ships, and economic development. On the Atari 8-bit, the player founds settlements, mines resources like wood, iron, and horses, uses them to build armies and ships, and tries to seize control of as much territory as possible on a randomly generated or predefined map — with support for multiple players taking turns at one computer. Part of the strategy involves building mines and ports that further expand the resource base and determine how quickly a player can expand, and losing a key mine can decide the outcome of an entire match.

The presentation on the eight-bit Atari relies on a clear map with each player's territories color-coded and simple but functional controls for moving units and building. The game emphasizes economic judgment just as much as military tactics — without enough resources, armies couldn't be built, so a successful strategy required balancing expansion against defending one's own resources. Matches could also be played by three or four sides at once, turning every round into unpredictable negotiation over whom to attack and whom to guard against, so matches often kept changing hands right up to the last moves.

Lords of Conquest was one of the beloved turn-based strategy games of the 1980s, and thanks to its local multiplayer support, it became a favorite for shared evenings around the computer. Among territorial strategy games inspired by board games, it stood out for its understandable rules and brisk pace of play. Today the game is interesting as a reminder of a time when multiplayer meant passing joysticks around one screen rather than a network, and as a solid, still-playable foundation for the territorial strategy genre.

Why play it: For shared evenings around a single computer, it offers a solid, still-playable turn-based strategy game with understandable rules and a brisk pace.