Colonial: Europe's Empires Overseas 2nd Edition

A fun game that really makes you think and understand what a country must go through when developing overseas colonies. A great way to teach history, I use it in my after school program and the kids who come to board game day love playing it. I usually get to play a round or two but have to be involved in all the games. Thank you for whom ever developed it. Elisabeth O'Donnell

Looking forward to the great rules and components. Great game on this period of history

This is a beautiful, mid-weight game with a great theme and lots going on. With regards to complexity, I think the game is pretty straight forward once you have a grasp of how the different characters (12 total on six cards) work. Certainly not as complicated as Ghost Stories or Castles of Burgundy (both fantastic games). I have over 100 boardgames and what I like most about this game is the clarity of the rules. Very well written, organized, and absent of fluff. This is good because there is a lot to it. War is most definitely not pointless, as a previous reviewer mentioned. The object of the game is to be the first with 10 prestige points and no debt. If you win a war, the defeated player has to give the winning player one of his prestige points which reduces his prestige while raising yours. Furthermore, war is fought on land and sea. The outcome of land battles can change who controls resources in a territory, possibly breaking monopolies and reducing the defeated player's ability to increase his merchant fleet. In a sea battle a large naval force can inflict enough damage to not only decimate the other player's navy but also to have any remaining casualties taken from the merchant fleet thus reducing the person's ability to ship resources to market. Sometimes you don't have presence in a territory and, rather than war, you have to incite unrest amongst the natives to overthrow the other player's colony. The only negative is that success in battle as well as success discovering new territories depends on dice rolls and some days, the dice don't cooperate.

Notes and observations made while attempting to play the game: Complex to the point of absurdity. War is pointless. This game has slaves and opium. It is good. Possibly the pinnacle of game creation? There are so many things on the board that I can't understand what they mean. There are as many phases of play as terms in the rule book. The creation and sale of this game might be one of the most perfect examples of schadenfreude I have ever encountered. Five out five would play again.