Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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The New World lies before you with all its peril, promise and infinite possibility. Your colonists anxiously follow you to shore. The treasures of an entire continent await you.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is a simulation, adventure and turn-based strategy game developed by MicroProse Software and Inc and published by Atari and Nightdive Studios.
Released on October 09th 2014 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux in 4 languages: English, French, German and Spanish - Spain.

It has received 1,004 reviews of which 961 were positive and 43 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9 out of 10. 😍

The game is currently priced at 6.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 0.97€ on Gamivo.

The Steam community has classified Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) into these genres:

Simulation Adventure Turn-Based Strategy Strategy Classic Retro 4X Historical Economy Singleplayer Pixel Graphics Turn-Based Colony Sim

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) through various videos and screenshots.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) screenshot

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows
  • OS *: Windows XP / Vista / 7
  • Processor: 1.0 GHz Processor
  • Memory: 512 MB RAM
  • Graphics: 100% DirectX compatible graphics
  • Storage: 100 MB available space
  • Sound Card: 100% DirectX compatible card or onboard sound
MacOS
  • OS: OS X Leopard 10.7
  • Processor: 1.0 GHz Processor
  • Memory: 256 MB RAM
  • Graphics: 3D graphics card or onboard graphics compatible with OpenGL
  • Storage: 500 MB available space
  • Sound Card: 100% CoreAudio compatible card or onboard sound
Linux
  • OS: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
  • Processor: 1.0 GHz Processor
  • Memory: 512 MB RAM
  • Graphics: 100% OpenGL accelerated card or onboard graphics
  • Storage: 100 MB available space
  • Sound Card: Any ALSA supported card on onboard audio

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

March 2025
“Sid Meier’s Colonization” is an aging classic that could use an update but will never get one. This game reminds me of a quote from the show “Lessons in Chemistry”. One chemist asks another chemist why he keeps re-reading the same book when the book never changes. Ah, says the other, the book never changes but the reader does. Back in the 1990s, “Colonization” was the successor to “Civilization”, the most popular strategy game series of all time. “Colonization” was different. You needed to trade with your rivals. You needed to prepare for independence from foreign powers. Concepts were not all presented in abstractions. Each game took hours and days to play, which was perfect at a time when I was young and poor and cable TV was luxury. The meat of the game still works today. You take the poor and discarded members of European society and train them to work jobs in your colony. It’s this planning and the fruition of those plans that feels so good. Eventually, you stop relying on Europe and build your own arms industry to fight them. Along the way, you can trade with the indigenous people or cruelly destroy them. This is what brings people back to this old game. It’s fun. Nowadays, I see that a lot of the game was powered by my own imagination. The combat, for instance, uses a non-functioning random number generator that results in off balance battle results. Loading save games is a standard method of play. Almost every mechanic requires player action, including moving ships or wagon trains one tile at a time. You can set up trade routes, for example to move raw sugar to your rum distillers, but these routes all too often don’t work. Later in the game, units will disappear because this game was written on the assumption that your late 1980s and 1990s computer would lack enough RAM yo handle more units. It is up to the player to deal with these issues and fill in the gaps, making the game an elaborate version of solitaire. This is where I have changed. In the last 31 years (how old am I?), my knowledge of the colonial period and the original American cultures has grown and changed. I’ve also become accustomed to more complicated strategy games. I’m sure Sid Meier would have added more to “Colonization” if file sizes weren’t limited by floppy discs. By the time Sid Meier released “Civilization II”, CD-ROMs became standard and that game was packed with voice lines, full motion videos of advisors, and mini movies about world wonders. Would an expanded story include small pox outbreaks, slavery, or any acknowledgment of the great loss of life and culture? This game is trapped in a time capsule, and the the best the player can do to rewrite history is to play as France and try set up cities amongst existing settlements. There is no real option to play with history. Lastly, the game has no port for modern hardware. It has to be run using emulation, and that emulator, DosBox keeps crashing in late game. Even a controversial classic needs a little love.
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Feb. 2025
It's so remarkable how such an old game with so simple mechanics stood tbe test of time. I come back to this game quite often to play. Usually when I'm fed up in more modern civ builder games of their overcomplex mechanics and attempts to mirror real life. Colonization is simple, has depth, you understand at all times exactly how you're doing and is just SO MUCH FUN!
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Feb. 2025
They say you can't go home again. But playing this after nearly 30 years from when I originally booted it up in DOS on our first 386 PC, hearing the MIDI soundtrack that will live rent free in my brain forever, and happily exploiting the New World without the slightest pretense of morality or not committing crimes against humanity or ignoring slavery....this felt pretty close to coming home. As basic as the experience ultimately becomes, as broken and cheating as the AI can be, this game is foundational for a whole genre of 4x and did survival strategy and trading games well before Banished or Anno. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone that doesn't already have fnd memories of it, but this DOSbox version---though not perfect---runs pretty well. I probably won't return to it for another decade, but it sure was a good reunion.
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Jan. 2025
One of the greatest games of all time. You can pick it up for free as abandonware, and it would be amazing if the dev would release the source code so we could fix the few problems it does have, but this is seriously one of the most fun strategy games ever made.
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Aug. 2024
I was about 20 when this game came out and I am 51 now. The gameplay has stood the test of time, Easy to while away the hours pressing your matters in the new world.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is currently priced at 6.99€ on Steam.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 6.99€ on Steam.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) received 961 positive votes out of a total of 1,004 achieving an impressive rating of 9.00.
😍

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) was developed by MicroProse Software and Inc and published by Atari and Nightdive Studios.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is playable and fully supported on Windows.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is playable and fully supported on MacOS.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is playable and fully supported on Linux.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is a single-player game.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) does not currently offer any DLC.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) does not support Steam Remote Play.

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic).

Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates
Steam data 11 June 2025 03:06
SteamSpy data 09 June 2025 16:34
Steam price 15 June 2025 04:42
Steam reviews 12 June 2025 19:58

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic), we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

  • SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic)
  • SteamCharts - Analysis of Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) concurrent players on Steam
  • ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic) compatibility
Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic)
6.99€ -87% 6.99€ 0.97€
9
961
43
Game modes
Features
Online players
150
Developer
MicroProse Software, Inc
Publisher
Atari, Nightdive Studios
Release 09 Oct 2014
Platforms
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