East India Company
Lots of seafaring fun with all of it’s parts. Like a lot of games it can be exasperating at times especially when your maxed out fleet loses to a wimpy faction. Not a whole lot of differences no matter what level you play at except on Easy you don’t have to worry that a port won’t buy your cargo or that your homeport won’t like any of their cargo.
There are 2 methods of combat. You can control all your ships in a high resolution graphic war or use Autoresolve that determines the winner. At first I used the graphic option but found that controling 5 warships was a problem, especially since more often than not your surrounded by islands that will rip ships apart and the ships are not capable of sharp turns. The enemy of course is on the seaward side of the islands. Additionally your ships will not fire near as often as the enemy. If you put all the ships on auto except the flagship they will run right into an island and sink.
– Real player with 64.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Historical Naval Games.
Let me state that I enjoy the game, but find many problems with it.
-For example, I’ve found that war with other companies isn’t worth it because the ships are far too expensive to just pump out a bunch of expendible warships.
-You really don’t buy anything but the big ticket items and sell them at your home port. Less of a commerce simulator, more of an importation simulator.
-The voices are okay, somewhat amusing at times.
-As stated in the first point, combat is rare as pirates don’t actually attack that much. This is a bummer as the naval combat is basically only rivaled by Napoleon: Total War in quality, so it’s a huge waste.
– Real player with 31.4 hrs in game
Port Royale 2
i started the game with high expectation, because many veteran reviewers commented favorlably.
I’m a senior old gamer, so retro graphic is ok, merchant part is repetive? it’s no problem.Rather, it’s fun.
Buy low and sell high and build facilities to produce goods…….all fun.
But one thing i can’t put up with……WHY MUST I FIGHT ENEMY FLEET WITH ONLY ONE SHIP?
i can build a fleet up to ten ships.
But when battle begins, only JUST ONE of my ships fights while enemy fleet attacks with 5 ships.
– Real player with 348.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Historical Pirates Games.
There is no better economic simulator that exists that I know of. There are many good City Sims and Tycoon style games that wish they had the economic engine behind this game. Every one of the 65+ cities in this game have unique features and needs based on a complex mix of random events and your ability to supply them. I could go on and on about the complex yet easier to comprehend industry and economic simulation in this game, it is that engrossing and one of a kind. I am actually upset PR3 was so terrible compared to this gem.
– Real player with 110.7 hrs in game
Rise of Venice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibpa8xx8J04
Rise of Venice fits into a weird sub-genre of sail based economy simulator. Rise of Venice is almost an identical clone to Partician and Port Royale. The major difference comes down to the maps. Rise of Venice original covers the area of the world Genoa and east while the Gold version extends to the Portuguese coast of the Mediterannian.
The game is broken down into ships (convoys), businesses (production buildings), and warehouses (where you manage resources). The game can overly overwhelm new players to the sub-genre but it comes with an excellent single player that breaks down the game. The single player campaign can take up to 20 hours to complete while the free play will be worth another 100 hours. Add in the Challenge Mode and you are looking at a grand total of 160 hours of gameplay in this game.
– Real player with 306.7 hrs in game
Once again, I’m left wanting a “meh” button instead of a thumbs up or down…
This isn’t so much a bad game as it is the complete stagnation of two different good series. As someone who loved Patrician III, I can say that this game basically just copy-pastes most of the good ideas from that game, dumbed some of them down or made you arbitrarily incapable of trading trading certain goods until you unlocked them, and went piddling on ahead with them.
Like Patrician, you basically just get a boat to buy low and sell high repeatedly until you can afford to buy more boats or build a business that lets you make things directly for less price than buying them, then turning around and selling them for even more money you can use to buy more stuff to make MORE money… Like Patrician, if you’re the sort of person who likes managing an empire, and seeing your assets grow and grow while you build up towards even larger steps of growth, this can be fun. This system is dumbed down compared to Patrician, however, with less interconnected supply lines and with prices much more strictly tied to an “average” price to the point where you don’t need to do anything but look for whether something has two or more green bars before you buy it and only sell when it has no green bars.
– Real player with 199.6 hrs in game
Silk Roads: Caravan Kings
Here’s the deal, even if this game is not the most polished thing I have ever played, it shows potential. I mean the developer shows potential. It’s kind of like Oregon Trail, if you’ve ever played that. The thing that impressed me the most about this game however is the developer(s). They are willing to listen to a LOT of feedback. It’s very encouraging to have a developer who does this, especially in this day and age. While its not a huge grand strategy game like Hearts of Iron or an amazing role-playing game like Crusader Kings, it definitely deserves a place.
– Real player with 6.6 hrs in game
In any game there comes that particular crossroad point of is there enough to keep me interested or do i go back to the old faithful ones. Four hours of game time in i think i have hit that crossroads. I am now wondering if there is more to it or have i had my fill. I had this game on my wishlist, and part of my decision to purchase was based on its pricing.
I like the map set up, and the game icons are simple and to the point - which is a good thing. I concur about other reviewers statements about character development - the cat, the lute and the fishing rod. However, once the initial surprise of receipt is over, the actions around them seem disconnected and grindy. To be fair, the not wanting to disappoint my customers aspect of my gaming personality means I have not ventured too far to the East, as I want to meet my contract obligations.
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
Bandit Simulator
Explore the open, medieval world and become the elusive king of robberies - unless you prefer to remain an ordinary pickpocket who drinks his sorrows in a nearby tavern and steals the townspeople’s purses. Plan every robbery carefully - otherwise, you will end up behind bars, and escape from there is no longer so easy. Don’t get caught up in the act, watch the residents - and you will become a master thief.
Key Features:
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An open, medieval world
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Interactions with residents
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Quests and tasks
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System of fighting and sneaking around
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Improving skills
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Quick and slow steal
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And… of course a lot of others!
You decide what your adventure will be!
Bet on dynamic gameplay by stealing gold candlesticks and plates or robbing caravans passing through the forest.
However, some robberies will require a very carefully thought-out strategy.
Complete tasks and improve your skills, and buy better equipment with the gold.
Become part of a city legend.
Patrician III
I’ve been on this game for years, only recently bought it on steam and let me tell you, this is a game me and my brothers always come back to. Replayability is amazing, you can always choose a diffrent kind of parameters to follow as you play. Do we want to compete for whose company will be most valuable each time we load the saved game? Do we all want to choose the same town as the starting hometown and make it a mega-city with population larger than the rest combined? Do we want to create a perfect trading system, or do we want to attack cities and pirate each other? Who will win the Mayor elections or become the Aldeerman (think “boss of every mayor of every town”)?
– Real player with 191.8 hrs in game
This game is utterly amazing.
IMPORTANT: The main thing you need to do after buying it, is to make it run under Windows 10. There are ways. I personally recommend this: https://steamcommunity.com/app/33570/discussions/0/35221584425332491/
There are not many games so enjoyable even 16 years after release. I am still coming back to this game every few years and spend 30 to 100 hours.
What is so special about Patrician 3? It was made by a German developer with GREAT care and a lot of love paid to details. It has nice 2D graphics, good sound effects and amazing gameplay.
– Real player with 138.6 hrs in game
Patrician IV
7/10, got on sale for $5 but would be happy at full price of $15. I’m surprised it has such a low review score (53% at time of writing), maybe people had higher expectations than I did (update: seems people are unhappy about the lack of tutorial).
It’s kind of a leisurely game with no apparent objective other than discovering the game, enjoyment, and building out an intricate trade system. Granted I haven’t finished the game yet so perhaps the end game objective has yet to be revealed.
I like the ‘older’ looking pixely graphics and keeping and eye on the map as my ships make their way to and fro, and discovering and building mutually beneficial trade routes is also quite fun. Music is good and not inundating or overly repetitive. Helps if you enjoy trial and error and investigating what does what as the tutorial (campaign advisor) does not hold your hand much.
– Real player with 50.7 hrs in game
It’s been a while since I’ve written a recommendation for a game, and it’s a service I feel the community really needs doing, so here we go:
Patrician IV, henceforth known as “Patty IV’s” is in something of a niche genre, in that it is a Renaissance trading simulator set around the Hanseatic League in Northern Europe. Doesn’t sound like the most riveting game now, but when I rephrase that as TIME TRAVELLING DOSH SIMULATOR 1420 EDITION it starts to sound phucking dank. (Note to self, make montage video with that title)
– Real player with 30.1 hrs in game
Port Royale 3
You could spend your life playing this brilliant game. Well I have - .
Just imagine being in a time where you have more control over life - no atomic bombs just cannons swords and primitive guns and your own skills.
You travel from town to town as a merchant buying and selling and if you are good at it you amass quite a lot of money.
You make a lot more when you gain experience and title then you get assignments from towns - and oh how good is that - you feel good because the town folk or government leaders talk with you and want you to marry there daughters.
– Real player with 492.9 hrs in game
Port Royale 3 is an epic story of European powers expansion to the Carribean Islands, the Southern U.S. States, Central America and the Northern town of South America. The game is entertaining and will continue to be a favorite in many years to come. Each town produces five commodities and trades 20 commodities in the market. The game offers almost everything a player wanted such as trading, town building, sea battle with pirates and trading ships of five other countries. After playing for 229 hours, I would say I like the game and would continue to play it in the future. The following will support what I said that I like the game:
– Real player with 235.8 hrs in game
Silk
Very nice game! Hope the developers will update and expand it though
+Huge open world for hours of exploring
+Simple mechanics of gameplay - easy to learn in minutes
+History notes makes journey immersive
+Handful of ways to beat the game
-No background/ambient music so it is pretty quiet
-Some pieces of map are empty
-No marching armies, caravans etc.
– Real player with 34.9 hrs in game
Silk is a compelling adventure strategy experience - not a genre name you see very often, and what a shame. The importance of picking a sensible route can be paramount, the threat of storms, raiders, wild animals and dead ends feel real and intense, and the feeling you get when you realise you have hit a dead end and have to turn back is a marvellous frustration.
It also means the satisfaction you get when you bring a caravan of silk back home is magnificent. The smalls joys of exploring a world in which every step matters, finding special locations, taking hidden treasure and fighting each small battle are immense. The feeling when your advisors reach a high enough skill level to start to really make the most of your surroundings is superb. A great adventure strategy title, definitely worth your time.
– Real player with 14.2 hrs in game
Railway Empire
WRITE THIS DOWN: You WILL need to know a couple things.. Writing this review at 647 hours of playtime.. so I’m pretty sure I’m enjoying being an expert at it, and it helps a lot..
If you dont understand these comments, try googling the concepts anyway.. you need to know this stuff.
You will build single lane tracks early on and tear them up later to redesign… BECAUSE you will be short on money - always.. (unless you use unlimited sandbox or mods).
Learn how to use regular or one-way signals to create short lanes on the side of a long stretch of track so trains can pass each other along the way across large empty terrain areas.
– Real player with 1489.3 hrs in game
I spent a lot of my life on Railroad Tycoon, from the first one until the end of the series. A-Train, Transport Tycoon, Rails!, you name it. If it had a train in it, I bought it. So of course I bought this too.
I really, really like this game. There are elements here that feel like Railroad Tycoon 3, and there are elements that do not. Just enough for you to find something you like in this game regardless of how you felt about previous railroad incarnations. I’m going to lay out a PRO/CON/WISHLIST below for you to peruse at your leisure. I may edit these if they change down the road.
– Real player with 332.2 hrs in game