Travian is a browser-based online game

Gameplay

Travian is a browser-based game, made in PHP, and is therefore played directly through the internet with web browser. While Travian is a strategy game, with events occurring and resources accumulated in real time, it should not be confused with other types of real time strategy games where actions occur in a highly interactive and fast paced manner. The player starts with a village but seeks to amass an empire. No downloads, installations or plugins are required, although a graphicpack may be downloaded to ease server stress. After registration, players may start playing Travian immediately, free of charge. Travian provides enhanced access, for example through mobile phones, for a fee. Also, a "Plus" feature which provides additional tools is available for purchase with prices starting at $2.99 per month.

Tribes

A player starts with one village, populated by either Teutons, Gauls, or Romans. Each race has different troops, advantages and disadvantages, and different strategies. The Romans are described as the best race for beginners because of their easy playability. However, Roman armies are more expensive to train and maintain. Teutons are better at offense and can build armies early on while Gauls are often considered the best at defense and enjoy the fastest troops.

Resources

There are four different types of resources in Travian: wood, clay, iron and crops, all of which are required in various quantities to build and expand. The resources are produced by fields in one's village, producing resources at a preset rate, which may be upgraded. Though unusual for an online browser-based game, field tiles continuously generate resources. For example, if 30 units of a resource are to be produced per hour, one unit is generated every 2 minutes, rather than 30 units on the hour.