Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension
Released Dec 2013
You are a God! You are master and ruler of a loyal nation. You have unimaginable powers at your disposal. You have claimed this world as yours. But there are others who stand in your way. You must defeat and destroy these pretenders. Only then can you ascend to godhood and become the new Pantokrator.
90% positive · 1,450 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Where to buy
Steam $34.99
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Evaluation
Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension launched on December 5, 2013 and received a rich sequence of post-launch updates through 2016, including new nations, new pretender gods, event modding systems, and extensive balance work. The developer then announced Dominions 5 in September 2017 and released it in November 2017, signaling that the studio had moved its focus to the sequel. After that, Dominions 4 received only one further update — version 4.35 on February 22, 2021 — which was a maintenance patch focused on Mac compatibility and stability fixes, with no new content. There have been no developer communications of any kind since February 22, 2021. The studio's attention is clearly on the Dominions series as a whole rather than this specific entry, with Dominions 5 (and now presumably later entries) serving as the active development front. No unreleased DLC is listed, no roadmap or future content has been announced, and the long silence following a maintenance-only patch points to Dominions 4 being a complete, finished product.
Evidence
Version 4.35 released as a maintenance patch adding 64-bit Mac support and stability fixes. No new content included. This is the last developer communication on record for Dominions 4.
Illwinter announced and released Dominions 5, signaling the studio had completed work on Dominions 4 and moved to the next entry in the series.
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
Illwinter Game Design
Achievements
—
Platform
Windows, macOS, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Verified
Players
Single-player · Multiplayer · Co-op
About this game
You are a God! You are master and ruler of a loyal nation. You have unimaginable powers at your disposal. You have claimed this world as yours. But there are others who stand in your way. You must defeat and destroy these pretenders. Only then can you ascend to godhood and become the new Pantokrator.
In Dominions you take control of a powerful being that rules a nation and aspires to godhood. The type of Pretender Gods can vary from magically powerful arch mages to huge titans or large monuments. The pretender gods have different strengths dependent on what kind of god you choose and what nation you play.
When you start the game you decide what kind of god you are and how your Dominion affects your lands and followers. It is an expression of your divine might and the faith of your followers. If your dominion dies, so do you. Your dominion also inspires your sacred warriors and gives them powers derived from your dominion.
In order to win and become the one true god you have to defeat your enemies one of three different ways: conquer their lands, extinguish their dominion or claim the Thrones of Ascension.
In Dominions 4 you can also play team games where one of the players take the role of supreme god, and the other members of the team are his servants and loyal subjects. The lesser gods rule their nations, but you all share the dominion of the supreme god.
Dominions is set in a fantasy world that draws inspiration from historical nations, cultures and myths. You will not encounter the elves of conventional fantasy in this game. Instead you might lead a nation of vanir from old norse myth. Aztecs, romans, israelites, greeks, shona and kievian rus are just a few of the inspirational sources of the game.
The first Dominions game was released in 2002 and was well received by strategy gamers. Since then Dominions has been much refined and Dominions series is still actively played making it one of the longest running 4x turn based strategy games.
Dominions 4 is also a highly moddable game. You can create your own monsters, spells and entire nations. Since Dominions 3 there has been a vivid modding community and Dominions 4 will enhance this capability even further.
In Dominions you take control of a powerful being that rules a nation and aspires to godhood. The type of Pretender Gods can vary from magically powerful arch mages to huge titans or large monuments. The pretender gods have different strengths dependent on what kind of god you choose and what nation you play.
When you start the game you decide what kind of god you are and how your Dominion affects your lands and followers. It is an expression of your divine might and the faith of your followers. If your dominion dies, so do you. Your dominion also inspires your sacred warriors and gives them powers derived from your dominion.
In order to win and become the one true god you have to defeat your enemies one of three different ways: conquer their lands, extinguish their dominion or claim the Thrones of Ascension.
In Dominions 4 you can also play team games where one of the players take the role of supreme god, and the other members of the team are his servants and loyal subjects. The lesser gods rule their nations, but you all share the dominion of the supreme god.
Dominions is set in a fantasy world that draws inspiration from historical nations, cultures and myths. You will not encounter the elves of conventional fantasy in this game. Instead you might lead a nation of vanir from old norse myth. Aztecs, romans, israelites, greeks, shona and kievian rus are just a few of the inspirational sources of the game.
The first Dominions game was released in 2002 and was well received by strategy gamers. Since then Dominions has been much refined and Dominions series is still actively played making it one of the longest running 4x turn based strategy games.
Dominions 4 is also a highly moddable game. You can create your own monsters, spells and entire nations. Since Dominions 3 there has been a vivid modding community and Dominions 4 will enhance this capability even further.
Are these done yet?
Last evaluated Jun 28, 2026
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