Fit check
Is Doodle Empires worth it for you?
We tell you who should skip it, too.
Play it if you…
Good fit- Strategy players who want to draw and name their own nations
- Alternate-history fans who prefer changing borders and faction origins
- Sandbox players who enjoy shaping maps through card-driven changes
Skip it if you…
Saves you a refund- Players seeking direct control of armies or combat units may hit a wall because the described gameplay centers on drawing borders and changing nations through cards.
- Players who dislike repeating nation selection, card drawing, and territory editing may lose interest in the core gameplay loop.
- Players looking for a finished feature set may find the early-development scope restrictive.
- Players wanting a military campaign with squad combat may find the nation-and-border sandbox too indirect.
Our take on Doodle Empires
The bounce point arrives after available drawing power runs out, when progress shifts to selecting a nation and drawing another card. Players seeking direct battles or fixed campaign objectives may hit that system before the changing map becomes engaging.
What is Doodle Empires?
Draw custom nations on a map, choose their names and border colors, and shape an alternate history as territories change.
After using available drawing power, select a nation and draw a card to alter it. Cards can expand borders, split nations, annex another nation, create a new nation, replace a leader, build a castle, establish or adopt a faith, or create a new origin. Age cards change which card types appear more often for a period. Political, Origin, Faith, and Fort modes display national borders, original nations, faith territories, and castle-protected tiles. The game is in early development, with planned additions including migrating tribes, disasters, larger maps, a list of dead nations, interface changes, and music or sound.
How Doodle Empires plays
- 01Custom Nation Drawing
- Players choose a border color and name, then draw the nation's territory directly onto the map.
- 02Card-Based Changes
- Cards can expand or split a selected nation, annex another nation, replace its leader, or create a new origin.
- 03Castle Protection
- A placed castle protects surrounding tiles and makes them more costly for other nations to claim.
- 04Faith Cards
- Players can create new faiths or have a nation adopt an existing faith.
- 05Political Mode
- This view displays the borders of all nations on the map.
- 06Origin Mode
- This view shows the original nation from which each nation split.
- 07Faith Mode
- This view shows which tiles belong to each faith.
- 08Fort Mode
- This view shows tiles protected by castles and therefore more costly to claim.
- 09Changing Card Ages
- Conquest, division, and unity cards make different card types appear more often for a period.
Doodle Empires compared to similar games
Xenonauts focuses on turn-based squad operations against an alien invasion, while Doodle Empires uses drawn borders and cards to shape nations. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation centers on managing vast armies across a galactic empire, whereas Doodle Empires works at the nation, territory, faith, and origin level. Old World follows historical empires across generations with marriage, heirs, and long-term leadership, while Doodle Empires builds alternate histories through map editing and card effects.
Doodle Empires: platforms & release
Is Doodle Empires worth it?
It is worth it if: strategy players who want to draw and name their own nations. Skip it if: players seeking direct control of armies or combat units may hit a wall because the described gameplay centers on drawing borders and changing nations through cards.
Where can I download Doodle Empires?
Use the Download Now button on this page: it opens Doodle Empires's store page, where you can choose how to get it.
What platforms is Doodle Empires on?
Windows, macOS and Linux.
