Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods

1991 Bullfrog Productions RPG, Strategy

Windows 11With a fix

MacNot sold

Steam DeckPlayable

Gamicality score

–

Metacritic Not rated

OpenCritic Not rated

How it’s combined

Playability today

Runs today4.5/5

Design today3.5/5

Steam user reviews

Mixed

68%

28 reviews1

Get it on Steam

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11With a fix

Runs with a fix. See the steps below.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not sold

No Mac version is sold.

Steam DeckPlayable

Playable, as rated by Valve. May need some setup.1

Played Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods lately?

One click, no account, so the next player knows. How we check where it runs

How to get Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods running today

The game runs much too fast at first: click the world icon in a battle and lower the game speed, or adjust the DOSBox speed with F11 and F12, as explained in this Steam thread.
For full screen, press Alt+Enter and also pick fullscreen from the world icon menu (Steam reviews).
Save your deity with the Save button on the deity screen after every won battle, or progress is lost (Steam thread).

Synopsis

Bullfrog's sequel to the original god game. As a demigod child of Zeus, you raise and lower land so your followers can build and multiply, then spend their faith on floods, earthquakes, lightning and other divine powers to wipe out a rival god's people, working through a long ladder of Greek gods to win a place on Olympus.

Developer: Bullfrog Productions
Released: 1991
Genre: RPG, Strategy
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

Critics praised it at release; Amiga Power scored it 93 percent, admiring its variety, surprises and gentle difficulty curve while noting that the core design barely changed from the first game. On Steam it is rated Mixed. Fans enjoy the nostalgia and the destructive powers, but many reviews say the DOSBox release runs far too fast until the speed is turned down. Others call the interface clumsy, the graphics blocky and the price high for an unchanged re-release.

Playability today

The average of two parts, each from 1 to 5. Tap a check to see why. How it works

Runs today

4.5/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Needs fan patches to run well on Windows 11
?Not confirmed yetSingle-player works without an internet connection
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
All of its content still works (servers, DLC, unlocks)
The full single-player game and two-player LAN play are included (PCGamingWiki).
?Not confirmed yetSupports modern resolutions and widescreen
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
?Not confirmed yetFull controller support or remappable controls
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
Steam Deck Verified or Playable
No intrusive DRM or required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
No known game-breaking bugs in the current version
The DOSBox release starts and runs on current Windows, though it plays too fast until the game speed is lowered (Steam Community).

Design today

3.5/5

Controls feel natural on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
The game is played entirely with the mouse, with one button raising land and the other lowering it, and powers picked from icons. Source: everygamegoing.com, pcgamingwiki.com.
Menus, text or interface are hard to read on today's screens
The DOSBox release shows the original low-resolution DOS graphics with small icons, and current players call the interface clumsy and the graphics blocky. Source: steamcommunity.com, steamcommunity.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
Battles can be saved from the world icon menu, and the deity profile with its progress is saved from the deity screen after each win. Source: steamcommunity.com, gog.com.
Hard to make progress without a guide
The game never explains how progress is kept, so several players lost their campaign before learning to save the deity by hand, and new players must find the speed setting themselves. Source: steamcommunity.com, gog.com, steamcommunity.com.
Pacing holds up: little grind, filler or forced backtracking
Each battle is a short contest against one god, and the next opponent's strength depends on how well the last battle went, which keeps the difficulty climbing steadily. Source: everygamegoing.com, steamcommunity.com.
Camera and movement never fight the player
The battlefield is an isometric close-up view moved by clicking on an overview map, with no camera to wrestle with. Source: pcgamingwiki.com, everygamegoing.com.