Sid Meier's Colonization

Colonization was a fun deviation from the Civilization series - the game was more focused on settlement, trade, exploration. Less on pure military expansion and combat. The game mechanics have many flaws - the combat system was rather broken especially with Naval combat. The diplomacy with European powers was flawed, but the one with Indians was really well made. The trading options is what made the game really interesting. The main problem with the game was how it ends - there's only one way of winning it and that is through military might. A darn shame. There are other flaws - some facts in Colonipedia are wrong, dragons weren't that widely used in the new world, galeons were war ships etc. etc. and... the game tends to be very silent about the issues of slavery and either tries to use 'more PC terms' when describing them (Indian converts, Servants) or tends to plain not include it (Black slavery). But Colonization deserves its 5 stars - because it was an interesting trip and the original (there was a remake on Civ4 engine which was very bad) is still unmatched today.

So I'm a huge fan of Colonization. I played it all the time when I was younger! This definitely scratched an itch that I didn't get when playing Civ II--the level of micromanagement was really appealing. Even with four factions, exploring the map and establishing colonies was the best thing ever! So why 4 stars? Well...the game I played as a kid wasn't the MS-DOS version, but a later port released for Windows. This meant more accurate graphics, MUCH more legible text, and a menu bar that had things like stats, victory progress, and the Colonizopedia. It was much easier to navigate (having mouse support) and looked better to boot. Unfortunately, I've had a time and a half trying to find this port, since people are only distributing the DOSBox version. If GOG could release the Windows port, that would be awesome and give Colonization a new level of accessibility to younger gamers. Still, if you don't mind the older graphics then don't let that stop you from getting this! It just doesn't work for me, though.

In 1996, I was a freshman in college, and I had to uninstall this game from my computer so I didn't fail out of school! Being able to play it again in its original form is a real treat. Per tradition, I am always the Dutch and use my strong economy to buy the specialists I need to build my army.

I love this game! I remember nights passed conquering the New World with Caravels, Privateer ships, Frigates and Seasoned Scouts... I have rediscovered how funny can be a good PC game. Works perfectly also on Windows 8. Thx GoG!!!!

This is one of those rare games, that even when you're treading water ploughing through turns, you're still enjoying yourself. Highly addictive, occasionally a little simple, and hitting the cities/units limit was always going to be a problem in a game this old, but those things pale into insignifigance against the overall quality of gameplay. Build your civilisation, manage your resources, trade with your neighbours, fight with your neighbours, then eventually kick the ass of whatever European power you started under. Up there with any other Strategy game i've ever played for sheer time-chew. Love it.