Tzar: The Burden of the Crown
Tzar: The Burden of the Crown is an RTS classic by Haemimont Games, originally released in 2000
Tzar: The Burden of the Crown is a strategy, rts and classic game
developed and published by Haemimont Games.
Released on June 06th 2019 is available in English only on Windows.
It has received 469 reviews of which 430 were positive and 39 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.5 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 4.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Tzar: The Burden of the Crown into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Tzar: The Burden of the Crown through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor: 1.4 GHz or faster
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 9.0c
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 144 MB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
- Additional Notes: Multiplayer over LAN is available. Use Gameranger or similar service for online multiplayer.
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
FINALLY! After all these years, one of my favourite games has finally been unearthed from the Underworld and can be enjoyed by all once again! As a Bulgarian, I am always immensely proud that this game exists, as it's arguably the greatest my country has ever produced. If you wanna know if it's worth a try, the short answer is absolutely yes! Just set your expectations accordingly as this is an unremastered untouched game that is practically a quarter of a century old at this point. Still, the crown of Tzar shines brightly to this very day! I strongly believe it's one of the greatest RTS games of all time! The stupidest thing you can say about Tzar is that it's an Age of Empires rip-off! Yes, the two games are similar in their core gameplay of being classic strategy games with a medieval setting. However, I've played both extensively and can tell you, they are very different and there are many things that set Tzar apart from any similar game. While AOE has many many factions with mostly minor differences between them in the form of Civ bonuses, different tech trees and unique units, Tzar has only 3 factions but each is vastly different from the rest. All of them offer a lot of interesting and varied units, stuctural differences and tactics. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses and fully embodies their respective culture - European, Asian and Arabic - both tactically and culturally. I also love how the game doesn't pull punches at all. Yeah, the Arabs have jihad and literal slavery as upgrades, what of it? It's historically accurate! Where Tzar starts to really set itself apart, especially from pre-Mythology AOE, is with it's heavier focus on fantasy! Yes, the units and structures are mostly historically accurate, but each faction also has a Mage Tower that produces literal wizards! Said wizards can cast all kinds of spells such as shooting lighting, shooting fireballs, summoning meteor showers, freezing enemies, turning enemies to stone, forcing enemy forces to turn on each other or even resurrecting the dead! By far their coolest powers are that they can summon various culturally relevant mythological creatures such as flying fire breathing dragons, stone giants, genies, flying carpets, vampire bats and more. There's also magic portals scattered around the maps and when captured, they allow you to spawn various fantasy races such as orcs and dwarves or undead minions like skeletons and ghosts! Some factions have access to alchemy, which allows you to craft special magical items! There is so much more here that is unheard of in an otherwise classic medieval RTS. Beyond all that, there are so many more mechanics too! Each faction has a deep upgrade system for improving units. Priests have various support and utility powers that they can offer that also differ between factions. Most importantly of all I would say are all the RPG elements introduced within the RTS framework! First of all, this Bulgarian game was the first RTS ever to have a full leveling system, two full years before Warcraft III had it! There's upgrades for this leveling and it allows units to become so much more than just numbers on the field. As mentioned, various units have different abilities to use. The wizards even have a mana pool! If all of that weren't enough, there's also special magic items scattered around the map, such as weapons that boost a unit's attack or defense stats, potions that grant temporary bonuses or spellbooks that allow any unit to use various spells for a limited time. I swear, you could've made DotA several years early in this game and it might've had more tactical variety. Even as is, there is so much utility here that adds layers upon layers on the tactical complexity. Overall, while the game isn't perfect in terms of balance and content, it is incredibly deep in the tactical department and there's so many layers to behold. For a seasoned RTS player, if you've never checked this game out, do it! I strongly believe you'll be impressed with how much there is to it, especially given how old it is. It's also really pleasant to be in with its beautifully rendered sprites, great animations, fun sound effects and even some features that were quite rare for the time like a full day/night cycle and weather simulation! If nothing else, you can just clash swords and sling spells with bots while you listen to the absolutely GODLY soundtrack. If in recent years you've also gotten into dungeon synth, then you'll love it as this is exactly the kind of archaic fantasy PC game that dungeon synth is trying to emulate. While those are the new age legacy, this is the genuine article, the original (HINT: If you also have the glitch where only the first song loops, try this fix, it solved it for me: https://steamcommunity.com/app/825730/discussions/0/3195801484951422085/ ) In conclusion, I am just overjoyed to have Tzar back in my hands. In the year of our lord 2024, I finally have C&C Red Alert 2, Age of Empires II and Tzar together in my collection once again. The Holy Trinity that introduced me to the RTS genre and made it my favourite to this day. The legacy of my childhood finally restored and complete. Tzar is an old game and it plays as such, so be prepared to maybe have to tinker with some game files to get it all running. You'll need GameRanger or similar if you intend to ever play multiplayer. But at the end of the day, this is still an amazing RTS that holds up really well. Controls are pretty smooth, pathfinding is comparatively good, the sprite graphics still look awesome and are easy to read and the gameplay is deep, intricate and strategic, offering endless tactical opportunities. The random maps offer infinite replayability. The soundtrack is also an absolute masterpiece. This is the little Bulgarian game that could. The one that can stand up to the titans of EA, Microsoft and Blizzard and actually hold its ground firmly! Come and give it a go! The crown is yours if you have the power to hold on to it! P.S. Върнете ни българския език! И направо дайте един заслужен ремастър като сте почнали!
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Lovely! Works on Windows11, but the aspect ratio is off. The best fix for Windows11 in 2025 I found.. ..is from GOG forums, Tzar 1.10 GOG Windows11 Patch + CD Audio Tracks + Anthology Expansions Translated to English post. Make sure to edit the ddraw ini file, and edit line 39 (Bicubic works best for me). Make sure to also enable CD audio in game for the truly original OST blasting during gameplay.
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Its a childhood classic. I never was able to get the full release version, i just remember playing the demo over and over because it was the best game i had when this came out. Still a good game even today.
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(do not recommend if you have Win 11) bought it bc of nostalgia but doesnt work for windows 11... hmmm currently looking up a way around this.
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10/10 This is the best game of all time. Nothing comes close. It introduced mechanics to the RTS genre that still have not been replicated to this day, while some mechanics were copied by others and now are standard to the genre. (1999 demo release) It was canonically the FIRST RTS to have hero units. Beyond that, it offers a plethora of mechanics never seen again in an RTS; Normal units can gain experience to become hero units, any unit can learn any spell, any unit can learn to have mana or increased mana, you can lose your castle and all your buildings but still have another base across the map hidden that you can build with a singular peasant, and unimaginably huge randomly generated maps - the game has it all. And it's why I keep returning to play it after now 25 years. The ultimate sandbox and RTS rolled into a single unbeatable package of replayability. This is the best game of all time.
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Data sources
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 21 November 2024 14:01 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 19 December 2024 04:23 |
| Steam price | 23 December 2024 20:20 |
| Steam reviews | 23 December 2024 22:06 |
Online players
19
Developer
Haemimont Games
Publisher
Haemimont Games
Release
06 Jun 2019
Platforms