The Colonists
The Emperor entrusted you with the task to establish a glorious and prosperous community. To show the Emperor that his trust in you is not in vain, you send out your trusted steward into the countryside, instructing him to build residences to attract new colonists into your community. Recruiting colonists is not enough; you have to create jobs for them as well. Therefore, you should also build buildings, where the colonists of your community can work. This will require a lot of resources; so let your steward or your colonists collect them. With time, duties will become more complex, which is why you should educate your colonists so they are ready for the tasks at hand. Farmers will turn into citizens which in turn can become successful merchants. Establish relations with distant colonies by building embassies in your community; and your community will be thriving in no time...
Advanteges during the 19th century changed life in villages and cities big time. The industrialization and specialized jobs made sure that each community started to develop in a different direction. Build your own village and decide how it will develop. The Colonists is the first game by novel designer Tim Puls; and what a game it is. The game offers possibillities to adapt it to your liking. Want to play just an hour? Or a fully fledged campaign over several hours? No problem at all. Players can choose playtime and complexity on their own. The game ven supports to "save" the state of the game.
Players act on a central game board which growth over time and offers more and more options. You try to build up your community and to keep your citizens happy (by giving them work). Full employment not only helps to grow your village, but also is rewarded with victory points. A vast amount of buildings, 9 specializations and a decent amount of development cards help to make things interesting for strategic players and guarantee that no game is like the other.