colonization

I had a very productive weekend.

I'll probably blather on about it a bit more tomorrow, but today I just wanted to mention I actually played a game! After months of buying them but never actually playing them, I sat down on Sunday afternoon and had a mini-session.

The game in question was Civ4: Colonization, which is a stand-alone expansion, if that makes any sense. It allows you to take on the roll of a colonist heading to the new world (the Americas) and setting up a new country.

What they've done is use the Civ4 engine, which is very pretty, to update a very old spin-off game. I never played the original, but so far I'm enjoying this version of it.

Although I do have to admit it's a little daunting to start with - unlike most Civ games there's no tech tree. That means you can access all units and improvements from the get-go, which is interesting, but it means there's a veritably bewildering list of options and stuff to get your head around.

It's a real vertical learning curve to start with, although after a while it becomes apparent that having mastered those basics, that's all there is to it - there's no new technology/resource going to come along and change everything.

So far, from my little toe-dip I've enjoyed it. Certainly more than I did the proper Civ4 game, which was shiny and pretty but seemed like "Civ-lite" to me.

But we'll see how I go. And whether I'll have any spare time to really play it!