Discovery: In the Steps of Columbus

Discovery: In The Steps Of Columbus is a Strategy game, developed by Golden Sector and published by Impressions Games, which was released in Europe in 1992. Following in the steps of Columbus? Well he didn't walk across the Atlantic did he? This game places you as a European power trying to rip off the New World as economically as possible. You go broke, game over. Quite an innovative theme. You have four opponents who make life tough, and there's five extra scenarios for those who want to discover real new worlds. Cutesie but blocky graphics of settlements, soldiers and ships help add life to what is a management game. The map is just a wall of fog at the beginning of the game. Sending out ships to found colonies (preferably with lots of local resources) is just the start of a quite engrossing little game. The controls are fiddly and buggy. The manual is flash but useless for learning how to play the game. For the patient, it can be absorbing, but it lacks pace. Not a patch on Pirates for playability.