Colonize is still in early development. This game is scheduled for release later in 2016.
Photograph of the prototype used for testing and balance. Art production begins Spring 2015
Colonize sets players as the governors of their own North American settlement in the early 1700s. You've received your charter from the crown and they expect a big return. Your job is to manage your colony and establish a successful economy through trade and exports.
Colonize balances two major game mechanics: resource management and worker placement. Game play feels similar to classic Euro games like Puerto Rico and Caylus. Players need plans and strategies to exploit the resources available to their colonies and to react to events that may occur, such as droughts, tariffs, and new taxes. Resources can be sold or traded on the market, bundled up for export, or used to upgrade facilities to produce more goods or higher profits. An example would be upgrading a logging camp to a lumber mill to a carpenter. A logging camp gathers wood, a lumber mill gathers it more efficiently, and a carpenter uses the wood to create valuable exports like furniture.
Ultimately, the name of the game is exports. You can send the crown back your luxury goods, your cash crops, your natural resources, or your hard earned cash. They paid for your charter and setup your governorship, and they want a return on their investment. Use what you can gather, use what you can buy, use whatever you can to make your colony the economic powerhouse you envisioned.