Overall - 3.4			2 - Balance
Playability - 3			4 - Map Design
Creativity - 4			4 - Story/Instructions

Empire Area: Leptis Magna
Rank: Quaestor
Goals to Win:  Culture: 50, Prosperity: 50, Peace 50, Favor: 45, Population: 5,000

Desert Oasis was an enjoyable, challenging map to play, and I recommend it as a download -- especially for newer players who are hungry for a more difficult map but not yet ready to be inundated with enemy invasions. The author of this scenario definitely has a feel for placement of resources and terrain features, and often you'll find yourself puzzling over the kind of difficult choices -- coastal access versus mining access, reservoirs versus farmland -- that make for good gaming.

However, the military dimension of this assignment is not well-thought-out. Only 11 attacks are scheduled over a period of 55 years! And none of them are the sort that are terribly threatening. I beat the victory conditions after twenty years and only had to fight off 2 uprisings.

Nevertheless, there's a lot to learn by playing Desert Oasis, especially when you see Rick Coons' simple yet challenging placement of map features and, overall, the game will give you a pleasant afternoon of imperial governance. I hope we'll see more levels designed by this author.