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Abe Sargent · 07-27-2006, 10:59 AM

It's time for the next game on our countdown and the second game by the company with the most games to chart:

19. Colonization
MicroProse
PC
1995
GameSpot Review - 9.0 (Once again, average player rating, not staff rating)
4x - City Management

I suspect that time and memory have sort of blended together Colonization with Civilization and ended up neuturing Colonization. However, the game is an amazing game in its own right, and really is the not so much the child of Civ as the cousin.

Colonization does not have tech research which is one of the foundations of the Civ gaming system. There aren't wonders of the world, nor are there tons of military units over time. Instead, there are just a small number of units (five ships, and three ground military units).

To call Colonization a Civ-clone is to ignore these major differences. Sure, both are turn-based strategy games with an emphasis on city/colony management, and there is an obvious similarity, but this game has its own road to walk.

Colonization deals with a smaller time period than Civ. Among the concerns here are friendly Indian relations, unless you play the Spanish, friendly European relations, and friendly home country relations, until you are ready to revolt.

Unlike other Civ-clones, the best strategy for winning Colonization is not to spread out and gobble up land as fast as possible, but instead to have a small amount of land with a smaller amount of built up colonies. Seven or eight colonies close together and built up is way better than 15 or 20 colonies spread out everywhere.

The reason for this is simple. In order to win the game, you'll have to declare independance and then your home country is going to send massive and powerful armed forces. They will blast your republic to pieces if you are spread out and thin, but if you are tightly bound together, even if they do crack your nut (and that will be much more difficult to do), your concentrated forces can oust them.

The game does have an impressive city management system:

Indeed, despite the fact that city management is at the core of Civilization, no Civ sequel has ever been as complex and diverse as Colonization in this area. There are all sorts of specialties your colonists can have. A farmer is really great at raising food, a lumberjack amazing at harvesting lumber, a silver miner good at extracting silver, a cotton planter good at growing cotton, etc.

Many colonists work the production side of things. A tobbaconist is great at making cigars. A tobacco planter is great at growing tobacco. Get them together, and you'll be making tons of Cigars. The problem is that the game has a realistic economc model. The more Cigars you and other European colonies sell to the homeland, the cheaper they become, and vice versa.

Some colonists have other specialities as well. Firebrand Preachers and Elder Statesmen are great in bigger colonies to increase unrest in Europe and liberty in your colonies. Veteran soldiers and scouts are also specialities.

In between balancing relations with Indians and other Europeans, and building an economy, you'll have to deal with your home country raising taxes constantly. The higher taxes go, the less money you'll get when you carry goods back home. Refuse a tax, and instead, a good is embargoed and you can't buy or sell it.

You begin the game with a lot of colonists and indentured servents and criminals. You can send these out to Indian tribes, and if they are friendly, the tribe will teach their speciality - which is the only way to get Cotton and Tobacco planter specialists. Scouts can spend time with a tribe and get news of a small gift of gold. They can also explore sites and find a variety of things.

Three events from an explored site are major, game shifting events. You can find a Fountain of Youth, which results in you getting EIGHT free colonists, many with specialties. You can find a Lost City of Gold which gives you serious points and a ton of gold. Or, you can find an Ancient Burial Mound that you have to explore and will sometimes give you a ton of gold as well. If you are carting this gold back, Indians will often attack the gold wagon. Then you'll need a special ship (a galleon) to send it back to Europe or else lease a Royal Vessel for 50% of the cut.

You can work to establish founding fathers for your Constitution Congress. Each founding father has some ability you gain, and some are very useful, like Pocahontas, which halves your problems with Indians. You can get non-USA founding fathers too, like Simon Bolivar.

You can play as the Spanish, Dutch, English and French, and all have advantages. I prefer the Dutch. You start with a better ship and the Dutch economy doesn't drop as fast as other economies do. The French aren;t bad either, with the Pocahontas effect (and get Poca too, for a quartered problem).

See, the Indians have problems with you developing the land too much. As you build walls, equip soliders, fortify cannon, and so forth, the Indians get testier and testier, until they eventually start attacking. The French halve their concern.

You can also send missionaries to the Indians, and you'll occasionally get Indian Converts to join your colonies.

This game is signifcantly unlike Civ in many ways (there's just one way to win, no techs, no wonders, no large number of units, no sweeping era, no victory by expansion, a real economy, many products, more complex city management, founding fathers, etc). As a result, I have no qualms about making it my ninteenth game on my All Time list.

-Anxiety

07-27-2006, 10:59 AM	#52
Abe Sargent Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Catonsville, MD	It's time for the next game on our countdown and the second game by the company with the most games to chart: 19. Colonization MicroProse PC 1995 GameSpot Review - 9.0 (Once again, average player rating, not staff rating) 4x - City Management I suspect that time and memory have sort of blended together Colonization with Civilization and ended up neuturing Colonization. However, the game is an amazing game in its own right, and really is the not so much the child of Civ as the cousin. Colonization does not have tech research which is one of the foundations of the Civ gaming system. There aren't wonders of the world, nor are there tons of military units over time. Instead, there are just a small number of units (five ships, and three ground military units). To call Colonization a Civ-clone is to ignore these major differences. Sure, both are turn-based strategy games with an emphasis on city/colony management, and there is an obvious similarity, but this game has its own road to walk. Colonization deals with a smaller time period than Civ. Among the concerns here are friendly Indian relations, unless you play the Spanish, friendly European relations, and friendly home country relations, until you are ready to revolt. Unlike other Civ-clones, the best strategy for winning Colonization is not to spread out and gobble up land as fast as possible, but instead to have a small amount of land with a smaller amount of built up colonies. Seven or eight colonies close together and built up is way better than 15 or 20 colonies spread out everywhere. The reason for this is simple. In order to win the game, you'll have to declare independance and then your home country is going to send massive and powerful armed forces. They will blast your republic to pieces if you are spread out and thin, but if you are tightly bound together, even if they do crack your nut (and that will be much more difficult to do), your concentrated forces can oust them. The game does have an impressive city management system: Indeed, despite the fact that city management is at the core of Civilization, no Civ sequel has ever been as complex and diverse as Colonization in this area. There are all sorts of specialties your colonists can have. A farmer is really great at raising food, a lumberjack amazing at harvesting lumber, a silver miner good at extracting silver, a cotton planter good at growing cotton, etc. Many colonists work the production side of things. A tobbaconist is great at making cigars. A tobacco planter is great at growing tobacco. Get them together, and you'll be making tons of Cigars. The problem is that the game has a realistic economc model. The more Cigars you and other European colonies sell to the homeland, the cheaper they become, and vice versa. Some colonists have other specialities as well. Firebrand Preachers and Elder Statesmen are great in bigger colonies to increase unrest in Europe and liberty in your colonies. Veteran soldiers and scouts are also specialities. In between balancing relations with Indians and other Europeans, and building an economy, you'll have to deal with your home country raising taxes constantly. The higher taxes go, the less money you'll get when you carry goods back home. Refuse a tax, and instead, a good is embargoed and you can't buy or sell it. You begin the game with a lot of colonists and indentured servents and criminals. You can send these out to Indian tribes, and if they are friendly, the tribe will teach their speciality - which is the only way to get Cotton and Tobacco planter specialists. Scouts can spend time with a tribe and get news of a small gift of gold. They can also explore sites and find a variety of things. Three events from an explored site are major, game shifting events. You can find a Fountain of Youth, which results in you getting EIGHT free colonists, many with specialties. You can find a Lost City of Gold which gives you serious points and a ton of gold. Or, you can find an Ancient Burial Mound that you have to explore and will sometimes give you a ton of gold as well. If you are carting this gold back, Indians will often attack the gold wagon. Then you'll need a special ship (a galleon) to send it back to Europe or else lease a Royal Vessel for 50% of the cut. You can work to establish founding fathers for your Constitution Congress. Each founding father has some ability you gain, and some are very useful, like Pocahontas, which halves your problems with Indians. You can get non-USA founding fathers too, like Simon Bolivar. You can play as the Spanish, Dutch, English and French, and all have advantages. I prefer the Dutch. You start with a better ship and the Dutch economy doesn't drop as fast as other economies do. The French aren;t bad either, with the Pocahontas effect (and get Poca too, for a quartered problem). See, the Indians have problems with you developing the land too much. As you build walls, equip soliders, fortify cannon, and so forth, the Indians get testier and testier, until they eventually start attacking. The French halve their concern. You can also send missionaries to the Indians, and you'll occasionally get Indian Converts to join your colonies. This game is signifcantly unlike Civ in many ways (there's just one way to win, no techs, no wonders, no large number of units, no sweeping era, no victory by expansion, a real economy, many products, more complex city management, founding fathers, etc). As a result, I have no qualms about making it my ninteenth game on my All Time list. -Anxiety __________________ Check out my two current weekly Magic columns! https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent Last edited by Abe Sargent : 05-01-2022 at 11:14 AM.