Colonization (Or: Dutch is the best choice!)

A long time before there was Marco in my world, there was Colonization.

1994, in fact.

It was my first time learning about the Dutch (who knows how accurate it really was). Colonization is a Sid Meier computer game where you can choose from one of four nationalities (Spanish, English, French, or Dutch). Your goal was to leave the Old World to come colonize the New World of the Americas. As it was a ‘city building’ type game, it was right up my alley, along with the Civilization series, Sim City, Caesar, and Pharaoh/Cleopatra.

You see a pattern of what games I like to play? I don’t like to fight much, though I’ll tolerate it if it’s not the main focus of the game.

In Colonization, every nationality had its own perk. For instance, English was into immigration, so you got an extra immigrant at the start of the game plus more immigration bonuses later on. The French interact better with the native Indians, while the Spanish get a bonus when fighting the Indians. But the Dutch… the Dutch get better prices, and they get an awesome Dutch galleon ship at the start of the game which can carry 6 units of cargo.

So for most of my time playing Colonization, I played the Dutch. I am all about trading and cargo and getting money. Although my second favorite choice was the English for their immigration benefits.

The one thing you always have to be weary of is making some cheap money by selling muskets and horses to the Indians. You think they won’t use them against you 30 turns later? Ha.

The goal of the game is to declare your indepence from the Old World… but when you click the revolution button, you better be prepared for the wave of revolutionary army units which appear right off your shores 1-2 turns later. The more cities you have, the more units will appear.  You’ll see that this particular city is not looking for a revolution that much, as in the lower left only 2 colonists (19%) want it, whereas 11 colonists (81%) still prefer not to rock the boat. But that will change. That will change.

It’s almost enough to make me want to download a copy of the game again. Hmmm…

If you’re interested in a nicely detailed strategy guide, check out the Civilization wiki (both games are Sid Meier titles).