Ten Harvests
A free strategy game you play in your browser, and a modern take on the classic 1973 Hamurabi game. Rule an ancient river city for ten years. Each year, decide how much land to buy or sell, how much grain feeds your people, and how many acres to plant. No download and no account.
How to play Ten Harvests
Ten Harvests is a turn-based ruler sim. You take the throne of an ancient river city with 100 people, 1,000 acres of land, and 2,800 bushels of grain. Your reign lasts ten years, and each turn is one year. Every year you make three decisions, then watch what the harvest, the rats, and the river bring.
- Trade land. Buy or sell acres at this year's price, which changes every year between 17 and 26 bushels an acre.
- Feed the people. Hand out grain from the storehouse. Anyone who doesn't get enough starves.
- Plant the fields. Choose how many acres to seed. Next year's food comes from this year's planting.
Then the year plays out: the harvest comes in, rats may raid the storehouse, newcomers arrive if the city looks prosperous, and plague may strike. If more than 45% of your people starve in a single year, they overthrow you and the game ends.
The rules
| Rule | Amount |
|---|---|
| Food | Each person eats 20 bushels a year |
| Seed | 1 bushel plants 2 acres |
| Labor | Each person can farm 10 acres |
| Harvest | 1 to 5 bushels per planted acre, random each year |
| Land price | 17 to 26 bushels per acre, random each year |
| Rats | About 2 years in 5 they eat a quarter or half of the stored grain |
| Plague | About a 15% chance each year; it kills half the people |
| Newcomers | More arrive when the city has plenty of land and grain per person |
| Overthrown | More than 45% of the people starve in one year |
How your reign is judged
At the end of ten years you get a verdict based on two numbers: the average share of people who starved each year and the acres of land per person at the end. To earn the best verdict, keep yearly starvation at 3% or less and finish with at least 10 acres per person. You also get a score from 0 to 100, and your best score is saved in your browser.
Tips for a long, well-fed reign
- Feed everyone first. Starvation drags your verdict down every year it happens, and a single bad year can end your reign.
- Never plant more than your people can work. Extra land with no one to farm it earns nothing until the city grows.
- Buy land when it's cheap, sell when it's dear. A price near 17 is a bargain. Near 26, selling a few spare acres can fund a lean year.
- Keep a reserve. Rats and a 1-bushel harvest can arrive in the same year. A small cushion of grain is insurance.
- Land per person is the long game. Newcomers arrive as you prosper, so keep buying land as the city grows or your acres per person will fall.
- Sell land to survive. If the storehouse can't feed everyone, selling some acres is better than letting people starve.
The history of Hamurabi
Ten Harvests is our own version of one of the oldest computer games. In 1964, teacher Mabel Addis and IBM's William McKay created The Sumerian Game, an educational simulation for schoolchildren that ran on an IBM mainframe. Players ruled the city of Lagash in ancient Sumer and managed its grain, land, and people.
In 1968, Doug Dyment at Digital Equipment Corporation wrote a short version called The Sumer Game, in which the player rules as Hamurabi. In 1973, David Ahl rewrote it in BASIC as Hamurabi and published it in 101 BASIC Computer Games. A later edition, BASIC Computer Games, became the first computer book to sell a million copies, and Hamurabi became a first program for a generation of home computer owners. The name's spelling, one letter short of the Babylonian king Hammurabi, stuck.
The game inspired many descendants, including Santa Paravia and Fiumaccio (1978) and the city builders that followed. Ten Harvests keeps the original rule numbers on purpose, because they still make a tense game, and adds a modern interface, planning hints, and a score to beat. It is not affiliated with the original authors or publishers.