Sid Meier's Colonization PORTABLE

Sid Meier's Colonization is a video game by Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier released by MicroProse in 1994. It is a turn-based strategy game themed on the early European colonization of the New World, starting in 1492 and lasting until 1850. It was originally released for DOS, and later ported to Windows 3.1 (1995), the Amiga (1995), and Macintosh (1995).[citation needed] American video game publisher Tommo purchased the rights to this game in 2015 and digitally published it through their Retroism brand.[1]

Sid Meier's Colonization

Sid Meier's Colonization (abbreviated as "Col" on this wiki) is a computer game by Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier released by MicroProse in 1994. It is a turn-based strategy game themed on the early European colonization of the New World, starting in 1492 and lasting until 1850. It was originally released for DOS, then in 1995 ported to Windows, the Amiga, and Macintosh.

While popular, the game received criticism for avoiding the issue of slavery, a major component of the European colonization of the Americas. Players can bring in and even purchase indentured servants or petty criminals from their European ports; Native Americans whose settlements have Christian missions may join the players as converts either freely or out of fear of attack; but the African slave trade and the Spanish hacienda system (involving forced labor by Native American tribes) are not directly represented. It has been speculated that this is the reason why Colonization, unlike Civilization, took so long (14 years) to be re-released.

Some critics feel that very idea of a game about the European colonization of the Americas is both embarrassing and insulting and that it celebrates a racist doctrine that led to the destruction of numerous native cultures. While it's true that the game does cover a period of history where European powers used their technological and logistical advantages to subjugate and exploit native people, players are encouraged to consider the benefits of peaceful coexistence with their neighbors. In fact, once you revolt from your mother country, a friendly native population becomes one of your greatest strengths. Other critics who fault the game for not being harsh enough to include smallpox or slave trading will merely have to be content with the game's abstraction of these concepts.

You can see from the box art that the game situates the player in a triumphal role. With that said, I would hazard to guess that very few of the games players would identify themselves as fans of the historical idea of colonization. Instead, the game provides a place to explore, to play at war. While this is the appeal of the game to a new player, I would suggest that the experience of playing the game, of coming to understand the algorithms and mechanics of the game as a player, does not glorify colonization but actually undermines that glorification. The game does not make one feel good about the colonizers.

Taking this thought further, you always have the option to play colonization in a completely ethical way: Turn your initial ship with you initial soldier and pioneer round to europe, and stay there until the game ends.

The difference from your other examples is that if you make a game about the colonization of the Americas, then you are making a game about a controversial political subject, whether you mean to or not. And if you exclude slavery, it may look as if you take the position that slavery is something that we should forget about or at least not worry too much about today.

Parents need to know that this game about the colonization of the Americas is historically accurate and informative enough to be used as a supplementary learning tool for older kids interested in finding out more about the settling of the New World. Its bite-sized bits of information about the era's real-life figures, cultural artifacts, and philosophies aren't exactly comprehensive, but it's hard to imagine anyone walking away from the game without having learned something about the Founding Fathers' rebellion against Europe, the kind of negotiations in which they engaged with Native Americans, and the economics of the time. Unlike others in the Civilization series, this is a stand-alone title, not another expansion pack.

Families can talk about how the game deals with the delicate subject of European influence on the Native Americans' way of life. Did you feel as though this morally grey chapter in our history was treated with accuracy and respect? Are there any facets of the European colonization of the Americas that you think the game failed to adequately represent? 041b061a72