Cradle of Rome

Three resources tabs are displayed at the top of the screen for money, wood and food. As the player progresses through the game buildings become available to build, their cost being a combination of those resources.

The player must also manage time, as an amphora serves as the timer, slowly leaking water as time passes. If the player manages to finish the level before it is empty, the water remaining is added as a bonus to the resources. Otherwise, the player loses a life. Some of the board surface has marble underneath it, which must be broken by matching the tiles over it.

Matching special tiles, like the ones with an axe or lightning bolt, fills power-up gauges at the bottom of the screen. Once complete, these power-ups perform special actions, such as removing single tiles or destroying a random amount of them. These power-ups can be used once and then must be replenished.

A tile with chains is immobile, stopping the flow of tiles to other parts of the board. It has to be matched once to break the chains, and again to be removed from the table. The game also features a new mode, Free Play, that allows the user to replay favourite boards, which was added in the Nintendo DS version.