Gold of the Americas is a turn based strategy game set in colonial times. Your job is to explore and colonize different lands and defend them from other powers (IE: England, France, Portugal, Spain) You can play as any one of these four powers. After sending famous explorers out to explore a certain domain, you must then colonize it and defend it from rivals, from natives and slave revolts. Over time the amount of minerals and gold will be depleted. You can also earn money by merchant trade, piracy, exploiting natives or by importing slaves from Africa.
Make sure you defend them however against uprisings. You can also send explorers out to raid or conquer rival territories. After each turn (which is 10 years) A fat pudgy man representing the king will come and take a certain amount of money which is relative to the value of your lands. If you can't pay the king won't send as many armies ships or colonists and you will have to pay for them yourself through secret funds. Bear in mind that the king can audit your secret funds and take them if you get too rich. Later on you will have to worry about revolutions throwing off your reign. Countries such as the USA, CSA, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Brazil ETC can declare independence if loyality
drops too low. You win the game by earning points through certain territories conquered.
All in all it is a good game. Primitive, sort of a board game like game but I think it is still good. You can play with the AI which has difficulty ratings on it, or against other players. You can also have the map drawn out in historical accuracy with the tribes and explored provinces that were already found by Columbus or it can be done randomly. The map of North and South America unfortunately are always the same. The only real change in random mode is that the Gold, minerals, tribes ETC are relocated and certain other lands may or may not be initially available. There is also a historic Europe mode where Pope Alexander the sixth signs a historic treaty banning non Spanish or Portuguese colonists early on. This gets lifted later in the early 1500's. Spanish and Portuguese players get a head start. Also you will need to send explorers or steal a rudder to send your forces into the Pacific or go to the Pacific Islands.
I think its an excellent game. Even today I still play it. Very nice!
