Imperialism (video game)

Imperialism is a turn-based strategy game released in 1997 for Windows and Macintosh computers. It was created by Frog City Software and published by Strategic Simulations. The player takes on the role of a 19th-century ruler, with the goal of becoming the world’s dominant power either through military conquest or by winning a global vote.

The game offers two modes: a fictional, randomly generated world or a historical scenario. In the random mode, the player selects one of seven great powers and begins in 1815. Victory requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Council of Governors, a body that meets every ten years. Minor nation governors tend to vote for great powers that have supported them through trade and diplomacy, while great power governors favor militarily strong nations. If no two-thirds majority is reached by 1915, the power with the most governors backing it wins. The final score, however, is based on the player’s overall development, including military size, workforce, transportation network, merchant marine, diplomatic standing, and number of provinces controlled.

Empire building can happen through diplomacy or conquest, but both rely on a solid economy. This economy is built by exploiting domestic resources like wood and ore, processing raw materials into goods such as steel, and engaging in trade. In historical scenarios, the player chooses a European power—Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and, depending on the era, Prussia and Sardinia or Germany and Italy. The game starts in 1820, 1848, or 1882, with the same victory conditions except that in the 1882 scenario the Council does not meet until 1915.

Each turn, players make decisions across five screens: the map screen for assigning specialists and giving military orders; the transport screen for allocating shipping capacity; the industry screen for managing production and training workers; the trade screen for setting offers and bids; and the diplomacy screen for negotiating treaties. Players can also invest in research, which boosts raw material output, enables military upgrades, or makes some naval units obsolete. After all players click “End turn,” the game processes orders, including turn-based trade sessions, diplomacy, and battles. Battles can be fought manually or left to the AI, while naval battles are always handled by the AI.