The Settlers under Virtual PC

Ah, I can still remember when I first got this game. The Settlers is an incredibly addictive game, and to prove it the game actually has a timer built into it where every two hours it will popup and tell you 'You have been playing for X hours straight now - maybe you want to take a break?' :-)

This game places you in charge of a budding medieval empire. As far as empire building games go, The Settlers is incredibly complex, as you are required to understand that you need to build a lumberjacks building to get wood, a foresters building to maintain the wood supply, a saw mill to process the wood into planks that you can use to build the buildings, a fisherman's hut to get food to feed the lumberjack, forester, saw mill guy (okay - I don't know what his title is) - oh, and the fisherman needs a boat builder who needs wood to build the boats. Get the idea?

Having said that - the attraction to this game is the level of detail. You choose where the buildings will be built and where the roads will go - and then you get to watch as little men come out and build all your buildings. You get to watch goods move along your roads and make changes in order to increase the flow. You get to watch the lumberjack cut down trees, while the forester plants new plants and the fisherman goes fishing. It is truly fantastic.

The only real complaint I would have about The Settlers is that there is so much work involved in just building a functioning citadel - that by the time it comes to war with your neighbors (and that time does come) you are close to overwhelmed with information.

The Settlers runs well under Virtual PC.

Cheers,
Ben