Europa 1400: The Guild

Europa 1400: The Guild is probably one of the best strategy game from JoWood Productions. The game has original gameplay and can keep you addicted for quite a long time.

There are lots of things to choose from right at the beginning of the game. You’ll need to choose your location and parentage, choose a profession and set your goals. You get to choose from 12 careers from. Most of these are related to craftsmanship such as carpentry or blacksmith. You can also choose uncommon professions such as priest or thief. All of these professions(except for the thief) lets you produce goods which you can cart to the market to sell. You’ll need to manage your business, hire employees and choose what to produce. When your responsibilities grow later in the game, you can hire someone to look after your business for you.

After you collect some money, you can get married. This is a simple task and all you need to do is to pick someone to marry and send them gifts from time to time. After she accepts your proposal, you’ll have children. You’ll need to set aside some money so your children can get educated. After you die, your children will look after your business and manage your wealth.

You can later run for the office, which is one of the more difficult parts of the game. There must be a position for which you are qualified. The positions have a pyramid structure and you need to start at the bottom and work your way to the top. How you go up the pyramid depends a lot on being liked by people. You’ll need to make sure that the people who make the decisions are your close friends. There are ways to sabotage the people who don’t like you such as hiring people to beat them up or by getting them arrested. When you get to a high enough position, you can try to fire your enemies and hire your friends, which might help you later.

If you want, the whole game can be about robbery, blackmail and sabotage. If you chose to be a thief, you’ll take control of the Thieves guild and be able to hire thieves to go out and pick-pocket other civilians. You can spy on people and their homes, gathering information about them until you know enough to rob them. You can’t make any products in the Thieves Guild but you will be able to cart your stolen items to the market to sell.

You can even fight in the game. Your carts can be attacked by highwaymen and you’ll most likely have to fight. This is very rare though. When you insult another character, they might respond with a duel. You’ll then be given the choice to accept the duel or not to accept it. Not accepting a duel has a lot of impact on the game and how the other characters in the game act around you.

The worst thing about the game is probably the fact that it doesn’t have a decent manual. It’s confusing and doesn’t explain enough about the game. The tutorial can teach you some things, but a good manual would be helpful.