Great Britain
Constitutional Monarchy
Maritime Empire: trade income +15%, naval upkeep −15%, research +5%.
Total war, one terminal.
Terminal Empire is a turn-based grand-strategy game that lives entirely in your terminal. Pick from nine playable 18th-century nations, run an economy, build villages, research a tech tree, fight wars, and reform your government — all rendered in a TUI accelerated by libghostty.
01 — What it is
A real strategy game, in your shell.
No graphics card. No launcher. No 80 GB install. Just a TUI the size of your terminal window — the same one you already have open for work.
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01
Pick a nation, see its quirk
Every playable nation ships with a national quirk — passive modifiers to tax, trade, attack, defense, or research. Prussia drills harder. Britain trades cheaper. The United Provinces research faster but bleed gold on upkeep.
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02
Build the economy first
Villages (Farms, Fishing Ports, Plantations, Smithies, Universities, Churches, Trading Ports) fill your territory's three village slots. Government buildings, roads, and tech modifiers stack on top of base tax income.
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03
Recruit, march, fight
Raise armies, recruit land or naval units, move through adjacent territories with movement points, and auto-resolve combat against enemy armies. Generals earn battle experience and grow stronger.
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04
Reform the government
Move from Absolute Monarchy to Constitutional Monarchy or a Republic. Fill your cabinet — Head of State, Finance, Military, Naval, Justice — to unlock modifiers. Quell unrest before it costs you provinces.
================================ (*) TERMINAL EMPIRE (*) A low-fidelity campaign table, lit by torch and ledger. ================================
> [N] New Game — Choose from 9 playable nations.
[C] Continue Latest Save — Prussia · Spring 1700 · 2026-05-16 12:56
[L] Load Save Game — 1 save(s) in ~/Library/Application Support/…
[Q] Quit — Leave the empire to gather dust.
Standard saves: ~/Library/Application Support/terminal-empire/saves
02 — Pick a side
Nine nations, nine ways to play.
Each playable nation comes with its own government, treasury, starting territories, and a national quirk that subtly rewrites the numbers underneath the whole game. There is no "best" faction — only the one that matches how you want to play.
France
Absolute Monarchy
Centralized State: tax income +10%, recruitment costs −5%, happiness −2.
Spain
Absolute Monarchy
Treasure Fleets: tax +5%, trade +10%, research −5%.
United Provinces
Republic
Merchant Republic: trade +25%, research +10%, army upkeep +5%.
Prussia
Absolute Monarchy
Drilled Army: attack +10%, upkeep −10%, trade income −5%.
Austria
Absolute Monarchy
Imperial Bureaucracy: tax +5%, happiness +4, recruitment +5%.
Sweden
Absolute Monarchy
Northern Resolve: defense +10%, happiness +2, growth −5%.
Russia
Absolute Monarchy
Vast Frontier: growth +10%, recruitment −5%, research −5%.
Ottoman Empire
Absolute Monarchy
Janissary Corps: attack +5%, defense +5%, trade income −5%.
03 — What's in the box
What's under the hood.
Real subsystems, with real numbers — not a tech demo. Every screenshot below is the actual game, running, with no post-processing.
System 01
Economy, down to the village
Taxes, village income, road bonuses, trade routes, and quirky multipliers from your government and tech tree. The economy dialog breaks your income down by territory, so you can see exactly which duchy is paying for your army.
System 02
Territories, villages, and city buildings
Every owned territory has population, happiness, food balance, income, three
village slots, and four city-building slots. Press Enter on a territory
to open it, then B to build, U to upgrade, C
for city buildings, or R to lay roads.
System 03
Government, cabinet, and reform
Reform your government from Absolute Monarchy → Constitutional Monarchy → Republic. Each tier costs gold and changes your modifier profile. Fill the cabinet — Head of State, Finance, Military, Naval, Justice — and watch the modifiers (and the unrest) tick accordingly.
The throne is empty
Ready to command?
Terminal Empire is in active development. Register interest and we'll keep you posted on the first playable build — and the launch date.