There is something about German ingenuity when it comes to the strategy games, two long lasting and very popular German gaming franchises are Anno and Settlers, and for me personally those are one of the best strategy series of all times. Settlers are now more than 24 years old when the first game was released back in 1993. Settlers games are all about small workers building and expanding your city and your goal as a ruler is to provide them with buildings and resources. Over the years the core concept hasn't changed much, it is all about building and chillaxing. Very charming gaming series from Blue Byte absolutely worth checking out.
The Settlers
Original Settlers is a game from simpler times and one of the first settlement management strategies. Game was very popular on Amiga and MS DOS, yeah DOS. Game originally had 70000 lines of code, all it's complex economy management, something unheard of at the time, all that coding is done by one developer which makes it even more epic. Main goal was to build a settlement, expand it and conquer neighboring areas in order to win.
The Settlers II
Second game in the series had everything the first game had with some graphical improvements, more distinct factions and military development. Game was released in 1996. Settler games are also known for tool production, some resources naturally require tools to gather them. Not many games went so far to also include one more step in realistic economy as Settlers did. There are levels to them and each tier would produce more advanced tools and weaponry for your troops. Everything would culminate in a economical and military symphony for the ages.
The Settlers III
Third game in the series is when the game took it's familiar look and most gamers will remember this game as the core Settlers game. Some Real Time Strategy elements are introduced as we could now build some basic troops and command them around. Graphics became more detailed and animated, seeing all those settlers in action doing their tasks and filling your storage with resources, slowly expanding and building advanced buildings was a sight to be seen. This game made me a fan of Settlers for life back in 1998.
The Settlers IV
Next game in line was more detailed graphically and it offered many more hours of strategic gameplay. Game had three distinct factions Mayans, Vikings and the Romans, every faction had their own distinct building and unit types. All that in an excellent graphics at the time of release in 2001. Campaign had some fantasy elements as the main factions join together in battling the Dark Tribe.
