The flooding has a further knock-on effect, though, in that it leaves thousands of burly farmers with time on their hands. This means that enough food has to be stored to feed the populace for the remainder of the year -although, as a back-up, parts of the mainland can be irrigated with ditches.

Farms can mainly be built in the flood plain of the Nile, and this is where Pharaoh differs from Caesar, as farms are underwater for a sizeable part of the year. Ostrich with a side dish of ostrich isn't the most balanced of diets, though, and farming a variety of foodstuffs is key here. Food is stored in granaries and distributed among the masses via a series of bazaars. A lack of fast food establishments is evident so you build a hunting lodge, enabling them to slaughter ostriches, apparently the equivalent of KFC in Egyptian times. You start by laying a couple of plots of land, some proles move in and construct rudimentary shacks, and you give them a water supply so they can wash their arses. Religion also plays a major role, and various gods must be appeased through building temples and holding festivals, with failure to please them resulting in a blight upon your land. There's no denying that the basic gameplay elements are the same, and for those who missed out last time round, they go a little bit like this: faced with little more than a barren wasteland, you have to build a city from the ground up, populate it, and provide a decent standard of living for your citizens, who will demand food, jobs, education, entertainment, protection, and all the beer they can drink. Despite the change of scenario, Pharaoh uses the same engine as its predecessor, a fact that has led cynics to label it 'Caesar 3 with pyramids'.

Not content with replicating life in Roman times, the Impressions team has shifted their focus towards Egypt, land of sun, sand, slave labour and elaborate monuments.

Caesar III, last year's Rome 'em-up, proved to be one of the most addictive games of all time.

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