The Settlers

The Settlers is a video game series. The first game in the series is The Settlers (1993). There are eight games in the series, including remakes. All the games were developed by the German studio Blue Byte, and were published by either Blue Byte or Ubisoft, the company that later acquired Blue Byte. The tablet version of the game is developed by Gameloft.

Games

The Settlers (1993)

The Settlers (Serf City: Life is Feudal in the United States) is a slow-paced simulation video game by German developer Blue Byte, first released in 1993 for Commodore Amiga and in 1994 for the IBM-PC.^[1] It was the first game of its type, blending together principles which had not been seen in a single game before,^[2] and defined the line of the later Settlers games. On the hardware available at the time, the game could control a maximum of 64,000 individuals, all behaving autonomously.^[3]

The Settlers II (1996)

The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici is a real-time strategy video game, released by Blue Byte in 1996. Its gameplay is very similar to that of The Settlers, albeit with a Roman theme and improved graphics. Many fans of the franchise consider this the best game of the Settlers series, primarily because future installments changed the transport management aspect considerably. This popularity boosted Blue Byte's decision to publish a remake of the game, The Settlers II 10th Anniversary for Windows in 2006 and Nintendo DS port in 2007.

The Settlers III (1998)

The Settlers III is a real-time strategy video game developed by Blue Byte, being the second sequel to The Settlers. This isometric city-building game was released on November 30, 1998. The most notable difference between this game and its two predecessors is that there are no more roads—all units, including carriers with goods, can walk around freely. This simplifies the building of a settlement, since only the distances between buildings are relevant, and not how roads can be constructed between them. Military units are now directly controlled, making fighting more similar to games like Command & Conquer or Age of Empires, than to the previous Settlers games. Settlers III was also famous for its peculiar copy protection: in pirated versions of the game, iron smelters would only produce pigs instead of iron, which made weapon production impossible.^[4]

The Settlers IV (2001)

The Settlers IV is a real-time strategy video game developed by Blue Byte, being the third sequel to The Settlers. The game was released on March 30, 2001, in Europe and on July 20, 2001, in North America. In The Settlers IV there are four playable races: the Mayans, the Vikings, the Romans, and the Trojans (the Trojans were only available after installing the expansion The Settlers IV: The Trojans and the Elixir of Power). There was also a NPC-only race, called the Dark Tribe. The game can be played via either single-player, playing against the computer, or against another human opponent, via multiplayer, and features a "free settle" mode where players are free to build a civilization with no fear of attack. The game is also available for iPhone and iPod Touch under the name "The Settlers", with free and pay versions available. Although the title is different, the game is much the same, but using the iPhone's touch controls.

The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (2005)

The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (also known unofficially as The Settlers V) is the fifth instalment of The Settlers series of Real Time Strategy games on the PC. It was released on February 18, 2005, in Europe and on February 24, 2005, in North America. Heritage of Kings breaks off from the typical pattern that Settlers games have followed since they began: while the concept of the game remains, in essence, the same, a lot of the gameplay features have changed from those of The Settlers IV, and slightly resemble many of the gameplay aspects displayed in the game Cossacks: European Wars. Despite this, Heritage of Kings still maintains many of the characteristics of classic Settlers gameplay.

The Settlers II 10th Anniversary (2006)

The Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition is a remake of the classic real-time strategy game The Settlers II. It was announced in July 2006. The Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition features up-to-date 3D graphics and new gameplay additions. The game was released in Germany in September 2006 and in the UK in October 2006. An English-language version was also available in various other regions, including Scandinavia and Asia. The game was not released in North America.

The Settlers: Rise of an Empire (2007)

The Settlers: Rise of an Empire, a real-time strategy game, is the sixth game in The Settlers series. It was developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, with a US release date of September 25, 2007,^[5] a European release date of September 28,^[6] and an Australian release date of September 30.^[7] A Limited Edition is also available, containing additional in-game content (including statues and a pavilion), an art book, bonus DVD, original soundtrack, technology tree sheet, and a demo CD.^[8]

The Settlers: Rise of Cultures (2008)

Original German title: Die Siedler: Aufbruch der Kulturen, not available in English language, is an indirect sequel to The Settlers II 10th Anniversary. It was released in Germany on August 28, 2008.

The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (2010)

The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom is a real time strategy and city-building video game developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft. It was released on March 23, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.^[9]

The Settlers: Castle Empire/The Settlers Online (2011)

Castle Empire is a free, online browser-based version similar to the original game. It is named The Settlers Online in Europe. It was released in September 2012.

The Settlers 8: Kingdoms of Anteria (2016)

The game was originally part of The Settlers series and was known as The Settlers: Kingdoms of Anteria, but Ubisoft renamed the game and turned it into a new property in April 2016. The game was released on August 30, 2016.

See also

• Anno series, a similar German strategy game franchise

References

External links

• The Settlers
• The Settlers Online: Free online game