Relaxing and humorous slice of medieval life
The Settlers offers players the chance to enjoy some retro strategy thrills of the kind of fashion that has recently become hugely popular on mobile platforms and while it may lack some of the more modern bells and whistles, it remains an engaging experience when you're in the mood for strategy rather than action. The player's task is fairly simple and you are required to build and develop a medieval settlement by issuing commands to your army of workers, each of whom has their own specific task, with things like blacksmiths, knights, miners and tool makers all available. However, they are not controlled directly but instead you issue orders to construct certain building types and which then adds to your range of workers (for example, building a smithy allows access to blacksmiths who then makes weapons). Other issues like developing transport networks, managing resources like food, wood and money and attacking enemies or defending against their assaults must also be considered. As a fairly early example of the real-time strategy sim, The Settlers is quite pleasant and enjoyable. It is quite slow paced making it more relaxing than combat heavy games like Dawn of War or Command and Conquer, so if you want something a little more thoughtful, then this makes for an engaging experience. You can choose to play a series of missions against the computer but there is also an open-ended option, which simply lets you grow your settlement to your heart's content and which adds to this laidback appeal. Add in the game's humorous touches and fairly charming visuals and you have a pleasing, if unspectacular, little strategy experience.
