''East India Company'' is a

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to p ...

video game developed by

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

company Nitro Games and published by

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...

. It was released on July 31, 2009 in North America and on August 14, 2009 in Europe. The game is based on the history of European conquest of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

by means of their East India Companies. In the game, the player takes on the role of the Governor Director of the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

. The task is to conquer

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and establish a trade

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

to rule over all others. The game features real-time naval combat when enemy ships engage the player's fleets, and real-time land combat when the enemy tries to invade one of the player's colonies. East India Company combines trading, naval warfare, and management. Players can create a fleet to conquer the enemy with powerful warships and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Gameplay

There are eight playable nations to choose from:

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, Sweden,

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Tasks may be given by the company or the crown to do various missions including diplomacy, war, and trade. The game is mainly based in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. There are 11 ship types in the game, including the schooner, sloop, brig, East Indiaman, frigate, and ship of the line.

Development

A Designer's Cut was made available for download on October 27, 2009. It offers several additional features.

Reception

The game was met with mixed reviews, with an average of 67% on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. IGN said that "players who are interested in the concept or the period will definitely find a worthwhile game here, but the appeal wears thin long before it should have".IGN
IGN IT Reviews agreed, stating that the game was "a fun short-term challenge, just lacking the depth of play to ensure a lengthy shelf life".http://www.itreviews.co.uk/games/g608.htm IT Reviews

Total PC Gaming Total PC Gaming was a monthly magazine published by ''Imagine Publishing'', launched in 2007 it ran until March 2010. The magazine featured videogame industry news, game reviews, hardware reviews, and sections dedicated to fans of ''retro gaming'' ...

magazine called it "an enjoyable trading and strategy experience, let down by lacklustre combat" (Issue 23).

References

External links

East India Company official site
Video games set in the 17th century 2009 video games Age of Discovery video games Games for Windows certified games Real-time strategy video games Trade simulation games Video games developed in Finland Windows games Windows-only games Video games with expansion packs Works about the Dutch East India Company Paradox Interactive games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nitro Games games {{strategy-videogame-stub