Olden Era and Heroes 3

0:03 Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era "is not a remake of any previous chapters", Unfrozen wrote in Devlog #15 (Apr 24, 2026); "It is a brand-new, official entry in the franchise", "built from the ground up". Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is its closest ancestor all the same: its "core gameplay loop had been solidified and became the standard for nearly all games released later. That mechanical brilliance remains a cornerstone of Olden Era", while the art leans "especially" on Heroes 2. Ubisoft said at the reveal that much of the game "is inspired by fan-favorite Heroes of Might and Magic III" (Ubisoft News, Aug 22, 2024), and the game is set in the same world, Enroth, centuries earlier, on another continent. Exploring the map, building towns, leveling heroes and fighting on a hexagonal grid all work as a Heroes 3 player expects; Faction Laws, two upgrades per creature, subskills, new magic and new modes are Olden Era's own. Vi.ki covers the older game on its own video wiki: https://heroes3.vi.ki/

Quick facts

By the numbers

Unfrozen compared the content of Olden Era's Early Access launch with each earlier game's base game and add-ons in Devlog #15, claiming "more content than any previous Heroes game at release":

Figures are Unfrozen's own counts; Olden Era's add-ons are "TBD".

What carries over from Heroes 3

• Battles on hexes. "Welcome back, traditional hexagonal grid", Unfrozen wrote, with "a lot of active unit abilities" added (Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2024). See Combat.
• Movement. "Just like in HoMM3", a hero's movement points depend on the speed of the army's units, which keeps hero chaining alive (Devlog #2, Sep 27, 2024). That was the 2024 plan; a creator reports the Early Access build works differently (below).
• Templates and competitive play. Unfrozen studied Heroes 3's competitive scene, where a match on "Jebus Cross" (the most popular competitive template) "takes no more than a couple of in-game weeks" (Devlog #2). Olden Era ships its own Jebus Cross, enlarged to 176 by 176 in the beta, with Jebus Outcast, Jebus Tournament and Jebus Arena beside it.
• Spell tiers. Anyone can learn tier 1 and 2 spells; tiers 3 to 5 need the school's skill, "like Wisdom in Heroes II-III" (Devlog #10, Jun 13, 2025).
• Familiar sites and faces. Learning Stones and Dragon Utopias "pay clear homage to older installments" (Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2024); the Dread Knight was remodeled to look "more in line with the nostalgic look they were known for in Heroes III and IV" (Devlog #15).
• A Heroes 3 map. The Mysterious Island, added on Aug 20, 2026, is Papyjama's popular Heroes 3 PvE map remade for Olden Era, after Unfrozen hired its author (Unfrozen, Jun 15, 2026).

23:10 Movement has not stayed entirely as it was. Norovo's beginner's guide of May 4, 2026, made on the Early Access build, lists two changes for players used to Heroes 1 to 3 rules: picking up a resource next to the hero costs no movement points, and a hero's movement points "are not limited by the speed of their creatures": slow units "no longer slow down your hero". That differs from what Devlog #2 described in 2024.

What is different

• Faction Laws. Perk trees tied to your starting faction, bought with Seals earned from fighting and towns, so that faction "will matter until the end" (Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2024).
• Two upgrades per creature. Every tier has a base unit and two alternative upgrades, 127 faction creatures in all; see Creatures.
• Skills with subskills and elite classes. A hybrid of Heroes 3 and Heroes 5: up to 8 skills, 5 subskills each, and optional subclasses taken from Heroes 7 (Devlog #11). See Heroes and Skills.
• Four schools of magic and spell research. Daylight, Nightshade, Primal and Arcane, spells with levels, and a Mage Guild that can research a missing spell once a day for resources, "a new system of learning spells that alleviates its random core for a price" (Devlog #10). See Magic and Spells.
• Focus Charges. A shared combat resource spent on unit and hero abilities, earned by attacking, taking damage and each round (Devlog #9).
• A buildable Grail. Find the Mirage, beat a stronger copy of your own hero, and build the Grail Sanctuary in any town (Devlog #12); see The Grail.
• New modes. Single Hero, where one hero's death means defeat; Arena, a draft whose predecessor is Heroes 5's duel mode; ranked matchmaking, "for the first time in the series' history" (Devlog #1); and Alliances with always-simultaneous turns and resource trading between allies, "a feature new to the series" (Unfrozen, Sep 30, 2026).
• A different random map generator. Unfrozen estimates that about 15% of Heroes 3 random matches are "borderline unwinnable" and built its Random Map Generator to keep paths open and treasure fair (Devlog #6).
• 3D graphics. Rendered in 3D with an almost isometric view, for cost and longevity; Heroes 3 used 3D models rendered as 2D sequences (Devlog #15).

11:02 Norovo compares spell levels with Heroes 3, where a spell such as Teleport also had four versions (unschooled, Basic, Advanced and Expert), but only the hero's magic skill decided which one was cast; in Olden Era a spell's level can also come from the Mage Guilds, artifacts, map sites and subskills.

20:01 The resources changed too. Of the classic set of wood, ore, crystals, gems, sulfur and mercury, "Olden Era scrapped sulfur in favor of a new resource called alchemical dust", which limits upgrades: most dwelling upgrades, spell upgrades in the Observatory and some artifact upgrades need it, and it cannot be bought at an ordinary Marketplace, Norovo explains.

Factions old and new

Olden Era's six Factions mix "old classics (Temple, Necropolis, Dungeon to an extent) and new ideas" (Unfrozen). The Grove fuses the fairy-tale and elemental sides of Heroes 2's Sorceress, which Heroes 3 split into Rampart and Conflux (Devlog #9). There is no Inferno: the demons of Heroes 3 reach Enroth "centuries after the events of Olden Era", so the Hive is a new demonic faction (Devlog #7). The Dungeon has no Beholders, because their creator "hasn't been born yet" (Devlog #8).

Still missing

Two things Heroes 3 players look for are planned but not in Early Access: an underground map layer and the Thieves' Guild, both in Stage 3 of the roadmap, which has no dates. Full modding support is intended after the full release (Devlog #15).

What critics said

Reviewers measured Olden Era against Heroes 3. GamesRadar+ headlined its Early Access review "The legendary strategy RPG series finally makes a comeback to reclaim its throne" (Oscar Taylor-Kent, Apr 28, 2026), and PC Gamer wrote that it "isn't a reimagining or a divisive reinterpretation, it's just a brilliant strategy game" (Fraser Brown, Apr 30, 2026). Unfrozen itself writes that "nobody can deny Heroes III being the high point of the series", while crediting Heroes 2's visuals for making the series famous.

10:24 IGN's Early Access review (Apr 28, 2026) said that, "even though it's not a remake", Olden Era follows "the rules good remakes should always follow": "It's how I remember Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and 3, even if it doesn't try to recreate those games frame by frame with new graphics."

Frequently asked questions

Is Olden Era Heroes 3 remastered? No. Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era "is not a remake of any previous chapters" but a new game, a prequel set on Jadame, that keeps Heroes 3's core gameplay loop (Devlog #15).

Is Olden Era like Heroes 3? Largely: Olden Era keeps Heroes 3's adventure map, towns, heroes, hexagonal battles and random-map competitive play, and adds Faction Laws, alternative upgrades, subskills, four magic schools and new modes.

Which is better for newcomers, Olden Era or Heroes 3? Unfrozen built Olden Era to be "more accessible to new players" (Devlog #15), with a tutorial, difficulty levels from Easy to Unfair and readability settings; Heroes 3 is complete, while Olden Era is in Early Access with its campaign at Act 1.

Does Olden Era have Heroes 3's factions? Partly. Olden Era's Temple, Necropolis and Dungeon return from earlier games, the Grove fuses Heroes 3's Rampart and Conflux themes, and Hive and Schism are new; there is no Inferno, Stronghold, Tower or Fortress.

Does Olden Era have an underground like Heroes 3? Not yet. An underground map layer and the Thieves' Guild are planned in Stage 3 of Olden Era's Early Access roadmap, with no date as of Oct 21, 2026.

How does Olden Era compare to Heroes 5? Olden Era borrows from Heroes 5 too: its skills mix Heroes 3's system with Heroes 5's perks, mana works like Heroes 5's, and its Arena descends from Heroes 5's duel mode (Devlog #5).

Sources

• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Unveiled at Gamescom, Ubisoft News, Aug 22, 2024
• Designing a Heroes Game, Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2024
• FAQ, Unfrozen, Aug 30, 2024
• Devlog #1: Everything Everywhere All At Once: Game Modes, Unfrozen, Sep 13, 2024
• Devlog #2: Game Modes pt.1: Classic and Single-Hero, Unfrozen, Sep 27, 2024
• Devlog #5: Game Modes pt.2: Arena, Unfrozen, Nov 22, 2024
• Devlog #6: A sneak peek into Olden Era's templates and the Random Map Generator, Unfrozen, Dec 16, 2024
• Devlog #7: Every Story Needs a Villain - Hive Overview, Unfrozen, Feb 11, 2025
• Devlog #8: On Triumvirate's Strength and the Alvar Pact, Unfrozen, Mar 13, 2025
• Devlog #9: The Binding Roots of Murmurwoods, Unfrozen, Apr 11, 2025
• Devlog #10: Game Mechanics pt. 1: Magic, Unfrozen, Jun 13, 2025
• Devlog #11: Game Mechanics pt. 2: Skills and Subclasses, Unfrozen, Jul 25, 2025
• Devlog #12: The Grail and its Sanctuaries, Unfrozen, Aug 15, 2025
• Devlog #15: How and Why We Chose the Artstyle of Olden Era, Unfrozen, Apr 24, 2026
• The legendary strategy RPG series finally makes a comeback to reclaim its throne, GamesRadar+, Apr 28, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era isn't a reimagining or a divisive reinterpretation, it's just a brilliant strategy game, PC Gamer, Apr 30, 2026
• Building the Future - HoMM: Olden Era's Early Access Roadmap is here!, Unfrozen, May 28, 2026
• Upcoming PvE Content: The Mysterious Island!, Unfrozen, Jun 15, 2026
• Alliances & Updated Random Map Generator, Unfrozen, Sep 30, 2026
• BETA Patch: Balance Update - New Damage Formula, Smarter AI & New Creatures, Unfrozen, Oct 15, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Early Access Review, IGN, Apr 28, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Beginners Guide! Tips You Need to Know, Norovo, May 4, 2026 (video)