Sid Meier's Colonization

aka: Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic), Sid Meier's Colonization: Create A New Nation, Sid Meier's Colonization: Erschaffen Sie eine neue Nation
Moby ID: 366
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Description official descriptions

Sid Meier's Colonization is a strategy game which puts you in the role of Viceroy of the New World. You are sent by your King and country to establish colonies in the newly-discovered Americas that lie to the west. You face many of the same challenges that faced colonial organizers of the time-competition from other Old World powers, strange native cultures, the problems of establishing profitable trade programs, and the problems of organizing an army from a rag-tag band of colonists.

The game begins with the European discovery of the Americas (1500) and continues until approximately the time of the American Revolution (1800). In the beginning of the game you are given a trading/exploration ship and a small group of colonists. You have no knowledge of what lies ahead of your ship, so you must explore until you find a suitable spot to lay down your first colony. As your colonies grow larger and larger, you inevitably encounter native populations and are confronted with competing imperial powers from the Old World.

Each of your colonies is populated by a number of colonists, who you can assign to various tasks. Some chop wood, mine for ore and collect plants outside the colony, some others stay inside to turn those raw materials into more valuable cargo - such as rum (made from sugar), coats (made of furs) or hammers (made of lumber). Hammers which aren't a cargo you can sell, but represent the speed with which you construct new buildings in your colony. Some colonists are specialists, and thus are more effective at a certain job.

The cargo you collect and produce is an important thing. You can take it to Europe to sell, and earn money to buy some other necessary things, hire colonists (though new, willing colonists appear in Europe by themselves) or buy ships and artillery. You can also trade it with the Indians or colonies of other nations.

You'll construct various buildings in your colonies. They have a lot of different functions: some of them can improve the speed with which you produce valuable cargo, others allow you to defend yourself from attacks more easily or construct ships and artillery. Some buildings require you to spend a number of valuable Tools when constructed, though you can make new Tools out of ore.

As you explore the land, you'll come across the Indian villages and some "places of interest" which can be investigated. A colonist that enters an Indian village can be welcomed with open hands, and the natives will reveal a map of nearby lands, or teach him a profession. Investigating places of interest has various consequences: sometimes you'll find nothing, sometimes you'll be killed for trespassing on ancient burial ground, but sometimes you'll find treasure! (Taking this treasure to Europe can be difficult though - if you don't have a sufficiently big ship, the King will agree to transport it for you... if you give him 50% of the gold).

To defend yourself from enemies, you'll want to have some military units. Just give a colonist a musket and he'll turn into a Soldier, give him a horse, and he's a Scout or a Dragoon. However, such a warrior is typically inexperienced, though he might gain military experience in battle. Artillery is also good at defense, but don't try to leave your colonies with it - in the open field, it is useless.

As you progress in the game, you'll feel that working for the King is getting more and more annoying, especially since he keeps raising your taxes, thus decreasing your income from sold goods. Your colonies produce "Liberty Bells", which increase rebel sentiment in the colonies. If the majority of colonists supports your yearning for freedom, you can declare independence. But when you do that, you'll have to deal with the King's expeditionary force arriving to teach you a lesson. If you manage to defeat all his incoming armies and emerge victorious from the American Revolutionary War, you've won!

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Credits (DOS version)

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Critics

Average score: 86% (based on 29 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 149 ratings with 9 reviews)

This game brings back memories

The Good
I loved the music, and it was probably one of the best aspects of the game. The game was addicting because it resembled Civilization, and just building up the empire was fun too.

The Bad
Back when it played it in the mid-90's, I could'nt think of any flaws that it had. But now, I wish they made Colonization 2 or a game that plays identically to this one, but has better graphics and more features. I've tried quite a few games such as Conquest of the New World, and they just don't have the unique feel that Colonization had.

The Bottom Line
I would tell people that this game is similar to Civilization and that they can play it today for nostalgic relief or just sit back and listen to the tunes. This game also inspired me to take an Indian Studies course later in college.

DOS · by igor balotsky (5) · 2004

Addictive despite its flaws.

The Good
This game looks and plays a lot like the designer's classic Civilization game. The difference is that while that game was won by expansion of your civilization and developing technology, this game is won by careful development of your cities and trade. This game is really more about economics than military conquest.

In Colonization you are given different types of prospective colonists with various skills (or lack of skills) and you decide whether to sail them from the Old World to the New. Then you have to get those colonists to where you can take full advantage of their skills. So you'd want to get the miners close to mountains and distillers close to sugar supplies, etc. You then want to arrange trade routes between your cities so you can get your raw materials shipped to cities that can then upgrade it to more refined and valuable goods. Ultimately you can ship your raw or manufactured goods back to the Old World for profit.

Eventually you will reach a point where you will declare independence and have to fight a revolutionary war. Your success in this war is heavily dependent upon how well you fortified your cities and built a strong, diverse economy prior to independence.

The Bad
To get your cities productive will require a lot of micro management of your cities. While I really enjoyed this at first. As I got better at the game it became a bit of a nuisance moving colonists around. I think if the computer could have managed some aspects for you it would have cut down on all the mouse clicking.

But the real sore point of the game is its frustrating combat system. In this game you don't really damage or destroy units, instead, when beaten, a unit downgrades. So after a battle a military unit would loose all its guns making it a normal colonist until you armed it again. While this fits the games focus on economics, it makes for fighting wars very frustrating. After a hard fought battle, unless you had extra troops to mop up the beaten armies they would retreat and return a few turns later rearmed with weapons. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that fighting the King's army is very difficult on the harder settings. I understand that it was made this way to stress the importance of developing your colony's manufacturing . But I think there could have been a better way to portray this in the game.

The Bottom Line
Despite its flawed combat system this game is quite addictive. You will have many late nights perfecting cities and trade routes as you prepare for independence.

DOS · by woods01 (129) · 2002

Wish there were more games with this approach...

The Good
If Civilization was the macro version, then Colonization was the micro version although to say the least, Colonization is a brilliant strategy game.

Colonization sets somewhere between the 1500's and the 1800's, from where the first Europeans set ground in South/Central America bringing disease and ultimate chaos to the natives until the independence of the newly found United States of America and beyond.

With that, historically you have 4 major "parasite" nations that you can choose from to plunder the new world (in no particular order):

  • Spanish

    The Spanish represents the military hulk of the European states. Historically known for their brutal conquests of South America, bringing the treasure galleons to Spain from their successful plunders. The Spanish get bonuses when it comes to smothering the native Indians and plunder obtained from burning their Tipi's to the ground.

  • French

    The French represents the "good guys" of the European States. Focusing on cooperation with the locals for trade, their presence only alarms the Indians half the rate compared to the other European invaders. This means that they'll probably be butchered much later by surprise Indian raids compared to their European counterparts. If the locals like you, they come by time to time and offer you gifts as an offer and symbol of eternal friendship.

  • English

    The English represents the lack of birth control of the European States. Historically surpressed by religion and dictatorship, the arguably European scum of the earth (according to most Europeans) arrived in vast numbers in the New World. From religious fanatics to low-life cut throats landed on the shores of the New World to the amazement of the local natives. The English get more settlers from the motherland compared to their European counterparts.

  • Dutch

    The Dutch represent the founders of Capitalism and raw economic interests. The Dutch only resort to military approaches only to further economic gain. Being Dutch means that fur traps yields much greater and prices back in Europe are much more stable during transactions (they don't fall or rise very often).

    Depending on your nation, you start with a Caravel (Merchantman for the Dutch) for sea travel, one unit of soldiers (Veteran soldiers for the Spanish) for protection and one unit of pioneers (Expert Pioneers for the French) to establish the first settlements. After you land, this is where the game really starts to begin. Usually right after you land, you'll be greeted by your would be neighbours. Unless your a Spaniard with an attitude problem and Xenophobia, an offer of peace would be essential for survival. After establishing your first settlement, you can either choose to trade peacefully or introduce globalization to the locals through musket fire. Trading is a refreshing difference from Civilization where revenue usually only comes from taxes. In Colonization, you have a wide array of trade items to buy and sell or more often produce. Your settlement can produce Furs, Sugar, Tobacco and manufacture them into valuable goods of Coats, Rum and Cigars for a much higher price in Europe. More advanced settlements can create muskets and even ships! You have basically 3 major opponents in the game. All are optional, with the exception of the third. The first enemies you meet will be the native Indians, but only if you are considered a threat to them. Burning their camps and butchering their braves might be considered a negative gesture. Otherwise, if your French with a smooth accent, they might actually enjoy peace with pale faced invaders! The second enemies are your cousins from your backyard. These blokes are better to be in a state of war than peace, as capturing their units means more man power for you. The third and last batch are your own initial supporter. The King and motherland! They don't seem to like the fact that your making much more money selling turkey dinners than the state tax, so they'll be sending their royal pain soldiers for harsh negotiations once you figure out you want to be an independent owner in the turkey franchise. But basically the game is divided into 2 major game sequences, the before independence and the after independence. Usually in the first part, it's exploring, trading and testing the military might of the Indians and other European nations. In the second part its about defending, defending and some counter attacking. When the King and his lackies attack, they mean business. If you don't have a substantianal force and backup, they swat you like a fly. The technology feature in Colonization is swapped with a Founding Father feature. The founding fathers represent great figures in the history of North and South America recognized for their influence. Each founding father gives you a tech bonus after you 'research' them through the production of liberty bells. For instance the only 'founding mother' is Pocahontas that reduces the alarm rate of locals. Other founding fathers are practically useless such as John Paul Jones that gives you a frigate free of cost...you'd probably have the manufacturing ability to produce one already when that time comes. The music is overall excellent. Colonization actually has some background music worth listening to! It has more than 10 soundtracks to choose from so this is a great bonus to the game. There are a few minor differences from the Windows and DOS version. Some units have new graphics such as the Fisherman and the Veteran Soldier. Otherwise, everything else is pretty much the same. The game also provides some history through Founding Fathers, units and buildings. Can't help to think they could provide more though.

    **The Bad**
    I can't help to think that this game could do a really big makeover. Something called Colonization 2? :) There are however, some very irritating features in the game that require careful planning beforehand. The first one has to do with stockades. They made this stupid rule that when you have a stockade, you cannot actively decrease the population lesser by 3. This means your stuck with that settlement until someone else gains control. This is quite bad when it comes to national planning of colonies. Especially when other Europeans aquired some really strategic land that interfers with your plans. You can't rename the settlements either. This game made me hate Indians as they seem to always have their camps at the best tourist sites. Which meant that I had to find another place, introduce the reservation camps to them or get other Europeans to introduce that concept to them. Through this game I probably understand why war was the only alternative in the first place. :(

    **The Bottom Line**
    An excellent strategy game with a lesson or two on history as well! Top stars!

  • Windows 3.x · by Indra was here (20756) · 2019

    [ View all 9 player reviews ]

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    Colonization Gold Multimedia Lantizia (40) Dec 31, 2019

    Trivia

    Amiga version

    Although Sid Meier's previous Amiga strategy games, Civilization and Railroad Tycoon, were system-friendly and could run on a multitasking system, they kept their custom user interfaces from the PC versions. Colonization, on the other hand, made use of the normal AmigaOS GUI, making for movable and resizable windows. This also meant that you could run Colonization on the Workbench screen, by starting the game with WORKBENCH as an argument.

    Development

    Colonization was the fourth game that Sid Meier protege Brian Reynolds worked on with MicroProse. The game began as a "spare time" project for Reynolds until it was noticed by the rest of the company. Because the game underwent many significant changes during playtesting, Sid Meier cites the game as proof that designers can (and perhaps should) continue to make changes and improvements up until the last possible minute.

    Indians

    Colonization was considered somewhat controversial by the press at the time of the release because it portrayed the European conflict with the American Indians but completely excluded the issue of slavery from the game's model.

    An interesting change in dialog occurs in relation to Indian wars after your colony gains its independence. When you interact with other European countries before independence, you merely ask them if you want them to war against the Indians. After the independence, you ask them if they will you (or vice versa) place the Indians in reservation camps, a bit of sarcasm from the developers.

    Historically, the relations between the native Indians and the invaders are gruesome, if not down right degrading. The first arrivals from Spain and Portugal introduced various diseases to the local populace.

    The United States of America traded small pox infested blankets with the Indians, introducing biological warfare before the concept was established and sold whiskey to a nation of people who, surprisingly did not have the genes to break down the alcohol naturally.

    Awards

    • Amiga Joker
      • Issue 02/1996 – #2 Best Game in 1995 (Readers' Vote)
      • Issue 02/1996 – #2 Best Simulation in 1995 (Readers' Vote)
    • PC Powerplay (Germany)

    Information also contributed by Игги Друге and Indra was here

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    Contributors to this Entry

    Game added by MajorDad.

    Amiga added by Rebound Boy. Linux added by Sciere. Windows 3.x added by Terok Nor. Macintosh added by Игги Друге. Windows added by Longwalker.

    Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Sergio Brinkhuis, David Ledgard, Havoc Crow, formercontrib, hlejr0, Patrick Bregger.

    Game added November 2, 1999. Last modified February 13, 2024.