Like many browser games, there is no set goal. The game is played on an infinite-round basis—there are no resets planned. The main focus of the game is on trading resources in order to progress a player's Palace level or increase the amount of cities he or she has. There is a player versus player aspect that allows players to gain control of "monuments" from either an AI force or other players.
Part of a discussion about Nile Online, during an interview with Tilted Mill's President, Chris Beatrice, by gamersetwatch.com: "A lot of different goals came together with Nile Online. First we wanted to see if we could make a much simpler, much more accessible and less demanding game that still provided a lot of the city building experience, and also looked really great".
Source: Wikipedia, "Immortal Cities: Nile Online", available under the CC-BY-SA License.
Immortal Cities: Nile Online is a persistent browser-based empire building game set in Ancient Egypt. Play with thousands of other players as you construct cities and monuments worthy of your legacy as Pharaoh! Nile Online is casually paced; it's something you can play throughout the day, minutes at a time.
There is nothing to download or install - within seconds you're commanding, tweaking and growing your empire from anywhere that you have access to the internet.
Source: The Game Website.