Franchises
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Koei first released Romance of the Three Kingdoms in 1986, founding one of the longest-running turn-based strategy series set in history. The game draws on the Chinese historical novel about the fall of the Han dynasty and the struggle of three kingdoms for supremacy, putting players in charge of warlords who manage territory, recruit generals and diplomats, and lead armies into battle across a sprawling map of ancient China. Unlike the more action-oriented games of its time, the series demanded patience and long-term planning, earning it a devoted, if fairly niche, following outside Japan.
Early entries appeared on Japanese PC-98 computers as well as on the NES and SNES consoles, with each sequel deepening the management of internal politics, diplomacy, and provincial economy and expanding the roster of playable warlords and scenarios drawn from different periods of the conflict. On the MSX the series reached a further audience in Japan and Europe, where that computer had a stronger presence than in North America.
Alongside Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition, Romance of the Three Kingdoms ranks among the founding titles of the historical strategy simulation genre and helped build the studio's reputation as a specialist in deep, system-rich games grounded in real history. The combination of historical subject matter, strategic planning, and steadily added mechanics made it a respected brand that laid the foundation for a long line of sequels Koei kept releasing in the following decades.
