Travian won the 2007 Browser Game of the Year award. It is an online browser-based multiplayer strategy game developed in Germany in 2004 that allows participants to play with millions of other participants all around the world.

It is militaristic game based broadly on the Roman Empire that is played in real-time. The game was originally in German and then English but has now been translated into over forty languages.

Travian has over three million players and takes over two hundred and fifty servers to keep the game running. Travian was the first game of its type to be playable on mobile phones.

You begin the game of Travian as a leader of a small village and the member of one of three clans: either a Roman, Gaul or Teuton. The village begins with a population of two and there is only the Main Building.

Around the village you will find eighteen resource fields that are at level 0. The first village you get always has the same distribution of resource fields but additional villages may have a different distribution.

The various resource fields are a woodcutter, clay pit, iron mine or cheat field. Each of these fields produces a certain amount of resources per hour. This production varies depending on the levels. Two units per hour are produced at level 1. These resources are required in order to construct new buildings or to feed and train the troops. By upgrading the fields the production rate can be increased.

The type of buildings a player can construct in the beginning is very limited, however as the village develops more building types become available.

A key component of the game is the troops. Troops allow a player to raid and pillage other villages and steal their resources. These troops are produced in the Great Barracks, Stabel, Great Stable and Workshop. When the barracks have been upgraded to level three, then the player can build an Academy which allows one to create new types of troops and buildings such as an armory or a Blacksmith.

The goal of Travian is to construct and upgrade a World Wonder to level 100. This requires a great deal of resources and takes a long time to complete. The game ends when a World Wonder is upgraded to level 100 and the winner and their alliance is announced.