The new Colonization walks the fine line between mod, expansion and remake. It is a clear descendant of the 1994 Microprose game of the same name, but is also built on the flexible and durable Civilization IV engine, so it could be a mod that simply redoes the basic mechanics or a standalone expansion that presumes familiarity with, if not ownership of, the other games in the series.

No matter how you see Colonization, there’s no denying that it is a really old school design. Shrinking strategy violets could be intimidated by a game that breaks a lot of Civilization’s rules and a tutorial that gives questionable advice.

As its name suggests, Colonization is about the European founding of America. A small band of settlers set up shop in a new world and has to make a living off the land, trading with natives and then selling finished goods to a cranky king back home. Once you get enough support for Independence, you can break from the mother country and fight your Revolution. Win and you get your picture on money. Lose and you get strung up.

In fact, the entire game is structured with this endgame scenario in mind. It may only be 1500, but you are expected to be laying the groundwork for independence. This means developing a lucrative trading system, processing tobacco into cigars and sugar into rum so you can afford to recruit veteran soldiers as a backbone for your fragile rebel force. Yes, you can win by simply racking up a big score by the time the clock runs out, but that’s a lesser victory than telling the King of England to stop pushing you around. This is the story of America, so you need to start telling it properly from the beginning.

The problem with this is that the tutorial emphasizes the early production of “Liberty Bells”. Bells increase your city’s cultural boundaries, but not how many tiles your citizens can work, but their most important consequence is making your citizens feel better about independence. But the more Liberty Bells you make, the bigger the Royal Army you’ll need to face once you do break free. So, if you start too soon in a colonial empire that is too larger, you’ll be outgunned pretty quickly.