RENOVATIO

Aurelis emptied in a single night. Nobody knows why. Twenty-five settlers are going to live there anyway.

Renovatio is a relaxed, hand-crafted city builder set among the ruins of a Roman city. Lead a band of settlers into the broken streets, carry stone out of the rubble, and grow a camp of tents into a great city that fills the old walls again. Renovatio is Latin for renewal, and that is the whole game: you decide what of the old city comes back, and what is torn down to build anew.

But the ruins remember. The longer the great buildings stand broken and the deeper you dig, the more the dread rises. Then the night grows strange.

Restore or salvage

Every ruin is a choice. Tear down the old temple for stone now, or rebuild it block by block and earn its blessing. Bring the aqueduct back to life and its fountains, cisterns and nymphaeum run with water again. Raise the walls, towers and columns, or carry them away for your homes.

Grow from camp to great city

Five classes of citizen, from Peasants to Patricians, each with their own needs. Wooden huts become stone houses, then townhouses that join into real terraced streets with shop fronts. Build market squares, guildhalls, a clock tower and a great city gate.

Feed a city

Fields of wheat, barley, rye, oats, beans, onions, turnips, hops and lavender, each drawn plant by plant and ripening through the year. Olive groves and presses, orchards of apples, pears and cherries, dairies, apiaries, dovecotes and fish ponds. Tend red and white vineyards on terraced hillsides and lay down vintage in the wine cellar.

Keep things moving

Haulers, porters' lodges, handcarts and coaching yards carry goods across the city. The logistics ledger shows which buildings are going short and maps where your carts are needed.

Live through the seasons

Plant in spring, harvest in autumn, and survive the winter. Snow settles on the roofs, rivers freeze, and every home burns firewood to stay warm.

Face the dread

A dread meter tracks the weight of the ruins on your people. Restored landmarks, chapels, lamps and walls push it back. Let it climb and the Pale Procession walks the streets after dark.

Go below

Relics surface as you dig: a legion's tablet, a bronze mask, a key that fits no door. In the late game, sink a shaft into the Undercity, a second dark map rich in iron, silver and marble, where light pushes back the fog and a Sealed Gate waits for your decision.

Features

• Free-form building among hand-placed Roman ruins, on a new map every game
• Restore or salvage temples, forums, aqueducts, walls and towers
• Five citizen classes and dozens of home styles that join into streets
• Detailed farming, orchards, olives and a full wine industry
• Four seasons with harvests, snow, frozen rivers and firewood
• A dread system and story events driven by your choices
• A second underground map with fog of war, mines and expeditions
• Photo mode, music and sound generated live in code

This is an early build

Renovatio is in active development and this is its first public release. Saves from this version may not carry over to later ones. If something breaks or feels wrong, please leave a comment below. Every report gets read, and ratings help other players find the game.

Controls

• Left mouse: select, place, confirm
• W A S D: move the camera
• Right-drag or Q / E: turn the camera
• Mouse wheel: zoom
• V: build menu, R: rotate a building
• Space: pause, P: photo mode
• Every key can be rebound in Settings

System requirements

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Any graphics card from the last several years; integrated graphics works on lower settings. The browser version runs best in Chrome or Edge.