Inselvogt

You drop anchor off an unknown island with a ship full of building material. What becomes of it is up to you: a fishing village, a trading town with markets and a theatre, or a small realm across several islands.

HOW IT PLAYS

Put your trading post on the shore, lay out paths, build houses. Your pioneers want food first, then cloth. Once they are fed and content they rise to settlers, later to citizens and merchants — and every stage asks for more: wine, clothing, tobacco, spices, rum.

None of it arrives by itself. Two lumberjacks keep one sawmill busy. Clay becomes bricks, ore becomes iron and iron becomes tools. Sheep give wool, the weavery turns it into cloth. Every workshop shows you what it is missing, and the advisor tells you where it hurts right now.

MORE THAN ONE ISLAND

Spices, sugar cane and cotton only grow on certain islands. Sail out and find them. Every island keeps its own store, so what you need at home has to be shipped there. Buy trading ships and let them run fixed routes while you keep building.

NEIGHBOURS

Up to three computer rivals settle islands of their own. They build, grow, trade and make you offers. A peace treaty holds as long as both sides want it. The ranking shows who is ahead — and on the hardest setting you will have to work for it.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

Fire, illness, high water and storm surges. A well halves the risk of infection, the doctor's house sends a medic, the fire station sends its crew. Dikes keep the water out, sandbags help when it comes anyway. How often it strikes is your choice at the start — from off to frequent.

TO COMPARE

Pick a play time before you start and see your score at the end. Your personal best list shows whether you are getting better. Three scenarios give you a goal: 4000 gold, 150 or 400 inhabitants — against the clock, with their own rival and their own disasters. The world of the week is the same island for everyone; if you sign in to Game Center you can compare yourself with others on a leaderboard.

BUILT FAIRLY

• One finger is enough: drag, pinch, tap.
• No waiting, no energy bars. Everything can be earned without buying.
• Gold packs exist in free play only, never in scenarios or the weekly world.
• No ads, no subscriptions, no account needed. Game Center is optional.
• Plays offline, on a plane as well as anywhere else.
• German and English.

FREE AND FULL VERSION

The free version is the whole game up to 100 settlers — two to three hours of play. The full version is a single purchase and lifts the limits: unlimited growth, citizens and merchants, further islands, up to three rivals and every save slot. Family Sharing included.

There are also a few small, separate purchases: more scenarios, decoration for your ship, a comfort pack with more storage, and gold packs for free play. None of it is needed to enjoy the game.

Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.