Cradle of Rome

Matching three or more of these tiles collects them to their respective resources tab.

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.

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.

To complete a level, this marble has to be broken by matching the tiles over it.

Matching special tiles, like the ones with an axe, fills power-up gauges at the bottom of the screen.

Once complete, these power-ups perform special actions: the axe removes single tiles, the lightning bolt destroys a random amount of them, the bomb explodes squares of nine tiles, the hourglass adds water to the amphora, etc.

Once spent, their gauges must be replenished for another use.

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 Nintendo DS version was ported from the PC.

It has revised levels, gameplay adapted for the dual screens and an adjusted difficulty level.

It also contain a new mode, Free Play, that allows the user to replay favourite boards.

Cradle of Rome for Nintendo DS is currently worth €8.45 loose, €4.91 complete in box, and €9.62 factory sealed. Prices are based on real sales and update regularly on Gamevaro.

Cradle of Rome has a steady sales history on the tracked marketplaces, meaning it trades hands regularly and isn't considered particularly rare.

Loose means cartridge or disc only, CIB (complete in box) includes the original box and manual, and sealed means factory-sealed and never opened. For Cradle of Rome, loose is €8.45 and CIB is €4.91 — CIB commands a premium because original boxes and manuals are fragile and often don't survive.

The PAL version of Cradle of Rome is currently worth €8.45 loose, versus €8.74 for NTSC-U. Regional price differences usually come down to print run size and regional collector demand.