The French, Spanish, and Dutch are also lurking about and, sooner or later, you’ll have to deal with them. Of course, you aren’t the only one scrabbling to be the big power in the New World.

However, in this sort of game it’s really only a sprinkle on a cupcake whose good stuff truly lies in its gooey resource-hell heart. While it never bothered me back then (or now, honestly), it remains Colonization’s most lacking element. The game includes a simplified combat element but it’s basic, uninvolved, and there’s little to nothing you can do to inﬂuence the outcome of a scrap, which is a shame.

After ‘accidentally’ plundering numerous Native American burial grounds-the gold… it calls to us-you suddenly remember that lost colony where one guy is slogging away, harvesting endless lumber for a warehouse that was full five years ago. You mean to build a road to that far-ﬂung colony but your pioneer runs out of tools, so you give him some horses and turn him into a scout instead. It’s easy to let your good intentions slide as other things get in the way. Focus too much on one colony or element and the others muddle along, under producing, wasting resources, or falling prey to attack. Resource and colony management is one of those infernal balancing acts that taxes every gamer who dabbles in strategy waters. The more colonies you build and the more people you oversee the trickier it gets, piling more and more on until each turn stretches to infinity and back. Shall I sell this baccy in London or potter around trying to find a native capital with which to trade? Do I buy tools or manufacture them myself? Shall I throw my cargo of rum into the harbour and tell the king to bugger off or accept the latest rise in tax? Do I waste time annoying the French for the sake of it or not? I can’t possibly do everything at once but I’ll sure as bloody hell try. Do you want to be near that seam of silver, or surrounded by land that could potentially yield a valuable tobacco bonus? It’s something you’ll debate repeatedly throughout the game as you place more colonies.įor an indecisive player like me, it’s torture. Setting up a colony isn’t just a matter of chucking down a new town, care needs to be taken in weighing up the best location. Even from the start, your decisions are crucial.

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