Deal | Off to the New World: 96% positive 4X classic drops to just $1 on Steam

In Sid Meier's Colonization, players take command of a colonial power and set out to explore the New World. Along the way, they must tame the wilderness, transform small settlements into thriving colonies, compete with rival European powers and, sooner or later, send the Crown's tax collectors back where they came from. The 1994 4X classic is available on Steam with an 85% discount until July 20, reducing the price from $6.99 to just $1.04. According to SteamDB, the largest discount the game has ever received was 86%, but that was last seen in October 2015. The current price was most recently available during the 2025 Winter Sale.

Sid Meier's Colonization was developed as a spin-off of the original Civilization, and it clearly shows. Fans of the early Civilization games will feel right at home. Like its predecessor, Colonization is built around turn-based 4X gameplay featuring exploration, city-building, diplomacy and warfare, but it places a much stronger emphasis on economics, trade and production chains. Colonists can take on a variety of professions – from farmers and blacksmiths to preachers – and become significantly more efficient when working in their area of expertise. The game also features rival colonial powers, Indigenous nations, randomly generated maps and a wide range of historical Founding Fathers who unlock permanent bonuses.

More than 30 years after its release, the strategy game from MicroProse Software continues to enjoy an excellent reputation on Steam. Of the more than 1,100 user reviews, 96% are positive. Players particularly praise its deep economic and trading systems, strategic freedom and outstanding replay value. Criticism, on the other hand, focuses on the game's heavily dated presentation, cumbersome interface and the largely untouched DOSBox implementation. While many users report that the Steam version runs without issues on Windows 10 and 11, others mention crashes, frozen systems, mouse-related problems and difficulties switching out of fullscreen mode.

Anyone willing to overlook the aging technology will still get a remarkably deep strategy classic that has lost very little of its appeal over the decades – all for just over a dollar. On Steam Deck (currently available on Amazon for $740), however, Sid Meier's Colonization is rated as Unsupported.

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