The combat in the game is simple but effective. It's not a bad system, per se, it's just frustrating at times. Because of the fact that you can only build near your established buildings, it's often the case that you have to stretch out your town to get in a position to reach the very resources you need to build your town up in the first place. The nature of the areas-of-effect encourages growth (by spreading resources around the map) but also demands close-in urbanization (by requiring you to cluster your houses around facilities). In fact, the development of the city is often the biggest hindrance to the city. The fact that you can only build a short distance away from your current settlement prevents you from pre-planning where you'll need entertainment buildings or temples before you start building houses - and the effects of not having entertainment are immediate once those houses are plopped down, as the many riots my cities went through can attest to. The problem with these areas-of-effect is that it's remarkably easy, given their shape, for buildings to get stuck with partial coverage. Therefore, based on upkeep and the expanding size of your city, you have to maintain a balance between population and facilities. A brickmaker produces 20 bricks, while the average house uses up one unit of bricks.

Some buildings produce global resources that are added to an overall stockpile that are then used by other buildings. A food storehouse will only feed people within its area of effect, and so on. For example, if you put down an apartment complex, the inhabitants of that apartment will only staff a building within the circle. In short, each building has a circle around it showing the buildings that it will influence. Unlike Caesar, which relied on a road-based infrastructure (everyone has to walk on roads, things travel to and from buildings), Grand Ages uses areas of effect. Providing citizens with food, entertainment, and religious fulfillment are as important as keeping your resources in order. Grand Ages is a game where you build an ancient Roman city and must keep it operational and successful against adversities and invaders. A Roman city-building sim in the vein of such classics as the Caesar series, Grand Ages: Rome has an intriguing premise and workable gameplay, but falls short in other areas.

Grand ages rome city layout